something about this album makes me avoid it.. i enjoyed the album when i was younger.. but can't seem to push play on it any longer

Not sure exactly when the album was first put together.... I do remember it being held back for a while, but if it was released after the sales and concert success of D&P, I think it would have been massive, and could have possibly been his biggest seller after PR.

If I stumbled on this thread about ten years ago I would have agreed with the original poster. But it seems, to my ears at least, that Gold Experience isn't aging as well as I hope it would now that another decade is coming to a close. For me, Chaos and Disorder, Emancipation and, to some extent, New Power Soul are the underrated ones.

However I do agree that Gold Experience is enjoyable enough and is actually a good entry point for anyone who wants to get acquainted with Prince's music in the 90s.

NDRU said:

That's truth right there.

PurpleKnight said:

I do agree with U. I've always said that this album marks the end of an era. The struggle era. The artist formerly known as Prince was in front of a mirror while he was either composing and recording and playing live those songs.
After that, the descent. Which does not mean decay, mind!

PurpleKnight said:

that's not really true at all. Cream, push, and Walk don't walk are all about personal empowerment. Thunder and willing & able are about religous awakening. D&P is about the purity of love. Live for love is about the morality of war. U are trying to under sell D&P to big up GE. Don't confuse not liking something with the content of the songs.

tricky99 said:

I'd give you the rest of them, on a good day, but Cream is only dressed up as a song about personal empowerment when it's really just about "god damn, i feel sexy today!"

Very well written, although I don't particularly like 'The Gold Experience'.

It has moments of brilliance and power, like "Endorphin Machine", "Dolphin", and "Shy", but I couldn't stand the damn intervals after the first listen. Also, the "funky" songs didn't do it 4 me at all... "319", "Billy Jack Bitch", and "Pussy Control" all fall flat 2 me, and haven't aged very well either. "Billy Jack Bitch" almost did it 4 me.

Even though this album and 'Diamonds & Pearls' R my 2 least liked Prince albums, I do, in fact, agree with much of what you said.

One specific point I can't agree with:



'Planet Earth' was very lively at points, and just the 5:00 mark (and forward) on the title song clearly shows us Prince has plenty of passionate energy in the studio.

That guitar solo and the screams R pure Prince, and I would say that solo may be the best one he has ever recorded. The screams R nearly identical 2 the ones in "Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)"...

I have said it a thousand times, The Gold Experience is a masterpiece. In my opinion it's his very best album ever.

It's no use explaining, the one's who love this album know what I am talking about anyway. This album holds so many different feelings ("Experiences") for me and I experience them everytime I listen to it, song by song, which makes me feel safe somehow.

In my opinion everything about that album is perfect, although I do understand why some people say otherwise. This is just my personal opinion I have because of personal reasons mainly, but if you don't agree at all and you'd like to ask something like "What the hell is perfect about 'We March'?", don't hesitate.

The Gold Experience 4ever and ever and ever!

Welcome 2 The Dawn

Plus, I wouldn't call this an 'overlooked masterpiece' as many here on this board have said repeatedly the phrase, "The Gold Experience is Prince's last great album."

I don't believe that personally - 3121 was pretty damn great, and in my mind, Musicology is a masterpiece, even with the tracks I'm not the most fond of.

Man, I dunno, the more time that passes, I'm realizing I'm one of the few on this board that doesn't really feel the need to condemn a piece of Prince music because I'm not a fan of it. Because I don't like it doesn't make it crap - it just means it doesn't appeal to me.

bleutuna said:

This is exactly the point I have been trying to impress on people for a while now here on the org. People are confusing their own taste as being some objective measure of the artistic merit of prince's work. I also don't undrestand this constant need to trash some aspect of Prince's work. people are continually underappreciating what goes into the music. there is hardly anything average about even some the poorer prince songs. He puts to much detail in them for that.

tricky99 said:

right on!

also... listeners must listen in the now, and stop comparing constantly. I am still astonished at how many strongly dislike 'Planet Earth'. Besides "Mr. Goodnight", and the fact that the album is short, this is a great album that I'm sure even Prince thought the fans would dig, but...

tricky99 said:

That's how it should be, yeah. But unfortunately when somebody doesn't like an album or a song or whatever, they think their opinion is factual and not only they create assumptions about how the artist was "lazy" or "not inspired" while making it, but they call those who appreciate it as "with bad taste" and "they like everything s/he releases anyway"...

bleutuna said:

You're not the only one cause on the same boat as you. Even if I find a CD that I don't like, I can find at least 1 song that I dig and I focus on that. It's a waste of time to focus on what's wrong cause it's not going to make that album sound right to you when you're done complaining.

As for The Gold Experience, I love it. When I first heard the CD, it was at now-defunct HMV and I didn't have a lot of time to be at the store so I listened to 2 mins of each song and I tell you, I hated almost every song on there. I was pissed and scared that this was the album that I had waited for and it was sounding like shit. I couldn't buy it even if I wanted to because my Mom had new rules on me that I couldn't buy secular music. So we fast-forward to January 1998. I was at a record store in N.C. and I saw TGE and I was like, I'm out of my mom's house, let me give this another chance. Man, that one of the best things I ever did. That album kicked every part of my ass and thensome. I loved almost every song on there, except for We March and I liked it a lot but I didn't love it. I played that cassette again before I went to bed. 11 years later, I still love this album. It a tour de force from start to finish and it's one of those CD's that makes me so proud to be a Prince fan. It's my prayer that Prince will one day re-release this CD so that more people can find out how incredible this CD is.

LiveToTell86 said:

I've found the opposite trend here. When someone posts a dissenting opinion against Prince, very often the diehards come out with rude comments claiming the OP is just a "hater" or simply didn't understand what Prince was trying to do.

If people read into an opinion as if it's trying to be presented factually, that's their own silly interpretation that's to blame.

tricky99 said:

I don't really see them that way (except for maybe Live 4 Love). I love the song, but Cream is mostly a song about Prince loving himself (he literally came up with while looking at himself in the mirror), Thunder is a fairly one-dimensional song about giving yourself to Jesus, and Walk Don't Walk is as simple as they come (though it too isn't bad).

The fact that it's simple doesn't make D&P bad (Tony M and Prince's desperation to sell a lot after signing his huge contract are what kill it). I just don't think it explored as many dimensions of TGE, which managed to look at societal shifts (P Control, Shy), emotional paradoxes (I Hate U), and sound fun and lively while still summarizing his disillusionment with the record industry (Now, Dolphin, Gold).

TGE is still mostly an album to make you feel excited more than contemplative, but I feel it's an intelligent party album.
[Edited 1/14/09 12:11pm]

LiveToTell86 said:

Isn't that just disgusting? I mean why would anyone want to rain on someone's parade because someone likes a CD that another person doesn't? It happens here all the time and its wrong.

"67, 67
Freaks dance like they in heaven
DJ don't stop the music, DJ don't stop the music
Fill us with de dope track, lick us, twist us, roll us in your mouth
Light us up and take a hit, light us up and take a hit
Mmm, suck us 'til we're dry
And when we're lookin' like a roach, hit the lights
Before U say goodnight though
Let's make a toast yo
This ain't about this, that, what, where, or how
This about the freaks doing everything they wanna do now!"

bleutuna said:[quote]

methodcal said:

tangerine7 said:

methodcal said:

BorisFishpaw said:

well, I do have it it looks completely real as you would buy in a retail store. If it is a boot,so be it. thats what i can add here. methodcal,whom was thinking of same TGE cassette,but theirs are packed away. methodcal did you ever dig out your cassette? possibible you maybe be able to ask BorisFishpaw for further info. if you do not feel like pulling out yours,thats tiresome looking thro storage. good luck.
[Edited 1/14/09 13:02pm]

tangerine7 said:

I bought the tape from the same place I bought all of my tapes, and it was not a bootleg. Days was on it, I'm absolutely certain. I know this because it was the song that I listened to the most on the entire album.

I did read on amazon that it was re-issued, so that may explain why none of the TGE tapes circulating on the net have it in their track listing. Apparently he wasn't impressed with how it sounded on record. So it was officially released, just not for very long. I'll commence the search for mine soon. Thanks for the help tangerine.
[Edited 1/14/09 13:52pm]

PurpleKnight said:

There is a lot of truth in what you write, though I disagree with the comment on Prince's current output.

I wouldn't see TGE as THE Prince album which is criminally overlooked and underrated ("most overlooked masterpiece"). You can say that about a lot of Prince albums. Graffiti Bridge, O+>, TGE, Emancipation and TRC all fall into that category imo. However, what eventually makes TGE standing out is how much commercial potential it actually had, and that's also why this album makes me somehow sad because Prince wasted such a chance.

Sure, TGE has its weak points. "P control" is fun, but not a prime example of Prince's songwriting abilities, "We march" is quite weak imo, "Billy Jack Bitch" is a bit too polished to be really hard-hitting funky (though those horns a killers!). I sometimes imagine this album with "Interactive", "The Ride" and a live version of "Days of Wild" on it - wow! I think that most Prince albums have at least one rather weak track on them, so TGE is no real exception. But there is so much brilliant material from this era left out here!

The big problem with TGE has been Prince's strategy to release it, though (please correct me if any part of the story is wrong): IIRC, Prince wanted an independent album release after WB has granted him the independent single release with TMBGITW. Problem: The single was so successful that WB didn't want to waste more of Prince's hit potential, so they didn't allow him to release TGE on his own. Prince didn't realise that he had no chance as he had a valid contract he just had signed 1 1/2 years before. But because he's stubborn, he insisted, and that kept TGE from being released for more than a year (I remember its first announcement ca. mid-1994!). In the end, he had to release it with WB, had lost any interest in TGE and was already preparing for the "Emancipation" project. Result: what could've been a success of D&P magnitude has become a record which is loved by the diehards, but isn't even available in stores anymore, and Joe Public will never get to know it. Sad!

methodcal said:

I also felt i had to look at the cassette as well. the TGE Come Crystall Ball and fan made The Dawn are all ones that has puzzled me over the years,I somehow believe there is certain officals of some 'albums' etc. said above.
So,what you say makes sense to me,too

Thank You methodcal for understanding how i mean and making sense of the cassette. and your welcome for what ever input i may have helped with. thanks 4 you input too,Borisfishpaw
[Edited 1/14/09 14:16pm]

EmancipationLover said:

I don't get this. Prince wanted to release it by himself? Why?

TGE could have been with maybe these as singles:

TMBGITW
Dolphin
Endorphinmachine
I Hate U (sent to r&b)

It has that rare quality in a Prince album where it sounds like an instant hit.

I Love "Gold," and sprinkled with the titles from the album "Come," I wrote this awhile back...4 those who wanna bother reading it...It was just an exercise 4 me.
A Gold Mystery

Agent Pheromone was on the case. The mayor Of Dolphin city delegated a relentless investigation in the disappearance of, The Most Beautiful Girl in the World.
The only clues that the Minneapolice recovered from the scene, were a book of matches labeled, "Solo," and a bedside answering machine. The recording played backwards revealed an unidentified gender speaking through a vocoder. The voice says “I refuse to Letitgo, I dig u better dead,” followed by a decrescendo orgasm..
Mayor P. Contol stated firmly that the Chaos and Disorder would be brought out of the Dark and Into the Light. The Mayor announced that in return for the girl, nine bars of Gold would be the reward.
In faithful loyalty, the Minneapolice raised their right hands committed to, Right the Wrong. “I Will,” each one of them professed. The Race to find the girl was on. The meeting commenced. The mayor pulled away in his endorphinmachine. Chief of police, Zannalee, left in an unmarked pink Caddilac. Some of the officers sped away on motorcycles, however, most of the officers left in groups to solve the crime. “We March,” was those on 4 inch boots’ testimony, as the room emptied.
Agent Pheromone went first to the home of, Billy Jack Bitch and invited himself in for questioning. Assertively the agent said, “Miss Billy Jack, I’d appreciate some truthful answers, well familiar with your compulsive lying.” “Where were you last night between 7:45 pm and 9:15pm?”
“I was having Dinner with Delores,” Billy Jack shouted, followed by a very cruel, “Eye Hate U.”
“Shhh..,” Pheromone attempted to calm her, “Where, did u dine?” he probed.
“At the Shy Hotel,” she spouted.
“Why are you such a Bitch? And, why did u dine, at the Shy?” he exclaimed.
“For one, I rock therefore I am, and two, I fucking like it there.” She swore.
Billy Jack was off the hook it appeared, so Agent Pheromone left, and went to the house of Pepe Papa. Certainly he lives on 94th and Rude boy.
Papa opened the door with a sad look upon his face and said, “I have just come back from outer Space,and I heard that the most beautiful girl in the world, was missing.” Agent Pheromone asked Papa if he had a witness with his alibi, and Pepe Papa replied, “Come to think of it, I do not…I was alone.”
“Good-day Sir,” Agent Pheromone said, as he handed Papa his business card.
As we skip to page 319 of the mysterious novel titled, “The Same December,” which is the sequel to, “The Last December,” we discover that in the midst of the ongoing investigation, the gold reward had been stolen by an NPG Operator that left the country, whose current whereabouts in the story are unknown. The most beautiful girl in the world is still missing, and the kidnapper is still on the Loose!.
This therefore concludes that Prince, the author, will be writing the final book of the trilogy, which by assumption only will be titled, “The next December.”
~T
[Edited 1/14/09 16:17pm]

Just 2 mention, I realize there are problems with quotations and poor sentence structure...I just haven't got around 2 it's revision.

When Gold was released I thought he finally made the comeback album he was destined to make. It blew me away then and has aged very well IMO.

Too bad Gold didn't get all the publicity that Emancipation did, we might be talking about one of the greatest sellers of the 90's.

No Prince album has come close since.

i just revisited the album last week and to me it's held up well.

it holds a special place for because it was released on my birthday

PurpleKnight said:

That's just as bad, I'm not supporting it either. But it's ridiculous how there are only two options: a "hater" who doesn't like anything or a "blind fan" who loves everything s/he releases.

purplecam said:

Because they have the need to talk out their disappointment about their favourite artist, they can't be like "oh I don't like this but probably I'm gonna like his/her next one in 1-2 years anyway", they need to find other people who share their views to justify their opinion and make it an all around accepted fact that the artist "sucks now".

methodcal said:

Bullshit.

methodcal said:

You're mistaken. DOW isn't on the TGE tape.

methodcal said:

Sigh... Dude, I was paying a hell of a lot of attention around that time and so were tons of other fans. So trust me: if DOW had been on the TGE tape, I'd have a pile of those at home. It isn't.

Giovanni777 said:

Here here! bleutuna, tricky99 & Giovanni777 x billion