Publication: Scene [US]
Date: October 9-15, 1995
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Title: The Gold Experience Review
Reviewed By: Steven Batten

OK. Let's get a few things straight here right off the bat. No matter what he's calling himself these days, Prince will always be Prince. He can run off and call himself the King of Pop, for all I care, and to me he'll still just be Prince. The King of Pop is just implied.

And secondly, and perhaps most importantly, despite a slew of less-than-successful and somewhat embarrassing follow-ups, PURPLE RAIN will always be, in my eyes, a sheer masterpiece. A sonic tour de force that even Prince himself will have a tough time topping.

OK.You've got that straight? Good. Now we can get on to the good stuff. Prince's latest release, the much anticipated THE GOLD EXPERIENCE, is a welcome return to that defining period in the Purple One's royal history that produced such classics as the aforementioned as well as CONTROVERSY and 1999. Funny then, that while Prince has been busy to distraction trying to renounce his former identity, he returns to that trademark Princely sound on THE GOLD EXPERIENCE. That's OK. Prince has always been about contradiction and ambiguity, and there's plenty to be found here.

THE GOLD EXPERIENCE won't be confused with Prince's best work, but he shows enough flashes of his former brilliance and songwriting genius that I can say with confidence that the man is indeed back. To be sure, thaere are plaenty of instances on THE GOLD EXPERIENCE where the Purple One and his cohorts miss the mark, taking wayward tangents and runninmg amok with them. But when he's on, HE'S ON, brother.

Hot spots include the rousing "Endorphinmachine" and the tantalizing "311." (YES, that is how it was written.) The playful "Dolphin" and the opener "P Control" offer contrasting sides to His Royal Badness' persona, while the bluesy, sensual "Shhh" and "(eye) Hate You" prove once again what we already know: that Prince is as adepet at the mellow, ballad tempo numbers as he is on the out-and-out rockers.

Playing most of the instruments himself on THE GOLD EXPERIENCE (with an occasional hand from the NPG), Prince has abandoned much of the lavish production that served only to clutter his recent releases. Perhaps one of the most underrated guitarists of all time, Prince offers up plaenty of tasty licks throughout THE GOLD EXPERIENCE, so it's really no surprise that this record has come out of the gates so strongly.

Add to the mix a reprise of his hit "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World", and what you've got here is one big, bad, giant step in the right direction for the Paisley One. You can almost forgive him for all the ridiculous between-song NPG banter that clutters the disc and threatens any and all attempts at continuity. But I'll take it. Keep 'em coming, brother.