''The Gold Experience'' is the seventeenth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

. It was credited to his stage name at the time, an unpronounceable symbol (shown on the album cover), also known as the "Love Symbol". The album was produced entirely by Prince and released on September 26, 1995, by

NPG Records NPG Records is a record label that was owned by Prince and run by Trevor Guy. "NPG" is short for New Power Generation. It was founded to release his music after Paisley Park Records was shut down by Warner Bros. Records in 1994. Though the 1994 c ...

and

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. The album charted at number 6 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number 2 on the

Top R&B Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

. The singles " The Most Beautiful Girl in the World", " I Hate U", and "

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

" charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at numbers 3, 12, and 88 respectively. On June 18, 2022, ''The Gold Experience'' was reissued for Record Store Day 2022. The reissue on vinyl is a replica of the original translucent gold expanded, limited promo album from 1995. The day prior, the album's CD version was rereleased. This marked the first time the complete album had been reissued following the legal battle over " The Most Beautiful Girl in the World".

Reception

''The Gold Experience'' sold 500,000 copies in the United States and peaked at number six on the ''Billboard'' 200, failing to meet the record label's commercial expectations. According to biographer Jason Draper, it may have undersold because Prince was losing touch with younger listeners and also because his contractual dispute with Warner Bros. Records overshadowed the album's promotion, which he had done well before it was released. Nonetheless, ''The Gold Experience'' was a success with critics. ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' called it Prince's best record in years, while ''

Vibe ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down productio ...

'' said it was his best since ''

Sign o' the Times ''Sign o' the Times'' (often stylized as ''Sign "☮︎" the Times'') is the ninth studio album by American singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Prince. It was first released on March 30, 1987 as a double album by Paisley Park ...

'' in 1987. In ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'',

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

wrote that it showcased not only the unbridled artistry displayed on his other records but also "a renewal. It's as sex-obsessed as ever, only with more juice—'Shhh' and '319' especially pack the kind of porno jolt sexy music rarely gets near and hard music never does." He believed its best songs, specifically "Endorphinmachine" and "P Control", "funk and rock as outrageously and originally as anything he's ever recorded".

Jon Pareles Jon Pareles (born October 25, 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', finding most of the songs to be minor successes and calling it "a proficient album, not a startling one; most of its songs are variations and retreads of previous Prince efforts." ''The Gold Experience'' was voted the 30th best album of 1995 in the

Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...

, an annual poll of American critics published by ''The Village Voice''. Christgau, the poll's supervisor, ranked it 10th best in his own year-end list. In a retrospective review, Keith Harris from ''

Blender A blender (sometimes called a mixer or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen appliance, kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsion, emulsify food and other substances. A stationary blender consists of a blender ...

'' cited ''The Gold Experience'' as the best album Prince recorded in the 1990s, "a mix of newly stripped-down funk and delicate balladry that reasserts his dynamic range". Several people speculated that the song "Billy Jack Bitch" was written about a ''

Minneapolis Star Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

'' gossip columnist known as "CJ". Prince denied the song was about the columnist when CJ herself interviewed him.

Track listing

Notes

* Every use of the pronoun "I" throughout the song titles and liner notes is represented by a stylized "👁" symbol. This symbol is commonly transliterated as "Eye" amongst Prince fans, as "👁 No" and "I Wish U Heaven" both appeared on ''

Lovesexy ''Lovesexy'' is the tenth studio album by American recording artist Prince. The album was released on May 10, 1988 by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album was recorded in just seven weeks, from mid-December 1987 to late Janua ...

''.

Personnel

* Prince – lead vocals and various instruments *

Tommy Barbarella Tommy Barbarella (born Thomas Elm) is an American keyboardist. He was a member of The New Power Generation, Prince's recording and stage band, from 1991 to 1996. Barbarella also played on Miley Cyrus's album, '' Breakout''. In 2010, Barbarella b ...

, Mr. Hayes – keyboards (3, 4, 8, 12, 15, 16, 18) *

Sonny T. Sonny T. (born Sonny Thompson) is an American bass player. He was a member of The New Power Generation, Prince's recording and stage band, from 1991–1996. Sonny T. was a member of the Minneapolis bands Back to Black and The Lewis Connectio ...

– bass (3, 4, 8, 12, 15, 16, 18), backing vocals (5) *

Michael Bland Michael Bland (born March 14, 1969) is an American musician best known as a drummer for Prince starting in 1989. He was with Prince during The New Power Generation era and played with him live and on albums for seven years. From 1995 to 1997, ...

aka "Michael B." – drums (3, 4, 8, 12, 15, 16, 18) * Ricky Peterson – additional keyboards (5, 7, 12, 16, 18) * Kirk Johnson – drum programming (5) * James Behringer – additional guitar (7) * Brian Gallagher – tenor saxophone (10, 12, 15) * Kathy Jensen – baritone saxophone (10, 12, 15) * Dave Jensen, Steve Strand – trumpet (10, 12, 15) * Michael B. Nelson – trombone (10, 12, 15), horn arrangement (15) * Nona Gaye – co-lead vocals (5) * Mayte – spoken vocals (1, 5) * Rain Ivana (as NPG Operator) – voice (2, 6, 9, 11, 13, 15-18) Produced by Prince, except: 7, 12, 16, 18, co-produced by Ricky Peterson, and 5, co-produced with Ricky Peterson and Kirk Johnson.

Singles

* " The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" (#3 US, #2 US R&B, #1 UK, #1 Australia) * "

Eye Hate U I Hate U may refer to: * "I Hate U" (Prince song), 1995 * "I Hate U" (SZA song), 2021 * "I Hate U", a song by Simon Curtis from the 2011 album '' RA'' See also * " I Hate U, I Love U", a 2016 song by Gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien * I Hate You ...

" (#12 US, #3 US R&B, #20 UK) * "

" (#88 US, #92 US R&B, #10 UK) Another track, "Shhh", charted from ''The Gold Experience'' in July 1994; it was not the album version, but rather a live version performed on ''The Beautiful Experience'' TV special, which aired in 1994. It received some R&B airplay, causing it to chart and peak at #62 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gold Experience, The 1995 albums Prince (musician) albums Albums produced by Prince (musician) NPG Records albums Warner Records albums