Prince 0(+>(September 25/26 1995) The Gold Experience - Album

The Gold Experience is Prince’s seventeenth studio album and the first released under his new unpronounceable symbol name (often referred to as ). Released in September 1995, it blends funk, rock, and soul with the signature New Power Generation sound.

RELEASE DETAILS

Artist: Prince (as )

Label: NPG Records / Warner Bros. Records

Format: 2×LP / CD

Country: Worldwide

Released: September 25, 1995 (UK) / September 26, 1995 (USA)

The album features a mix of high-energy funk-rock tracks, sensual ballads, and conceptual segues by the NPG Operator. It includes the massive hit “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World” and strong singles like “Hate U” and “Gold.”

CONTEXT & NOTES

Recorded mostly between 1993–1994 during a highly creative period, this album marked Prince’s full transition to the symbol name. Many tracks were already familiar to fans through live shows and promotional singles. Note: “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World” was temporarily unavailable on some digital platforms due to a legal dispute until 2022.

Side A

A1 P. Control — 5:59

A2 NPG Operator — 0:10 A3 Endorphinmachine — 4:06

A4 Shhh — 7:16

Side B

B1 We March — 4:49

B2 NPG Operator — 0:16

B3 The Most Beautiful Girl In The World — 4:25

B4 Dolphin — 4:59

Side C

C1 NPG Operator — 0:18

C2 Now — 4:30

C3 NPG Operator — 0:31

C4 319 — 3:05

C5 NPG Operator — 0:10

C6 Shy — 5:04

C7 Billy Jack Bitch — 5:32

Side D

D1 Hate U — 5:54

D2 NPG Operator — 0:44

D3 Gold — 7:23

PERSONNEL Musicians Prince (as ) — all vocals and instruments (except where noted)

ADDITIONAL MUSICIANS AND BACKGROUND

• Mayte — background & spoken vocals

• Rain Ivana — NPG Operator voice

• Michael B. — drums

• Sonny T. — bass guitar, co-lead vocals

• Tommy Barbarella — keyboards

• Morris Hayes (Mr. Hayes) — keyboards

• Ricky Peterson — additional keyboards

• Nona Gaye — co-lead vocals

• Kirk Johnson — drum programming

• James Behringer — additional guitar

• NPG Hornz (Michael B. Nelson, Kathy Jensen, Dave Jensen, Brian Gallagher, Steve Strand) — horns

• Lenny Kravitz — background vocals (uncredited)

• 
  

Production

• Prince (as ) — production, arrangement, mixing, engineering, art direction

• Ricky Peterson — co-production & arrangement (select tracks)

• Kirk Johnson — additional programming & production

• Chronic Freeze, Ray Hahnfeldt, Steve Durkee, Tom Tucker — mixing engineers

• Brian Gardner — mastering

PACKAGING HIGHLIGHTS

• Double vinyl with single sleeve

• Iconic gold-themed artwork and photography

• Includes NPG Operator segues linking the tracks conceptually

• 
  

CHARTS America 

USA: Billboard 200 | 14 Oct. 1995 | 6 | 8 weeks

USA: Billboard Top R&B Albums | 14 Oct. 1995 | 2 | 17 weeks

USA: Billboard 200 (re-entry) | 26 Jun. 2022 | 47 | 1 week

USA: Billboard Vinyl Albums | 26 Jun. 2022 | 47 | 1 week

USA: Billboard Top Albums Sales | 26 Jun. 2022 | 25 | -

Europe 

Belgium: Ultratop Albums Flanders | 7 Oct. 1995 | 15 | 12 weeks

Germany: MusikWoche Top 100 Albums | 9 Oct. 1995 | 24 | 8 weeks

The Netherlands: Album Top 100 | 7 Oct. 1995 | 3 | 8 weeks

UK: UK Albums Chart | 7 Oct. 1995 | 4 | 5 weeks

Certifications

• RIAA (USA): Gold – 7 Dec. 1995 (500,000 units)

• BPI (UK): Silver – 1 Sep. 1995 / 1 Oct. 1995 (100,000 units)

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 called it Prince's best record in years, while Vibe said it was his best since Sign o' the Times in 1987. In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau 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 was less enthusiastic in The New York Times, 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, 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 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 gossip columnist known as "CJ". Prince denied the song was about the columnist when CJ herself interviewed him.

SOURCES Album liner notes, official discography, The Vault.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE All album artwork, photographs, logos, and original text excerpts remain the property of their respective copyright holders. This entry is a transformative, non-commercial archival summary created for historical documentation and educational reference.

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