I love both of these albums! Definitely his 2 best from the 90's. I love the 'tude he's sporting for both of these. I'd have to go with Gold over Come, but I do love them both.

I think TGE is a better album. It's like he wrote a double album, and placed all the more subdued "meh" stuff on COME.

COME is great if I'm in the mood for "mood music", minus a few of the fiercer tracks though.

jtfolden said:

Yeah, I listened to Come 12 hours previous to picking up TGE again... meaning that Come was still in my system, so it was kinda hard to keep my mind open for "The Gold Experience" (and I really do think of the album as an experience, actually, experience(s). That's why I like getting lost in it).
I heard Shh... and then I'm like... wait, this doesn't go. Then I remembered "oh yeah, Shh was part of the original Come tracklisting".
In fact, I feel like it should have been placed after Space on Come... becuz it's very personal (Prince using the words "me" and "you") and it's basically about the same subject... it'd make for a better transition than Space 2 Pheromone.
I also remembered Endorphinmachine was slated for Come also... based on my "strange relationship" with it (no pun intended), I wouldn't have wanted it there cuz I still consider it a song that has to grow on me. This weekend, I learned that when I get in the mood for it (its stuck in my head and such), THAT'S when I should listen 2 it. I enjoyed it so much more.
Boy, I'm gonna have fun with this, mixing & matching the songs. After I give both albums a few more listens, though.
But yeah, I never noticed that little seque @ the end of Endorphinmachine... I still wouldn't know where I'd put it (if at all) in Come, w/o completely interrupting the flow.

I think I'm convinced that TGE is one I gotta listen 2 when I'm more in the mood (where I cant get the songs out of my head). Otherwise, I can't get into it the way I want to. I always gotta complicate things...

I guess it all depends on the Prince phase u r in. Back in the 90's I would have definitely said TGE and I so still believe its a good listen but I'm going to have to say Come at this point.

I think my difficult journey with TGE stemmed from the fact that I got a completely different vibe from it that I've never felt b4.

I was faced with this: Prince was dead and the person behind the album went under an unpronouncable name:
And from that person came a new & different sound that sounded nothing like "my beloved Prince"... if I were to go that far.
I had this fear of the unknown & was more or less a stranger to me at the time.
These days, I pretty much consider no different than Prince, but I guess the new sound of TGE made it difficult to accept at first cuz it was so different & unfamiliar.

I guess I hit it off with Come a little more easily cuz it was kinda like "Prince going out in a blaze of glory"... something like that. He was trying to market it as "Prince" material & it shows.

Despite the awfully gratuitous "Orgasm" and the embarrassing poetry, Come is by far the more soulful and concise album, I think. Nothing on TGE matches the opening jam session of "Come," nothing is as socially unsettling as "Papa," nothing is as confessional as "Solo." And even the half-baked party/sex romps "Loose!" and "Pheromone" are catchier and feel more original and purple than the derivative "P Control" or "319." Come is successfully a burying of Prince's dark side -- it's fleshy and in some areas downright dark, angry and uncomfortable. TGE, on the other hand, feels like a disjointed collection of corny near-Prince singles that we were supposed to prefer for the most part, interspersed with whining about being oppressed to the tune of $100,000,000. Even the freshest material, "Endorphinmachine," "Shy" and "I Hate U," feels the worse for being on that project.
[Edited 5/22/07 21:26pm]

Come, especially the title track is soooo funky! I could listen to it forever....you're right though! Its a hard choice!

Lammastide said:

Had U is on C&D, not Come.

jtfolden said:

Ahhh... That's why I couldn't find it on the track listing! I remembered incorrectly and thought I was missing it as a hidden track of something!! I'll revise my diatribe.

both are good records, but both have (too much) fillers. i guess, there would be one great album with the best stuff from come, gold and crystal ball

come (i like the fast versions more, than the slow one)
pheromone
papa
letitgo
p controll
endorphin machine
shhhh
319
billy jack bitch
i hate u
acknowledge me
what's my name
days of wild

in all honesty, during my first listen, I was disappointed with Come (and I felt horrible about it for a while)

because I felt that nothing in album packed a real "punch". All of the songs were subtle hits, nothing extraordinary, so I could only pick out a handful of tracks I thought were good (Come and Letitgo).

TGE, I'm not really sure which songs in particular packed a punch, but Eye Hate U, Gold, P. Control and Dolphin left a big impact on me. (and of course, I was already a fan of Gold b4hand).

Can´t decide on that one. I love both of the albums. Actually, Come a little bit more.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

Me too. But mine was because i was in the middle of 6 month's of treatment for a serious blood disorder that involved spinal taps, chemotherapy, splenectomy, and daily blood plasma replacements. So I really didn't need the tone of that album at that time in my life. I love it now, though.

Raze said:

Based on what little experience I've had with , his material is unusual, even by the standards Prince set for himself.
But much like he says in "Gold", he breaks the mold he made for himself yet again.

In both cases, he pushes himself to the limit of his abilities and he outdoes himself (what he did in the 80's) and such.
It all depends on the mood, I guess.

But they're both pretty personal albums (Come is moreso) that kinda exposes Prince's "underbelly", if u can call it that. They get u inside his head and that's what's cool about them.

Come had me the moment I heard "If ur 18 and...." It's got tracks on there that I use for my uh...special time with my man. It's also got a track that I can remember from my childhood-Letitgo. I heard it once and it had me remembering the GOOD days of radio. When my dad still had his silver Lincoln town car, when friggin' cross-colours was popular....and the times when I secretly grooved to Prince but had no true idea just WHAT I was listening to.
I tried listening to TGE but...it just didn't hold me. I ended up just messin around on Gaia while listening to it. (and setting something on fire...lol don't ask!!)

jess555ja said:

This is a tough one for me cause i'm loving both of these albums right now but I think Gold might win for me cause I absolutely love I Hate U, Gold and Shhh right now. I can't listen to all the tracks on Come but I do love Come (the song).
[Edited 5/23/07 16:59pm]

Tough call between these two.

Come has the title track, Space, Pheromone, and Letitgo...

TGE has P Control, TMBGITW, Dolphin, Shy, Billy Jack Bitch, EHU...

As much as I love both records, TGE gets the nod - It feels like lightning in a bottle, remarkable for an artist at that stage in their career.

Risico said:

I agree 4 more than one reason. That's kinda what it felt like to me... especially when Endorphimachine took off, it was like a shock to the system but it felt more like I was on a rollercoaster that I wanted to get off of (keep in mind this was my 1st listen).

Although I've yet to get back to it, TGE & I had a pretty close relationship. It felt like he could see my inner insecurities & try to work with them. The album's start is so rocky 2 me that the trust just wasn't there, it rarely is. It's kinda hard to trust, he's baring his soul & kinda makes me do the same. When TGE came off with a more personal meaning for me, I dubbed it my "soul makeover" album... but I've got this irritating problem where I have to be in complete seclusion to get into the zone. The past few times, I've dealt with interruptions (thats the only thing that sux about being home for the summer). The album's full of multiple meanings, how can I get that if the other 3 people in my house (including my own dog) keep intruding on me, especially when I think my door's closed.
more of a reason to put that "Do Not Disturb" sign up. Otherwise, I have to wait until night time, which I don't like cuz sometimes I'm tempted to fall asleep.

Come works for me a little better right now because the trust was always there and when Prince bares his soul on an album, I think that's a crucial ingredient for its enjoyment.

Sorry if I went a little overboard here... excuse a lot overboard.

And nobody's mentioned Gold, my favorite song... 2 me, it blows everything on TGE away... almost as if its too good for its own album.

So can anyone provide a tally, looks like a close call (sorry , but I am too lazy today)

For me 1994-1996 was just about the best years, the trio of COME,TGE,and Chaos were just as good as anyone out there. Though some may say, this was Prince's crazy years, he was just creating music very fast, very different, and just shoveling it out there through whatever channels, this was also my insane boot buying period too, because so much was circulating unreleased. To me i tend to listen to the COME test press cd more than the actual COME cd, its quite different and has a different flow to it, and most likely what Prince wanted it to be, but i just think he was doing so much he split the records up and wanted them out at the same time and Warners fought him on that. So i would advise listening to all 3 cds back to back to back, and hear how amazing Prince was at this time, dont get wme wrong, hes still amazing, but he was all over the chart on these 3 records.

lastdecember said:

Well at least someone was reeking the benefits of Prince's "crazy years".
In 1996, I became a football fan... that's the biggest thing I was into... but I was only 9 at the time. As much as part of me wished I could have been around for the chaos, it was also good that I get to check it out from a different POV.
Who knows if I had dealt with the name change the way I do now cuz all I can do is look back on it?
But hey, my love of football came full circle. The team I wanted 2 win the SuperBowl that year lost but won 10 years later... and the franchise picked up Prince for a ride a year later... and here I am.

Come has a lot of weak songmaterial (Space, Pheromone, Race) and the production isn't really special or something. Next to that Prince sounds bored / on automatic pilot on a many of the songs ... so: 6/10

The Gold Experience on the other hand, is when it comes to the constancy of the songwriting one of his best albums, next to that: the playing by the NPG is impressive: tight, energetic, lively.
I do miss a few 'weird' tracks to spice up the quite normal / conservative songs, and the seques are mostly unnecessary, but in overall TGE ranks: 8/10

Riverpoet31 said:

I think I know what you mean, but "conservative" isn't really a word I'd used to describe The Gold Experience.

Raze said:

I dunno if u call TGE "normal"...
I sure couldn't. Why else would it take me so long to get into it? A few people were sharpening their pitchforks cuz I said "I didnt get into it at first and I shelved it for a few weeks"...
PR, Musicology & 3121, I consider normal, compared to TGE... it was out of this world.

I think TGE was conversative just cuz there was nothing quite like "Come" or "Orgasm" on it.

And actually, Come seems to a bit more normal to me... I think I'm just confusing myself now. Ignore me

Btw, if anyone does do a tally, make sure u have an "undecided" category. I'm still undecided myself.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

Oh, I think TGE is one of his most accessible albums. "Conservative" just doesn't ring true for me, considering the lyrics, and the over-the-top performances/production.

Raze said:

Haha... You're right. There's nothing conservative about control, Endorphinmachine, or 319. Even Hate U crosses a line when he goes on the close ur eyes... tangent

oooo wee baby, ohm fixin tah....

lastdecember said:

gee wiz...ah think ohm....ah, ah!

After listening to the opposition last night (TGE), I came to the following conclusion.

I'll never be able to officially pick one over the other.

It just can't be done. Cuz they both offer something unique and different, but at the same time, dishes out some of the same material (well... duh).

Come is more tight, each track oozes into the next effortlessly, making u wanna listen to it all at once.

TGE is a bit more broken up, but it has many different sides to him. Although both albums are versatile in that sense, in TGE, it's more obvious.

ugh, why'd I do start this if I can't even decide for myself?

But last night I think was the greatest experience I've had with an album in quite some time. So 1000 points 2 TGE (but the points don't really matter )