The Gold Experience

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The Gold Experience
Studio album by Prince
Released September 26, 1995
Recorded 1994–1995
Genre R&B, funk, pop, rock
Length 67:48
Label NPG/Warner Bros.
Producer Prince
Prince chronology
The Black Album
(1994)		 The Gold Experience
(1995)		 Chaos and Disorder
(1996)
Singles from The Gold Experience
  1. "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World"
    Released: February 24, 1994
  2. "P Control"
    Released: 1995
  3. "Dolphin"
    Released: 1995 (UK only)
  4. "Endorphinmachine"
    Released: 1995 (Japan only)
  5. "I Hate U"
    Released: September 12, 1995
  6. "Gold"
    Released: November 30, 1995
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4/5 stars[1]
Robert Christgau (A)[2]
Entertainment Weekly A−[3]
Los Angeles Times 4/4 stars[4]
The New York Times (favorable)[5]
NME (7/10)[6]
Q 3/5 stars[7]
Rolling Stone 4/5 stars[8]
Trouser Press (favorable)[9]
Vibe (favorable)[10]

The Gold Experience is the seventeenth studio album by Prince (his stage name at that time being the love symbol he created). It was released on September 26, 1995. The album is considered by some fans to be the Purple Rain of the 1990s, due to the rock and roll feel, accessibility of the tracks, and Prince's own admission that the song "Gold" would be the next "Purple Rain".

Prince wanted to release The Gold Experience under the symbolic moniker in 1994, alongside Come, which was marketed as a "Prince" album of "old" material. Both albums contained material from Prince's musical production called Glam Slam Ulysses. The plan was to show the superior quality of the newer material as opposed to the older "Prince" material. Plans were thwarted by Warner Bros., which felt the market would be over-saturated with Prince material, and withheld the album. Prince was prompted to protest by appearing in public with the word "slave" written on his face and stating The Gold Experience's release date would be "never".

Songs originally intended for the album, such "Acknowledge Me", "Ripopgodazippa", "Interactive" and "Days of Wild", were removed by the time of the album's release. It is believed that "Days of Wild" was nixed because Prince was never satisfied with the studio version. By the time the album actually was released in 1995, Prince's interest in it had passed, and he was working on songs for his 3-CD opus, Emancipation, which was partially responsible for the album's lack of commercial success. Despite that, The Gold Experience garnered Prince his best reviews in nearly a decade. The album has been long out of print but still remains a fan favorite.

The Gold Experience produced three singles, each with an accompanying music video: "I Hate U", "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World", and "Gold". Additionally, a video for "Dolphin" was released prior to the release of the album. "P Control" was also intended to be released as a single, but was canceled because it did not receive enough airplay. It was, however, performed at the 1995 VH1 Fashion Rocks Awards.

The song "Billy Jack Bitch" was speculated by many sources to have been written about a Minneapolis Star Tribune gossip columnist known as "CJ".[11][12][13] Prince denied the song was about the columnist when CJ herself interviewed him.[14]

The song "319" appears on the soundtrack of the 1995 film, Showgirls.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

All tracks composed and arranged by Prince, except where indicated.

[edit] CD

  1. "P Control" – 5:59
  2. "NPG Operator" – 0:12
  3. "Endorphinmachine" – 4:07
  4. "Shhh" – 7:18
  5. "We March" (Prince, Nona Gaye) – 4:49
  6. "NPG Operator" – 0:18
  7. "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" – 4:25
  8. "Dolphin" – 4:59
  9. "NPG Operator" – 0:20
  10. "Now" – 4:30
  11. "NPG Operator" – 0:31
  12. "319" – 3:05
  13. "NPG Operator" – 0:10
  14. "Shy" – 5:04
  15. "Billy Jack Bitch" (Prince, Michael B. Nelson) – 5:32
  16. "Eye Hate U" – 5:54
  17. "NPG Operator" – 0:45
  18. "Gold" – 7:23

[edit] Vinyl

Side one

  • "P. Control" - 5:59
  • "NPG Operator" - 0:10
  • "Endorphinmachine" - 4:06
  • "Shhh" - 7:16

Side two

Side three

  • "NPG Operator" - 0:18
  • "Now" - 4:30
  • "NPG Operator" - 0:31
  • "319" - 3:05
  • "NPG Operator" - 0:10
  • "Shy" - 5:04
  • "Billy Jack Bitch" - 5:32

Side four

[edit] Special Edition Vinyl Bonuses

  1. "I Hate U" (Extended Remix) – 6:17
  2. "I Hate U" (LP Version) – 6:08
  3. "I Hate U" (Quiet Night Mix) – 3:56
  4. "I Hate U" (Single Version with Guitar Solo) – 4:25
  5. "I Hate U" (Edit - No Guitar Ending) – 3:48

[edit] Early configurations

[edit] February 1994 untitled cassette

Referred to as "The Gold Album" because of the cover color.

  1. "Come" (Original 1993 version, shorter than released)
  2. "Endorphin Machine" (Original version before keyboard and synth overdubs)
  3. "Hide the Bone"
  4. "Chaos and Disorder" (Late 1993 version without Rosie Gaines vocal overdubs, with alternate mixing and some different sound effects)
  5. "Listen 2 the Rhythm" (Alternate version of "Listen to Your Heart")
  6. "Now"
  7. "Right the Wrong"
  8. "Acknowledge Me"
  9. "Ripopgodazippa"
  10. "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World"
  11. "319"
  12. "Shy"
  13. "Billy Jack Bitch" (Full version before being edited for release)
  14. "Eye Hate U"
  15. "Gold"

[edit] March 1994 configuration

  1. "NPG Operator"
  2. "Interactive" (Shorter version)
  3. "NPG Operator" (Officially unreleased)
  4. "Days of Wild" (Different version than released)
  5. "NPG Operator"
  6. "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World"
  7. "NPG Operator"
  8. "Now"
  9. "Acknowledge Me"
  10. "Ripopgodazippa"
  11. "NPG Operator"
  12. "319"
  13. "NPG Operator"
  14. "Shy"
  15. "Billy Jack Bitch"
  16. "Eye Hate U"
  17. "NPG Operator"
  18. "Gold"

[edit] April 1994

Believed to have been known as "The Gold Album", pressed on CD and given hand-drawn gold artwork, although no formal title is known. Includes segues, like an excerpt of the Coca Cola Theme before "Gold". Included covers of The Rolling Stones' "Angie", and Graham Central Station's "The Jam".

  1. "Strength" (Officially unreleased)
  2. "Ripopgodazippa"
  3. "Interactive"
  4. "Space"
  5. "Endorphinmachine"
  6. "Days of Wild" (Different version than released)
  7. "Now"
  8. "Angie" (Officially unreleased)
  9. "319"
  10. "The Jam"
  11. "Gold"

[edit] May 1994 configuration

  1. "NPG Operator"
  2. "Interactive" (Longer version)
  3. "NPG Operator" (Officially unreleased)
  4. "Days of Wild" (Different version than released)
  5. "NPG Operator"
  6. "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World"
  7. "NPG Operator"
  8. "Now"
  9. "Acknowledge Me"
  10. "Ripopgodazippa"
  11. "NPG Operator"
  12. "319"
  13. "NPG Operator"
  14. "Shy"
  15. "Billy Jack Bitch"
  16. "Eye Hate U"
  17. "NPG Operator"
  18. "Gold"

[edit] Summer 1994 configuration

  1. "Chaos and Disorder" (Late 1993 version without Rosie Gaines vocal overdubs, with alternate mixing and some different sound effects)
  2. "Listen 2 the Rhythm" (Alternate version of "Listen to Your Heart")
  3. "Now"
  4. "Right the Wrong"
  5. "Acknowledge Me"
  6. "Ripopgodazippa"
  7. "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World"
  8. "319"
  9. "Shy"
  10. "Billy Jack Bitch"
  11. "Eye Hate U"
  12. "Gold"

[edit] 13 October 1994 configuration

  1. "P. Control"
  2. "NPG Operator"
  3. "Endorphinmachine"
  4. "Shhh"
  5. "We March"
  6. "NPG Operator" (Officially unreleased)
  7. "Days of Wild" (Different version than released)
  8. "NPG Operator"
  9. "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World"
  10. "Dolphin"
  11. "NPG Operator"
  12. "Now"
  13. "NPG Operator"
  14. "319"
  15. "NPG Operator"
  16. "Shy"
  17. "Billy Jack Bitch"
  18. "Eye Hate U"
  19. "NPG Operator"
  20. "Gold"

[edit] Singles and Hot 100 chart placings

Another track, "Shhh", charted from The Gold Experience in July 1994; it was not the album version, but rather a live version performed on "The Beautiful Experience" TV special, which aired in 1994. It received some R&B airplay, causing it to chart and peak at #62 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Prince: Gold Experience > Review" at Allmusic. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Prince". robertchristgau.com. http://robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=prince. Retrieved 16 September 2011. 
  3. ^ Flaherty, Mike (29 September 1995). "The Gold Experience". Entertainment Weekly (Time) (#294). ISSN 1049-0434. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,298905,00.html. Retrieved 16 September 2011. 
  4. ^ Coker, Cheo H. (24 September 1995). "With 'Gold,' Prince Regains His Midas Touch". Los Angeles Times (Tribune Company). ISSN 0458-3035. OCLC 3638237. http://articles.latimes.com/1995-09-24/entertainment/ca-49343_1_gold-experience. Retrieved 16 September 2011. 
  5. ^ Pareles, Jon (17 September 1995). "Still Moaning, Still Shimmying". New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. OCLC 1645522. http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/17/arts/recordings-view-still-moaning-still-shimmying.html. Retrieved 16 September 2011. 
  6. ^ "Prince - The Gold Experience". NME (IPC Media): 49. 23 September 1995. ISSN 0028-6362. http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1512197/a/Gold+Experience,+The.htm. Retrieved 16 September 2011. "Symbol's most consistently enjoyable, fully-rounded album for at least five years." 
  7. ^ "Prince - The Gold Experience". Q (Bauer Media Group): 116. October 1995. http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1512197/a/Gold+Experience,+The.htm. Retrieved 16 September 2011. "…the New Power Generation's finest hour." 
  8. ^ Cooper, Carol (2 November 1995). "Prince: The Gold Experience". Rolling Stone (Wenner Media). ISSN 0035-791X. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/gold-experience-19951102. Retrieved 16 September 2011. 
  9. ^ "Prince". Trouser Press. 
  10. ^ "Prince - The Gold Experience". Vibe (InterMedia Partners): 131–132. October 1995. ISSN 1070-4701. http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1512197/a/Gold+Experience,+The.htm. Retrieved 16 September 2011. "…a Prince experience par excellence." 
  11. ^ Grove, Lloyd (7 June 2002). "The Reliable Source ‒ Live Transcript". WashingtonPost.com. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/liveonline/02/source/source060702.htm. Retrieved 16 September 2011. 
  12. ^ Webster, Nick (10 April 2004). "From Sex God to Doorstep Bible Basher". The Mirror. rickross.com. http://www.rickross.com/reference/jw/jw184.html. Retrieved 16 September 2011. 
  13. ^ blackvoices.com[dead link]
  14. ^ "About the Artist". ArtworkByCJ.com. http://artworkbycj.com/about_the_artist.asp. Retrieved 16 September 2011. 
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