lurker316 said:

I'm one of those people who became a fan in the '80s and generally hated Prince's output in the '90s. But I'm also one of those fans who always thought The Gold Experience was a great album and an exception. It eschewed most of the hip-hop sound that I thought had ruined Diamonds and Pearls and the Symbol Album. And it wasn't bland like some of this stuff from later in the decade (Emancipation). I thought it did a great job of updating Prince's '80s sound by having Michael B on the drums and the Hornheadz. I always ranked it as not only the best album of the '90s, but one of Prince's best albums period.

However, I rarely listen to it now. I don't think it's aged well. My track-by-track thoughts (segues excluded... from my review that is; I wish they'd been excluded from the ablum):

• P Control: Fairly catchy, but lyrics are embarassing.
• Endorphin Machine: Great song.
• Shhh: Great drum intro, but not much else to the song.
• We March: Catchy bubblegum pop. I don't mind it when I hear it, but won't go out of my way to listen to it.
• TMBGITW: Sappy song to being with, ruined by sound effects.
• Dolphin: Good song.
• Now: I absolutely love the music (especially the horns), but I'm not a fan of the shouty chorus.
• 319: I really like this song, but it's a bit of gimmick.
• Shy: I like this song, but it's a bit of a gimmick as well.
• Billy Jack Bitch: I never got the appeal of this song. It's kind of catchy, but it doesn't go anywhere. Too monotonous for me.
• I Hate U: Reminds me of International Lover, and I didn't like that song either.
• Gold: Derivative. A blatant attempt to make commericial song to appeal to the lowest common denominator. And the lyrics are just as awful as P Control, albeit in a different way. "All that glitters ain't gold," is so trite and cliched.

So there are some things I still appreciate about it, but it doesn't hold up overall for me. Looking back, I may have just been thrilled that Prince ditched the hip-hop. The only songs I listen to now are Endorphin Machine, Dolphin, Now and 319.

[Edited 1/29/21 9:04am]

oh i see what you did there

herb4 said:

herb4 said:

IAdoreWeronika said:

herb4 said: What a boring world if we all liked the same.

Oh, I agree.

It's just weird how wide ranging the tastes are for fans that all like the same artist. Compared to other fan boards I read, something like a top 10 list here is far more varied than others. I think it speaks more to Prince's range than anything.

I totally agree.

Absolutely love the Gold Experience era. Endorphin, Dolphin and Most Beautiful Girl are amongst his best. Some cracking album tracks like Shy, 319, P Control and I Hate U . Always though Gold is an attempt at derivative Purple Rain 2 but that doesn't make it a bad song, it's a cracker.

Stick Days of Wild and Interactive on the album, and replace the terribly overproduced Now with the hard hitting bare version that was doing the rounds before the album came out and throw billy jack bitch and we march out and you'd have a stone cold classic album. Was all the same kind of time he could have put Get Wild, Good Life and Count The Days on it and it would have been a total joke of a record

SoulAlive said:

It's a brilliant album.I just hate the fact that Prince was feuding with Warners.Under normal circumstances,this would have been a massive seller.There are about three or four potential hit singles here.

I have said this for 25 years.

Back in 2004 I was at a nightclub where a friend was DJing and told him to throw P Control on during a dead spot that night. Woke the whole club up ! People were asking him where he could get that new Prince song.