JUSIPER

 
Pick of the Week: The Gold Experience by Prince

Posted by Sini

Somewhere on Prince's albums lay the words "May U Live 2 C the Dawn," a reference to something between salvation and apocalypse, an occasion possibly linked to purple rain and the like (though who really knew). Ten years after brilliant but somewhat narcissistic songs like "When U Were Mine" and "When Doves Cry" began a cycle of songs like "Sweet Baby" and "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man," where object finally began to matter more than subject.

Then came trouble with The Man, and Prince realized that the world was bigger--not only than him, but even his latest lover. The result was this album, barely available these days but very arguably his most brilliant. It would start with the truly perverse feminist rap of "P. Control," and segueway into the heavy guitar hooks of "Endorphinmachine," and the gorgeous "Dolphin. "Billy Jack Bitch," a reponse to Minneapolis gossip columnist C.J.'s constant taunting (she conjured the term "Symbolina" for him) corrected the music world's centuries-long negligence by proving the percussive potential of that pejorative. The title song, the most sweeping, soaring statement of artistic freedom in the rock era, was preceded by these words: "Welcome to the Dawn." It wouldn't last, but eight years ago this month we caught a glimpse: it was blazing and bright, and it meant something.

Last pick: Celia Cruz and Friends

3:07 PM |