The Gold Experience＜完全生産限定盤＞

1995年発売 プリンス『The Gold Experience』のアナログ盤(ブラック・ヴァイナル)
人気曲「ザ・モスト・ビューティフル・ガール・イン・ザ・ワールド」「エンドルフィンマシン」を収録

『The Gold Experience』は、プリンスという名前を棄て、"ラヴ・シンボル"と呼ばれるシンボルマークに改名した最初のフル・アルバム。1995年当時、自らの右頬に"SLAVE"(奴隷)とペイントするなど、所属レコード会社や音楽業界と戦いを繰り広げていたこともあり、テンションみなぎる傑作として現在でも高く評価されている。ゴージャスなラヴ・バラード「ザ・モスト・ビューティフル・ガール・イン・ザ・ワールド」や、格闘技番組のオープニング・テーマとしても話題を呼んだ豪快なスタジアム・ロック「エンドルフィンマシン」などポップな人気曲を数多く収録し、ファンや批評家からの称賛を得た。

Prince changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol in 1993, but it wasn't until 1995 that he actually released a record credited to that symbol. During those two years, he released a greatest-hits collection, an official version of his much-bootlegged Black Album, and a final Prince album, the lackluster Come. Throughout 1994, he pressured Warner to release another album, The Gold Experience, but the company refused and he staged a public protest in the media, calling himself a slave to the label. By the summer of 1995, the artist and the company had made amends and the record was released in the fall. In a way, The Gold Experience lives up to the manufactured hype created while it languished on the shelf. More of a creative rebirth than a change in direction, the record finds Prince and the New Power Generation running through a typically dazzling array of musical styles, subtly twisting new sounds out of familiar forms. Much like The Love Symbol Album, it follows a loose concept, interweaving a variety of pop, funk, rock, soul, and jazz styles into a vague story. Song for song, The Gold Experience is slightly stronger than its predecessor, as Prince's melodies are more immediate, especially on the Philly soul tribute "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" and the pure pop of "Dolphin." Also, the band's performance is lively and confident, bringing an effortless virtuosity to funk workouts ("P Control"), and fuzzed-out rockers ("Endorphinmachine"), as well as ballads like "Eye Hate U." The Gold Experience is somewhat weighed down by interludes that attempt to further the story but wind up interrupting the flow of the music, yet that doesn't stop the album from being Prince's most satisfying effort since Sign O' the Times. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine