After reading all the mostly positive reviews of 3121, I have noticed that most reviewers say it's his best since sign o'the times or lovesexy etc.

It's a shame then that they haven't heard TGE. This album was his 90's best, and should have brought him back to the public eye like 3121 has. I personally think that even though 3121 is great, TGE blows it from the water, simply for the sheer energy and songwriting. Prince had the passion in him when he did this album, something that he has failed to find in all albums after this.

It still angers me that even though there was troubles between Prince and Warner, Warner should have listened to the album, given it full publicity drive and then give Prince a contract more deserving of his talents and ideas. I think that Universal (i hope i got the record label correct!) has done a great job in promoting 3121 shame Warner couldn't do the same thing with TGE.

Michael B wrote in his thread in the Associated Artists forum that he doesn't own a copy of this CD anymore (either the released version or any unreleased versions) - that is a crime! Somebody get him a CD of this, STAT!

I remember that USA today did a big writeup on TGE - giving it high marks (I think 4 stars). They said that it was his "return-to-form" (overused phrase).

I do agree with you, it needed more promotion. It's definitely a Prince top-ten album.

why did this album got out of print so soon after it's release.

tripp said:

Because, at the time of release, Prince was at 'war' with Warner over his contract, there was previously a problem with Prince trying to get Warner to release "Most Beautiful Girl' as a single, so he released it independently, and i think that there was some problems with getting 'TGE' released as an album but i'm not quite sure of the whole story (any one know???). I assume that Warner, under obligation, had to release the album, so to piss Prince of, they only released it for a short while and will not put out a new print, which is a great great shame!!

Yep, there are some big numbers on this one!

Shhh is one of his finest ballads, the candlelight part pure poetry!

Never really got Dolphin, pretty much what I would call a throwaway track which is a shame considering songs like Acknowledge Me & Interactive where omitted from the album.

And where was Day's of Wild when all this funk was being laid down!

AWJ

YES !!!! ABSOLUTE CLASSIC !!!

AWJ said:

I have never been a 'basshead' but Days of Wild is one of my ultimate faves for the Bass line alone - Especially when Prince says " Oh By The Way, I Play Bass Guitar" and then jams out !! that and of course The Undertaker.....DAMN.....How did he keep the Bass going on that one !!! -Oh I know Prince doesnt do Bass on The undertaker.....Couldn't remember the guys name ..... Sorry.....

As for the Gold Experience.Damn Fine Album.....Fave tracks Pussy Control and Now.
[Edited 3/29/06 12:56pm]

To the majority of fans, it's ALWAYS been a classic, and has NEVER been lost.

You have to remember, the album is over a decade old (can you believe it - time flies!) - a lot of these reviewers and music journo's might not have even been employed when it came out! -- And the ones that were probably didn't pay that much attention to it, since this was slap, bang in the middle of Prince's 'crazy period'.

It's been said before, but I think in years to come, the 93/94 period will be looked upon as Prince's great 'lost' period of inspired music - where quantity and quality meshed together, much like the 82/83 and 85/86 periods.

I agree its the material from the early to mid nineties that prove somewhat distorted and confusing and yet contain some of his best bodies of work!


AWJ

Most of it is dross - the worst of which is 'Dolphin'. It's not even bad in a "so bad it's good" way...

Let's take a look at some of the lyrics from 'Dolphin'...



Compare and contrast to Dr. Maya Angelou's poem, 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'...



Both authors have used animals as a metaphor. Which text was divine and glorious - and which was silly and nonsensical?

I'm a big supporter of TGE. That's really the album that made me a Prince fan. And I love "Dolphin"; you can intrepret it as Prince telling WB not to tell him how to make and market his music. I love that line "I'll die before I let you tell me how to swim." That album is mostly genius. Though, I'm not crazy about "Now", "We March" or the segues. Bah to the seques!

NouveauDance said:

You love Come, too? Whoohoo! Come and TGE are probably my two favorites of the 90s.

I have the ad somewhere where it shows Prince and above it is the disclaimer stating: "THIS IS PRINCE'S BEST RECORD SINCE 'SIGN OF THE TIMES'!"


..uh, no.

But it is a cool joint. My faves..
"Endorphinmachine" - crazy guitar.
"319" - Elizabeth Berkely sliding up and down a stripper's pole butt ass naked.
"shy" - Opening funk guitar reminds me of Sly.
"Billy Jack Bitch" - The synth bassline reminds me of George Clinton. Cool jam.
"Dolphin" - nice tune.

This CD did get a lot of airplay on the radio and "Gold" was in heavy rotation on MTV, VH-1, and BET. And it was well promoted. Might have to pull it out and re-listen to it this weekend.

SPYZFAN1 said:

I gave it a re-listen about a week ago (I always give this one a re-listen) and it still does absolutely nothing for me. I'm crazy about "319," "P Control" and "Dolphin" are OK, but the rest....ugh! I guess I'll never get this one, that's the way it goes.

NouveauDance said:

Very well said. I agree wholeheartedly!

"I Hate You" was always one of my favs. on the album. The re-mix is of it is grand as well...Billy Jack B too...And no, I'm not bitter...

u2prnce said:

1st post here, hello all. Been a listenser of Prince msic since I was 10 and say Purple rain in the theater. TGE is by far one of the best albums he has done. Shhh is one of the best songs period. Drums and guitar are amazing.

I'm guilty of passing over The Gold Experience when making the first review of 3121. I hadn't listened to it properly, since then it's become of my favorites.

We should go around to as many message boards as we can and promote this album. I bet our grass roots style could make this a hit.

His best of the 90s by far...and his last classic album. I do think 3121 comes close to it. I have to give it more time to really see if it matches up.

This is the album that got me BACK into Prince. After the Symbol album and after he changed his name I gave up the purple kool aid for awhile. Thought dude went off the deep end for good. But my friend gave me a cassette with Endorphinemachine, Shhh, Dolphin, Now, 319, Days of Wild, Acknowledge Me, & Gold about a year before it was officially released. All I can say I fell back in love with the little man's music, and I have been back ever since.

Classic album and it IS underrated and was underpromoted. This should've been HUGE.

This album is in my top 5 favorite albums of all times

The Gold Experience is one of the most underrated albums in his catalogue, but it is definitely a classic! At least people who can't remember the album, can remember P-Control and even The Most Beautiful Girl In The World.

It was very good, and hideously under promoted. I hate U and Gold were fantastic single Choices. Shh! is probably his sexiest ballad of the post Lovesexy period and Pussy Control is probably his only good example of rap. The motherfuckers and niggers actually sound funky and real.
Its a shame warners didnt promote it, cos if they had it may have stopped him making Chaos and Disorder and Emancipation.

I'm not fond of this album myself. For some reason, the title track just tries too much to be the next anthem since Purple Rain...and fails. And the Dolphin song makes me laugh. It was hilarious when I saw him perform this live on a late night show (I forgot which one). I thought, has Prince lost his mind??

silverchild said:

the gold experience is a quality album, but by the time it was released prince rerecorded endorphinmachine, took interactive off the album, added pussy control, took days of wild off the album, added a new version of tmbgitw, and other trax written for the album (ripopgodazippa, acknowledge me) were nowhere to be found. the first half of the album is not that great, but from dolphin to gold, there's not one bad thing besides the poor mix of the song gold.

the best tracklist would be:

interactive
days of wild
endorphinmachine
shhh (live)
acknowledge me (short version)
ripopgodazippa
the most beautiful girl in the world (original version)
dolphin
now
319
shy
billy jack bitch
i hate u
gold

tane1976 said:

I think the blame falls largely with Prince here regarding promotion - By the time it eventually came out, he'd seemingly lost interest in it.


BTW, Emancipation was already well underway by the time TGE came out, so I think we would've still got that one

I like:

Eye hate U
319
The most beautiful girl in the world.
Gold.
Billy jack Bitch.

Ahhh, The Gold Experence drama.

Listen ,have you all noticed that Prince's album reviews have gotten better after he "came back into the fold"of the record industry???

When Prince was fighting the industry (1993-1996) WB was going through it's deconstruction phase and they place Prince into the Black music division. This cut off about 70% of his fan base and thus reducing sales. Gold was a pop/rock based album with sprinkles of R&B and hip/hop. it was doomed from the start. If this record would have been released on the heals of TMBGITW then we have a mega hit instead of a "lost classic".

Both sides are at fault and both should be blamed for this failure.

A Colossal effort: One of Prince's top ten albums.