Publication: New Music Express [UK]
Date: August 3, 1995
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Page Number(s):
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Title: The Gold Experience Review
Reviewed By: Staff

1 PUSSY CONTROL

Starts like some electronic intergalactic war with rapid keyboards and a woman talking in Spanish. Then an introduction, "Good morning ladies, gentlemen, boys and motherf---ing girls," before breaking into a six-minute fast track of warped industrial rap with sex-overdose lyrics.

2 ENDORPHINEMACHINE

"There are over 500 experiences to choose from, here's a selection...". It opens with what sounds like a flick through the radio dial and then booms into a huge stadium friendly single with the lyric, "Prince is done with/Prince is done with".

3 SHHH

Continuing the sex theme, 'Shhh' begins with a dramatic intro then slows into a soulful, jazzy epic. "Sex is not what I think about/It's what I think about you," Symbol sings, before the song concludes with a huge orchestral sweep.

4 WE MARCH

Opens with Christmassy chimes then breaks into hard, raw funk as Symbol asks, "If this is the same avenue my ancestors fought to liberate/How come I can't even buy a piece of it if my credit is straight?"

5 DAYS OF WILD

Weakest track on the album. Prince is rapping. Meant to sound bad-assed but it sounds hollow.

6 TMBGITW

Massive spangly pop song and his worldwide number one. The first really stunning song on the LP.

7 DOLPHIN

Fast-beat pop with a chorus that sounds like a huge pepsi advert. Racy, singularly accessible track that will appeal to seven year pop kids as well as hardened fans. Catchiest song on the album, though the words are distinctly left field: "I'll die before you/I let you tell me how to swim/And I'll come back again as dolphin/Let me in, let me in/As my friend dolphin/As a dolphin".

8 NOW

Hard, raw funk with sharp blasts of brass, swells of organ and snatches of rap in places not unlike Public Enemy's 'Give It Up'.

9 319

A 'Kiss'-like tease with layers and layers of vocal, snatches of horn, choppy funk guitar and scuzzy dirty keyboards. Another possible single.

10 SHY

The album's outstanding track. A stripped down rock ballad with sweet guitar breaks and washes of slide guitar, it ends with the sound of a car driving off into the distance. Symbol sings "The lips say no but the body says might/Looks like we are going to take the long way home tonight".

11 BILLY JACK BITCH

"Open letters are the only things that open wounds." A rolling, funky grove and possible club track (when remixed). Slick swathes of funk and ends with a big roaring laugh.

12 EYE HATE U

Opens with more radio-style voice-overs from a sexy-voiced woman who says, "You've accessed the hate experience. Do you wish to change your mind? Enjoy your experience." Leads into a schmaltzzy over the top ballad with ridiculous lover spurned lyrics and the memorable, "With her hands behind her back so I can tie her tight and give into the act".

13 GOLD

Appropriately big, pumping ballsy power rock ballad to end. Massive Purple Rain-esque sound, though the lyrics are uniquely cheesy and include the words, "There's a mountain and it is mighty high/You cannot see the top unless you fly".