rusty1 said:

"Now" is a horrible song

Wh-wh-what?!

It's incredibly chaotic, and not exactly "deep," but man do I love that song. I guess it fits me well: chaotic and shallow.

TGE is overrated, in my opinion. But I get why... it was the first time we had all the "this is the music I really care about" hype (after multiple "the album he was born to make" style promotion since, it's not as easy to get caught up in it), we'd waited so long for it (while he promoted the heck out of it and left Come to wither on the vine), and at least for me it was when I first became aware of the larger Prince community, through alt.music.prince and the Prince Mailing List, and different .ftp sites were the first places I ever knew of unreleased material being shared readily by the community. It felt exciting. And everyone kept telling us (even in the liner notes) that Prince was excited, too.

In truth, I preferred Come and Exodus both to The Gold Experience. But it was such an exciting time, and the music in general was pretty high quality (though it sometimes seemed he only had 4 or 5 songs he kept rewriting at the time, I still liked most of the variations) and Gold was the "most official" of the albums from that period (it was the one we were told mattered the most), and it was good, though probably not great, and it seems kind of wrong to prefer the Prince album or the NPG album to 's. But I did, and still do.

My love really goes to Exodus from that period.

I've seen several people on this thread say that they think that Come is a superior album Really?? To me,Come is the type of album that Prince could do in his sleep.It's good,but I don't think it's great.TGE is much more powerful in every way.

2freaky4church1 said:

BartVanHemelen said:

Ego101 said:

I kinda have no feelings about it.. That was a period where i was starting to get tired of Prince..

I saw a few gigs around that time that i really didnt enjoy at all! actually i walked out of a concert in London @Wembley Arena because i just thought the entire show Sucked!

.

Ferchrissakes who walks out of a show where Prince was playing album tracks and B-sides etc.? Saw him perform Pink Cashmere and I love U In Me, just to name two. And you complain about that?

I seen the tour in Manchester and saw quite a few people complaining and walk out because of the lack of hits. They were expecting Purple Rain but got Pussy Control - some of the exasperated looks were funny to see.

.

But like you say as a fan it was awesome to see new material that we'd only seen on The Beautiful Experience and rare B-sides.

NouveauDance said:

Together though, along with the out-takes, Exodus and whatnot from that 93-95 period it was a really great batch of songs that had a great energy and vibe to them. It felt fresh, it felt a little bit subversive, like we were in a little club that the public didn't "get", it did feel like a reinvigoration of his sound, and the only one since has really been TRC. So there's a mix of rose-tinteds about the period, but also the songs - they still hold up. Shhh is still killer, Eye Hate U is still pretty and powerful, Now is still kickass, Endorphinmachine and Interactive are still bitchin'.

Rimshottbob said:

The mid-90s stuff by Prince is some of his most exciting, he's stripping away those boundaries like he's always done (gutiars and rapping? I never even thought to consider them as separate elements on the album)... Endorphinmachine, Now, Shy, Shh, Most Beautiful Girl, Dolphin, I Hate You, Gold, P Control, these are fantastic tracks.... so full of energy, inventiveness, the sheer joy of expression and of making music...

all of that mixed in the fact that he was being just so plain weird, with the Slave stuff and the name change... it's exciting, it's different.

In short, I think it's a Prince classic.

Couldn't have put it better myself - an excellent and deserveredly revered album from an exciting little period of time. And as for Ego101 walking out of a Gold Experience gig?! Are you sure?!! I went to Wembley 4 times and loved every moment - probably his funkiest gigs - the deep rumbling bass that come from those speakers...unforgettable.

2freaky4church1 said:

You must be British. The british critics hated it.

lol, but the British fans loved it!

V10LETBLUES said:

Im happy to know that my show wasnt the only one with issues...

dodger said:

BartVanHemelen said:

.

Ferchrissakes who walks out of a show where Prince was playing album tracks and B-sides etc.? Saw him perform Pink Cashmere and I love U In Me, just to name two. And you complain about that?

I seen the tour in Manchester and saw quite a few people complaining and walk out because of the lack of hits. They were expecting Purple Rain but got Pussy Control - some of the exasperated looks were funny to see.

.

But like you say as a fan it was awesome to see new material that we'd only seen on The Beautiful Experience and rare B-sides.

OK. Picture the scene. I just turned 21, I was sitting in my black Mini, with awesome aftermarket cassette player, pioneer sub woofer and speaker set screwed into the back. It's still the best system I ever had and made the door mirrors vibrate.

Walked across Budgens carpark in the pissing rain across the highstreet, through the market and into Woolworth's. Picked up the cassette and paid my mates mum the cash over the counter. I grew up in small market town in Lincolnshire

Walked (ran) back to the car, fucked around with the cassette wrapper and pushed it into m'slot

Turned it up and sat at the far end of the carpark. When the alien futuristic bass kicked in at the beginning of P Control I started to get the shivers. That sounded like nothing I'd ever heard. Then Endorphinmachine crunched in and I nearly lost it. THe dragging, overdriven rock, was and still is one of my favourite ever Prince moments. The production is massive and I love it. I stayed there for the whole album and played it on heavy repeat until the cassette was no more.

I completely loved that time, the tour, the back lash from the Purple Rain public at his shows. Finishing his shows with Gold was properly emotional and firmly cemented Prince as my all time favourite artist.

THAT'S why TGE is not overrated.

I'm not sure why it's such a fan favorites. It sure as hell is one of my favorites but IDK why so many people have the feeling it's so much better than the rest of the 90's stuff. It was a very accessible album for sure but so was Rave but everybody hates it. It's also an album we came to expect for a really long time as it was delayed for more than a year, maybe this gave it some holier-than-thou status IDK. I wonder if the 1994 configuration would have been so popular if released in August 1994 alongside Come. For me Come and TGE are really like twin albums, both were born in the same 2 sets of sessions (Ulysses and TGE sessions) and at the time of the promo tape and Beautiful Experience TV show it was really hard to draw a line between which songs belonged where.

jasontate said:

I loved this album when it came out, but I agree with those who've opined that some of it hasn't aged very well.

Empress said:

I love the entire cd. It blows many of his others out of the water.

yes.

The Gold Experience album is easily a Prince top-7 album:

01. Purple Rain (10)
02. Sign "☮" The Times (10)
03. 1999 (10)
04. Lovesexy (10)
05. Parade (10)
06. Around The World In A Day (10)
07. The Gold Experience (10)
08. Dirty Mind (10)

These classics (all of them) gets maximum 10/10 from me.

[Edited 10/23/14 7:42am]

EroticDreamer said:

NouveauDance said:

2freaky4church1 said:

You must be British. The british critics hated it.

It is among his best albums. He remakes hip hop and makes it rock. The whole album is a head nodder. Gold is pure genius. The fadeout is beyond heavenly.

It's his best attempt at rap. Now and 319 are head bobbers.

You do have to like hipity hop to admire the album.

Christgau sure liked it:

"

The Gold Experience [Warner Bros./NPG, 1995]
After two or three plays, convinced that "P Control" and "Endorphinmachine" slam harder than any hip hop I've heard in years, I shrugged and recalled that, after all, I already knew he was the most gifted recording artist of the era. But this album documents more than professional genius rampant--all of them do that. This album is a renewal. It's as sex-obsessed as ever, only with more juice--"Shhh" and "319" especially pack the kind of porno jolt sexy music rarely gets near and hard music never does. And you'd best believe "Shhh" and 319" are hard--not for years has the auteur (as opposed to some hired gat) sounded so black, and not for years has the guitarist sounded so rock. As for the ballads, they suffer only by their failure to dominate. One of them has already stormed the radio--and another, good for him, takes too many risks to follow. A"

Yea, good for him.

The british hated it so much they made the song TMBGITW of that album number one

BobGeorge909 said:

jasontate said:

OK. Picture the scene. I just turned 21, I was sitting in my black Mini, with awesome aftermarket cassette player, pioneer sub woofer and speaker set screwed into the back. It's still the best system I ever had and made the door mirrors vibrate.

Walked across Budgens carpark in the pissing rain across the highstreet, through the market and into Woolworth's. Picked up the cassette and paid my mates mum the cash over the counter. I grew up in small market town in Lincolnshire

Walked (ran) back to the car, fucked around with the cassette wrapper and pushed it into m'slot

Turned it up and sat at the far end of the carpark. When the alien futuristic bass kicked in at the beginning of P Control I started to get the shivers. That sounded like nothing I'd ever heard. Then Endorphinmachine crunched in and I nearly lost it. THe dragging, overdriven rock, was and still is one of my favourite ever Prince moments. The production is massive and I love it. I stayed there for the whole album and played it on heavy repeat until the cassette was no more.

I completely loved that time, the tour, the back lash from the Purple Rain public at his shows. Finishing his shows with Gold was properly emotional and firmly cemented Prince as my all time favourite artist.

THAT'S why TGE is not overrated.

Similar experience with an '85 Golf sans the pissing rain. 15" rock sub in the trunk. Took off during school lunch to go to 'the wherehouse' to pick up the record. Why flying down the street to get back to school, the sirens in 'we march' convinced me is was 'bout to get a summons.

Too cool for school

Ego101 said:

Im happy to know that my show wasnt the only one with issues...

dodger said:

I seen the tour in Manchester and saw quite a few people complaining and walk out because of the lack of hits. They were expecting Purple Rain but got Pussy Control - some of the exasperated looks were funny to see.

.

But like you say as a fan it was awesome to see new material that we'd only seen on The Beautiful Experience and rare B-sides.

In Holland the fact that he wouldn't be playing any Prince songs (which turned out to be 95% true) was broadcast well in advance....

Too much cheese for my liking ... Dolphin, TMBGITW, Gold ... all make me cringe

Aerogram said:

V10LETBLUES said:

Highly highly overrated.

Of this era I can only ever return to Come. The dumbed-down cheesy sound of TGE is emlematic of Prince's 90's sound up to today.

Most people who come out with overrated this and that vastly overrate their own musical taste. It's a way to say you disagree with the norm while seeking to establish a new one based on your own supposedly superior musical taste buds. Next!

You're confusing the few people who still visit the org with "most people"

kind of a limited bubble there don't you think. Play the music to "most people" and then come here tell me what outcome is ...lol

That was the problem in London also.. the people that i purchased tickets for were pumped up to finally see a Prince show. think 'parade.. sott.. or lovesexy'..

Instead they got nothing familiar sounding and a bunch of slave talk..

They wanted to leave and i must admit .. so did i..

Pentacle said:

Ego101 said:

Im happy to know that my show wasnt the only one with issues...

In Holland the fact that he wouldn't be playing any Prince songs (which turned out to be 95% true) was broadcast well in advance....

Ah, yes, being disappointed with a brilliant musician's world-class band, fantastic, edgy performance, and fantastic, rarely (if ever) repeated setlist, because of 'expectations'.

I've never understood that. He/she/they didn't play the song/songs/setlist/arrangement I wanted, therefore I'm disappointed.

No "I like the approach that this artist has toward their music, I've enjoyed some of their albums... I'll go along and see what they do".

That, to me, is always what an audience's attitude should be... "well, let's see what they have for us",

cue, opening of ears, opening of mind...

[Edited 10/23/14 11:39am]

any less selfish of a performer would have played 5 or 6 brand new songs mixed with 10 hits or at least popular favorites. instead, prince played non stop unreleased music mixe with 3 or 4 obscure old songs .. which is great if u are in a small club digging an aftershow vibe .. not cool if u are on tour to the masses who never even had a chance to hear the record first .. prince was having a huge temper tantrum which made the fact that he was in the right vs wb more dificult because he took his anger out on the fans ..

skywalker said:

Ego101 said:

That was the problem in London also.. the people that i purchased tickets for were pumped up to finally see a Prince show. think 'parade.. sott.. or lovesexy'..

Instead they got nothing familiar sounding and a bunch of slave talk..

They wanted to leave and i must admit .. so did i..

Pentacle said:

In Holland the fact that he wouldn't be playing any Prince songs (which turned out to be 95% true) was broadcast well in advance....

Yes, but that's what I'm saying: you knew he wasn't going to play any hits. And luckily all the new stuff was great.