The Gold Experience
Encyclopedia
The Gold Experience is the seventeenth studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 by Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...

 (his stage name at that time being the love symbol he created). It was released on September 26, 1995. The album is considered by some fans to be the Purple Rain
Purple Rain (album)
Purple Rain is the sixth studio album by Prince, the first to officially be credited to Prince and The Revolution, and is the soundtrack album to the 1984 film Purple Rain.Purple Rain is regularly ranked among the best albums in pop music history...

 of the 1990s, due to the rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

 feel, accessibility of the tracks, and Prince's own admission that the song "Gold
Gold (Prince song)
"Gold" is a song by Prince from his 1995 album The Gold Experience. Obviously proud of the number, Prince was touting the song as the next "Purple Rain" to reporters before the album's release....

" would be the next "Purple Rain
Purple Rain (song)
"Purple Rain" is a power ballad by Prince and The Revolution. It is the title track from the 1984 album of the same name, which in turn is the soundtrack album for the 1984 film of the same name, and was released as the third single from that album. The song is a combination of rock, pop, gospel,...

".

Prince wanted to release The Gold Experience under the symbolic moniker in 1994, alongside Come
Come (album)
Come is the fifteenth studio album by Prince, released during his public dispute with his then-record company, Warner Bros.-Evolution of the album:...

, which was marketed as a "Prince" album of "old" material. Both albums contained material from Prince's musical production called Glam Slam Ulysses
Glam Slam Ulysses
Glam Slam Ulysses was a 1993 musical production by Prince, loosely based on Homer's Odyssey, featuring a combination of live performances and video, with thirteen previously unreleased songs....

. The plan was to show the superior quality of the newer material as opposed to the older "Prince" material. Plans were thwarted by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...

, which felt the market would be over-saturated with Prince material, and withheld the album. Prince was prompted to protest by appearing in public with the word "slave" written on his face and stating The Gold Experiences release date would be "never".

Some songs originally intended for the album, such as "Interactive" and "Days of Wild
Days of Wild
"Days of Wild" is a song by Prince and The New Power Generation. It was written by Prince in early 1994 after his name change to an unpronounceable symbol. The song is regarded as one of Prince's first legitimate successes at rapping and is both an ode to, and criticises gangsta rap...

", were removed by the time of the album's release. It is believed that "Days of Wild" was nixed because Prince was never satisfied with the studio version. By the time the album actually was released in 1995, Prince's interest in it had passed, and he was working on songs for his 3-CD opus, Emancipation
Emancipation (album)
Emancipation is the nineteenth studio album by Prince . The title refers to Prince's freedom from his contract with Warner Bros. Records after 18 years, with whom he had a contentious relationship...

, which could be partially responsible for the album's lack of commercial success. Despite that, The Gold Experience garnered Prince his best reviews in nearly a decade.

The Gold Experience produced three single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

s, each with an accompanying music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

: "I Hate U
I Hate U
"I Hate U" is a song by Prince from his 1995 album The Gold Experience. The track was the lead single in support of the album, released on September 12, 1995...

", "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World
The Most Beautiful Girl in the World (Prince song)
"The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" is a song by Prince from his 1995 album The Gold Experience It was his first release since changing his stage name to an unpronounceable symbol. With the consent of Prince's usual record distributor Warner Bros...

", and "Gold
Gold (Prince song)
"Gold" is a song by Prince from his 1995 album The Gold Experience. Obviously proud of the number, Prince was touting the song as the next "Purple Rain" to reporters before the album's release....

". Additionally, a video for "Dolphin" was released prior to the release of the album. "P Control" was also intended to be released as a single, but was canceled because it did not receive enough airplay. It was, however, performed at the 1995 VH1 Fashion Rocks Awards.

The song "Billy Jack Bitch" was speculated by many sources to have been written about a Minneapolis Star Tribune gossip columnist known as "CJ".
Prince denied the song was about the columnist when CJ herself interviewed him.

The song "319" appears on the soundtrack of the 1995 film, Showgirls
Showgirls
Showgirls is a 1995 American drama film directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring former teen actress Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, and Gina Gershon...

.

Track listing

All tracks composed and arranged by Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...

, except where indicated.
  1. "P Control" – 5:59
  2. "NPG Operator" – 0:12
  3. "Endorphinmachine" – 4:07
  4. "Shhh" – 7:18
  5. "We March" (Prince, Nona Gaye
    Nona Gaye
    Nona Marvisa Gaye is an American singer, former fashion model, and screen actress. The daughter of soul music legend Marvin Gaye and granddaughter of jazz great Slim Gaillard, she began her career as a vocalist in the early 1990s...

    )
    – 4:49
  6. "NPG Operator" – 0:18
  7. "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World
    The Most Beautiful Girl in the World (Prince song)
    "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" is a song by Prince from his 1995 album The Gold Experience It was his first release since changing his stage name to an unpronounceable symbol. With the consent of Prince's usual record distributor Warner Bros...

    " – 4:25
  8. "Dolphin" – 4:59
  9. "NPG Operator" – 0:20
  10. "Now" – 4:30
  11. "NPG Operator" – 0:31
  12. "319" – 3:05
  13. "NPG Operator" – 0:10
  14. "Shy" – 5:04
  15. "Billy Jack Bitch" (Prince, Michael B. Nelson) – 5:32
  16. "I Hate U
    I Hate U
    "I Hate U" is a song by Prince from his 1995 album The Gold Experience. The track was the lead single in support of the album, released on September 12, 1995...

    " – 5:54
  17. "NPG Operator" – 0:45
  18. "Gold
    Gold (Prince song)
    "Gold" is a song by Prince from his 1995 album The Gold Experience. Obviously proud of the number, Prince was touting the song as the next "Purple Rain" to reporters before the album's release....

    " – 7:23

Special Edition Vinyl Bonuses

  1. "I Hate U" (Extended Remix) – 6:17
  2. "I Hate U" (LP Version) – 6:08
  3. "I Hate U" (Quiet Night Mix) – 3:56
  4. "I Hate U" (Single Version with Guitar Solo) – 4:25
  5. "I Hate U" (Edit - No Guitar Ending) – 3:48

Singles and Hot 100 chart placings

  • "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World
    The Most Beautiful Girl in the World
    The Most Beautiful Girl in the World may refer to:*"The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" , a 1935 song by Rodgers and Hart*"The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" , a 1994 song by Prince...

    " (#3 U.S., #2 R&B, #1 U.K., #1 Australia)
  • "I Hate U" (#11 U.S, #3 R&B, #20 U.K.)
  • "Gold" (#88 U.S., #92 R&B, #10 U.K.)


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 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.
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