“What’s my name, baby?” Prince inquires of his soon-to-be wife, Mayte Garcia, on “Shhh.” “I love U” is the answer. He was placing a rather large bet on his audience feeling the same way. His war of attrition with Warner had so vexed him that he renounced his name, adopting the notorious Love Symbol — which looks like the representations of Mars and Venus paired with the Trystero horn — and negotiating for the release of lead single “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World” on Al Bell’s independent Bellmark label, a year and a half in advance of the album. On February 20, 1995, he gave an acceptance speech at the Brit Awards, having won Best International Male Solo Artist (over Youssou N’Dour, Warren G, Bryan Adams, and Luther Vandross). “Speech” is stretching it; he spoke fewer than 20 words. “Prince. Best? The Gold Experience. Better. In concert, perfectly free. On record…” — and here he turns to his right, smiling shyly — “Slave. Get wild. Come. Peace. Thank you.” The word “SLAVE,” drawn on his right cheek, said far more.

The Gold Experience is regarded, to this day, as The Artist’s strongest work since Sign O’ The Times. It contains one of his biggest singles, the trad, twinkly “Most Beautiful Girl,” which hit #3 in America and topped the British singles chart for two weeks. Also, it’s got “P Control,” quite likely his best album opener: a gonzo loper in the P-Funk mode dedicated to a girl who’s about her ends. The chorus alone is falsetto lightning, streaking across the sky.

While Gold boasts some tunes, its inventiveness finishes behind its competence. There’s pop-rock in the typically Prince mode, and there are the horndog funk numbers. “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World,” with its nagging, naked melody and crystalline production, is possibly the biggest departure on here, if only for its throwback couples-skate essence. Or perhaps it’s “Dolphin,” with its surprising chord changes and twee reincarnation theme. It’s certainly not the sour MPLS grooves in “Billy Jack Bitch,” a putdown — complete with vocal samples from Fishbone’s “Lyin’ Ass Bitch” — that finds him wielding the word he’s proscribed just six songs earlier. “319” — the best song The Power Station never released — is probably best known for its inclusion on the Showgirls soundtrack. (Prince was apparently super into Elizabeth Berkley.) The final cut is “Gold,” a fine enough rock ballad anchored with plodding quarter notes and fluttering synths. It wears its borrowed wisdom like revealed truth, but there’s a neat little solo and at the end you’re named a member of the New Power Generation, so that’s pretty cool, right?