Do "gold" discs sound better?

Agree with the above. Gold looks fancy, but is essentially
irrelevant to the sound. The two consistently best labels
in my experience for sound quality are JVC/XRCD and
Mapleshade, both of which use exclusively aluminum discs.

Hmm... I always thought the gold was merely a marketing ploy, and that what you were really buying was a better recording. I've replaced certain "standard" CDs in my collection with Gold CDs (e.g., Dylan's Blonde on Blonde, REM's Murmur and Reckoning, esp. Miles' Kind of Blue) and found, in all cases, that the gold version sounded better--not as much compression, better dynamics, less noise.

I agree with the above opinions about gold CDs being more hype. I think that the engineering, mastering and attention to manufacturing details have much more to do wit the sound.

A couple of quibbles:
Craig, isn't "The Healer" a John Lee Hooker album (or is JLH's album "Faith Healer"?).

Jvogt: Mapleshade has at least one non-aluminum CD. I have a copy of Sweetman, "Austin Backalley Blues" that is a gold/copper alloy. Says so on the label, and it's not silver.

Mac; you are correct, "The Healer" (gold CD) is by the great John Lee Hooker-- my apologies, and especially to JLH. His duet with Bonnie Raitt "I'm in the Mood" is dyno-supreme. Of course the Muddy Waters disc I had it confused with is "Folksinger"-- an excellent gold CD in its own right-- been having more "senior moments" lately. Thanks. Craig