top 10 p record

#sorryhaters

wonderful thing

Great article. I love these time machine deep dives. I love his Audrey-Hepburn-From-the-Future look from this era, but I feel like TGE's reputation is way, way, way overblown.

Unpopular opinion time: TGE is both his absolute best 90s album and a pretty underwhelming record overall. It's REALLY corny. Like, I can't play it around people without getting funny looks corny. It sounds like the musical equivalent of those VHS tapes about how to use the Internet. It's messy, desperate and overproduced.

Shockedelicus said:

Shockedelicus said:

Great article. I love these time machine deep dives. I love his Audrey-Hepburn-From-the-Future look from this era, but I feel like TGE's reputation is way, way, way overblown.

Unpopular opinion time: TGE is both his absolute best 90s album and a pretty underwhelming record overall. It's REALLY corny. Like, I can't play it around people without getting funny looks corny. It sounds like the musical equivalent of those VHS tapes about how to use the Internet. It's messy, desperate and overproduced.

I disagree with your assessment of the album, but dude, you're an AWESOME writer! Do you have a blog?

This was the album that got me back into him after ignoring his stuff for a few years. I remember seeing The Black Album at the record store, and I was like FINALLY...but almost didn't get it (happy now that I did) because I already had the boot. I had no idea Come was released until at least a year later. But hearing a tape a friend made me of various songs that wound up on TGE got me excited again.

I also remember that no one knew that it was even out when it finally was released. Prince was so over it all that even he ignored it. Great album, but was sort of a depressing time cause he really sunk to an all time low when it came to popularity.

its a good album, for sure.

prob his best 90s album, or as good as come and D&P.

though theres still a handful of songs i wish never made the cut.

in retrospect, all that hype around it at the time, the name change, the idea of a new beginning, never playing the old songs, all that stuff, was obviously just a bit of a ruse. fun, mysterious, it kept us guessing, but not quite the radical break he was acting like it was. so yeah it was a fertile period, he was obv defiant and it lit a fire under him, but now, its also just another 90s prince album ultimately.

This one has risen quite a bit in my estimation. I used absoultely hate P Control but now appreciate its goofy charm. I loved the asthetic of this era and yeah the sound is a bit "plastic" but way better than the sound of Emancipation.

Its loud, bold, colorful and fizzes with energy. His best and most consistent overall set from the 90s.

I loved this album when it came out - and still love most of it. Other parts have not aged well IMO.

One of the things I've always loved about Prince is that so much of his music doesn't sound like it's from any era, in particular. The Gold Experience has a definite "of its time" feeling that doesn't sit as well with me.

Shockedelicus said:

Can someone comfirm - I thought Prince was only mixing the onstage sound from his little Endorphine Machine booth, not the front of house sound? As a perfectionist I doubt he would try to mix what he can't hear?

Unlike SOTT, where he had a lot of material and boiled it down to a classic - this kinda went the other way, he had a shit ton of material but somehow it never culminated in a great album?

Was it the interference was WB? was it the overproduction and segues? choice of songs?.....

fishwillbite said:

Can someone comfirm - I thought Prince was only mixing the onstage sound from his little Endorphine Machine booth, not the front of house sound? As a perfectionist I doubt he would try to mix what he can't hear?

I think he did both, had a guy back of house & he also had the ability to tweak the sound from inside the E. Machine.

I was up against the stage at glam slam la, the one show I saw from that era and I remember him bringing the guitar level up at one point.

I was hyped after hearing him do snippets of songs on whatever Awards show that was...Grammy's or American Music Awards, especially the I Hate U snippet.

But to be honest...outside of I Hate U and Endorphinmachine and Dolphin and the Mustang Mixes of Most Beautiful Girl, I don't like it!

They'd have to really have some interesting unreleased songs to get me to buy a Deluxe of 'The Gold Experience'!

its funny that after the big name change, what he released was almost like his lenny kravitz album.

lot of corny lyrics (endorphin machine), lot of retro funk-rock-isms. the undertaker would have been a better album. better showcase for the band too. but TGE is a very 'big' album. so theres a lot of big DUMB energy on here (eg now), as well as a lot of big pop energy (TMBGITW, gold). overall, its enjoyable, its fun pop rock, its just very big. like he was shooting for the charts. come and C&D had more dynamics/intelligence. should have been called The Large Experience

[Edited 9/23/20 15:34pm]

PacketMan said:

Shockedelicus said:

Great article. I love these time machine deep dives. I love his Audrey-Hepburn-From-the-Future look from this era, but I feel like TGE's reputation is way, way, way overblown.

Unpopular opinion time: TGE is both his absolute best 90s album and a pretty underwhelming record overall. It's REALLY corny. Like, I can't play it around people without getting funny looks corny. It sounds like the musical equivalent of those VHS tapes about how to use the Internet. It's messy, desperate and overproduced.

I disagree with your assessment of the album, but dude, you're an AWESOME writer! Do you have a blog?

Thanks, that's pretty heartwarming. I don't have a blog anymore, but I've been thinking of getting back in the game.