So I've been here on the org since the beginning... Obviously not with this same user name, but I've been around for a while...

I remember The Gold Experience was one of the last albums at the time I was searching for as it was out of print. Everytime I'd read on the org TGE is the best Prince album since Sign O The Times. TGE is amazing, etc...

When I finally listened to TGE I was a little dissapointed and this brings up a question I've had many many years ago... Why do people here praise this album sooo much? Is it really that good? Or is it over rated??

Don't get me wrong there are some spectacular songs and guitar solos on this album, Shhhh being one of my favorite Prince songs and guitar solos of all time. The concept confused me, I found the computer "experiences" to be cliche and corny, I didn't like the "image" Prince had for this album he looked really un cool at the time... And some of the tracks when you break it down on the album are just meh... So is TGE really that good or do people here tend to over rate it?

1. Pussy Control: a tisket a tasket... Rapping and screaming and guitar don't mix.

2. Endorphinmachine: great guitar solos... too much "rapping or fast talking..."

3. Shhh: best song on the album, one of my favorite songs of all time.

4. We March: ... K. nothing special...

5. The Most Beautiful Girl In The World: great balad, beautiful song.

6. Dolphin: mamals and guitar... strange song...

7. Now: people must really like Prince's rapping on this album...

8. 319: catchy song, nothing special

9. Shy: good song...

10. Billy Jack Bitch: old school Prince funk

11. Eye Hate U: another classic Prince ballad

12. Gold: all that glitter ain't gold... a little corny.

Some good songs but I feel the org really over rates this album... Sry.

I'm going to get eaten alive for posting this...

SuperSoulFighter said:

I don't think you can "overrate" a record. You either like it or you don't! I can only give you my own opinion, and me too I'm a little surprised at how popular it is. First of all, this period was when he started losing himself in sound effects and segues. Compare the original version of Beautiful Girl to the album version- the song really doesn't improve with all the added effects. But mostly this album was a wasted opportunity. No Days of Wild, no Interactive... And it came out way too late when we already knew most of the songs through bootlegs. This could have been a great album, but fell victim to the WB Wars. [Edited 10/22/14 1:46am]

I totally agree with you, couldn't have said it better...

You know how PleccyLeccy was hinted at, shown off, songs played live from, then it seemed like it was never going to come out - That's kind of a similar situation to how TGE. He was bigging up that album since before Come was even on shelves, and fans had all the songs on bootlegs, and TV specials and heard them live and loved them. It was a fun era.

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The 93-95 period is also regarded as very strong creatively, his band was rockin' and very well liked by fans also.

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Again a lot like PE, by the time TGE was released he'd missed the hype train a bit and it became just another album release commercially, but fans still really dug the album, the overall concept (well not everyone loved that, but whatever!) And then after TGE for a LONG time it seemed like it was the last great album (some might even still consider it so). So yes it is regarded highly and deseverdly so.

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Ironically, I think it's aged a little worse than Come has. TGE feels a little bloated where as Come is pretty succinct. 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'... We March is still a waste of a fucking song slot on the album!

Brilliant album.

Best Prince-album of the 90s. If only Prince could make music like that again...

Come - Exodus - The Gold Experience - what a fantastic trio.

I thought it was brilliant at the time. Prince was still innovating and his sound was still evolving (the evolution seemed to stop after this). But it does sound a bit dated now. The segues are pretty annoying now too. But overall, and following my disapointment with Come, I thought this new sound was the beginning of something special. Alas, it all went a bit pear shaped for the next 20 years (with a few exceptions).

I never thought it was great...actually it really is fairly average and forgettable albeit with some good moments scattered here and there. Songs like 319, we march, pussy control....i mean who really cares for these.

Line those tracks up against one of prince's most criticized albums - ''around the world.... '' and they dont come close to the quality of songs like condition of the heart, pop life, paisley park and tambourine.

You got to have standards....im not saying 'kick it to the curb' but i think its only an album for the completists.

This album is hindered by the segues, hell, a lot of 90's albums in general were! I am glad segues are a thing of the past mostly, I hate them!

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!

I liked Shy and i guess i still do but... Whatever..

As an album overall as a whole it's not bad... I think a lot of people praised this album so much for the time period because he was putting out a lot of stuff that was really subpar from his output in the 80s...

There are a lot of songs on TGE that just don't make the album "GREAT" my opinion of course...

The corny segues... Songs like Pussy Control, We March, Now... I just can't call this a great album.

MIRvmn said:

it's a good album but I think Come and Exodus are a lill bit better. But at the time when TGE was released I was blown away by how amazing I thought it was. Nowadays I barley listen to TGE, but I still play songs from Come and Exodus every now and then. Btw Come feels is a bit short, there should have been at least 1 or 2 more songs on it. And yes TGE sounds a bit dated

I agree it does sound dated... Too much rapping in this album, rapping and electric guitar just doesn't mix...

Come is actually underrated I believe. Come is missing somthing but it has some good songs, a dark concept... I like Come, like you said it should have had at least 2 more tracks.

Come

Pheremone

Space

Solo

Letitgo

good tracks imo.

[Edited 10/22/14 4:38am]

thedance said:

Brilliant album.

Best Prince-album of the 90s. If only Prince could make music like that again...

Come - Exodus - The Gold Experience - what a fantastic trio.

Sign O The Times is brilliant.

If Eye Was Ur Girlfriend is brilliant.

Adore is brilliant.

TGE good, not bad, not brilliant.

Pussy Control not brilliant.

We March not brilliant.

A brilliant album must have brilliant songs.

feeluupp said:

thedance said:

Brilliant album.

Best Prince-album of the 90s. If only Prince could make music like that again...

Come - Exodus - The Gold Experience - what a fantastic trio.

Sign O The Times is brilliant.

If Eye Was Ur Girlfriend is brilliant.

Adore is brilliant.

TGE good, not bad, not brilliant.

Pussy Control not brilliant.

We March not brilliant.

A brilliant album must have brilliant songs.

^ aren't you a bit too critical? -- well that is YOUR opinion, ok..... but I have mine:

tastes... imo the album is a absolute masterpiece in its own rights...!!

It was a relief to hear a cohesive album again after the major post-LoveSexy dip, but never understood the adoration for the album one often meets here.

Maybe it depends on when you discovered Prince, but to compare TGE with anything from his truly brilliant period (82-87) is, yes indeed, overrating the album.

feeluupp said:

thedance said:

Brilliant album.

Best Prince-album of the 90s. If only Prince could make music like that again...

Come - Exodus - The Gold Experience - what a fantastic trio.

Sign O The Times is brilliant.

If Eye Was Ur Girlfriend is brilliant.

Adore is brilliant.

TGE good, not bad, not brilliant.

Pussy Control not brilliant.

We March not brilliant.

A brilliant album must have brilliant songs.

What kind of a post is this? You take 2 of the best songs from SOTT and say "see, they are brilliant, so SOTT is brilliant". Then take 2 average songs from TGE and say "see, they are not brilliant, so TGE is not brilliant".

So if we do this, let me rephrase it:

"It" - not brilliant

"Starfish and Coffee" not brilliant,

(SOTT not brilliant then??)

"Endorphinmachine" - brilliant

"I Hate U" - brilliant

(TGE brilliant then)?

A brilliant album must have brilliant songs.

[Edited 10/22/14 5:24am]

TGE IS MY FAVOURITE PRINCE ALBUM OF ALL TIME. IF HE HAD LEAFT DAYS OF WILD ON AND ACKNOWLEDGE ME THAT WOULD HAVE MADE IT EVEN BETTER. MAYBE THE REMASTER WILL ADDRESS THIS IF IT HAPPENS AS THERE WERE ALOT OF GREAT COMMERCIAL SOUNDING POP SONGS FROM THIS ERA BUT FOR WHATEVER REASON THE ALBUM WAS NOT AS SUCESSFUL AS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN. IF IT HAD COME OUT AROUND TMBGITW WAS NO 1 IT WOULD HAVE MADE MORE SENSE IF HE WANTED AN HIT ALBUM

I think it is.

---

It's a really strong album, but side A has too many weak songs to my ears. "Endorphin Machine" and "Shhh" are just OK, "We March" is terrible and "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" would have been better in the single version.

---

I've always thought Diamonds And Pearls is a stronger album as far as songwriting goes (and songwriting is what matters to me the most), and when I began reading the org I was surprised to see people usually rated The Gold Experience higher.

What's all this 'guitars and rapping don't mix' crap?

The Gold Experience was and still is a cohesive album... not every track on it is a classic, but P Control is a fantastic opener - love the energy and message of it... this is the best rapping of Prince's career, and the musicianship is absolutely first class - this band is probably the best he ever had.

The inventiveness, the sheer musicality of The Gold Experience (and the surrounding era, with outtakes etc) is just incredible, which is why the The Dawn bootleg is such an exhilarating 3 hours of listening.

I loved it at the time and I still love it now, it sounds so much fresher than several newer albums, like most of 3121, nearly all of Planet Earth, which already sound tired (actually, those albums sounded pretty tired the day they were released)...

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.

[Edited 10/22/14 6:04am]

I think the hype gets to it on this site. TGE is a fun, fans-only sort of album and definitely doesn't sound as good now as it probably did then. There's not one lyric that isn't cringe-inducing, it's overlong, and the hip-hop elements are forced. None of his [officially released] 90's albums hold up well. 'TGE' is certainly better than any LPs he'd do afterwards, though.

It is an awful album. It has always been severely overrated by fans, just like Rainbow Children, the Gold Experience is almost unlistenable. So many bad lyrics. So many horrible raps. The dichotomy comes from how good the musicians are. Lots of people just listed for the technical musicianship and don;t even pay attention to lyrics or melody. That is why a song like NOW does not phase them with the level of stupidity it embues. There are more good songs on Chaos. Easily. Come is way better. Even exodus is better than gold.

I always consider gold to be the fall off point for prince. His lyrics just hit the toilet and all his music becaame a cartoon. It is a really bad album. No wonder his career died at that moment.

^ Hey TrevorA:

always so critical, I wonder what kind of Prince music DO you like (besides Chaos, Come and Exodus mentioned)?

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?

feeluupp said:

Don't get me wrong there are some spectacular songs and guitar solos on this album, Shhhh being one of my favorite Prince songs and guitar solos of all time. The concept confused me, I found the computer "experiences" to be cliche and corny, I didn't like the "image" Prince had for this album he looked really un cool at the time... And some of the tracks when you break it down on the album are just meh... So is TGE really that good or do people here tend to over rate it?

"Overrated album features spectacular songs" - thats one hell of a statement.

Even if you came to the album post-internet there is nothing stereotypical or cliché about it. The idea of having all the songs catagorised under headings was a vision of the future.

1. Pussy Control: a tisket a tasket... Rapping and screaming and guitar don't mix.

There isn't much guitar in the song. It's a great intro track, a throwaway introduction in the vein of SexyMF. The call and response portions live were just as hilarious as those in SexyMF.

2. Endorphinmachine: great guitar solos... too much "rapping or fast talking..."

Another great song, excellent "second opener"

3. Shhh: best song on the album, one of my favorite songs of all time.

Agreed.

4. We March: ... K. nothing special...

Weakest track on the album. I've always quite liked it.

5. The Most Beautiful Girl In The World: great balad, beautiful song.

If you google this song you will be redirected to a picture of some cheese on toast. In your opening lines you talked about corny...

6. Dolphin: mamals and guitar... strange song...

Lyrically and musically among his best songs. Your summary is like "When doves cry... pfft doves don't cry this song makes no sense".

7. Now: people must really like Prince's rapping on this album...

People have always liked Prince rapping/spoken. He's done it a lot SexyMF, Get Off - two of his biggest singles. Now is a great dance track.

8. 319: catchy song, nothing special

Another epic summary.

9. Shy: good song...

Agreed

10. Billy Jack Bitch: old school Prince funk

Yep.

11. Eye Hate U: another classic Prince ballad

Yep

12. Gold: all that glitter ain't gold... a little corny.

But TMBGITW is a beautiful song?

Some good songs but I feel the org really over rates this album... Sry.

You've just praised most of the album while attempting to say it's overrated.

TGE is Prince most underrated album. It spawned a couple of hit singles and had the potential for more. The liner notes say it all. The album launch was a complete clusterfuck and ultimately it performed poorly. Hence why many fans see it as underrated.

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.

BartVanHemelen said: