SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

yes, the best bits.

in his mind, at least. you know good and well there are PLENTY of outtakes that could have ended up on SOTT. i think it's the same deal with LF.

Clarification - Anji, did u mean LF the album or the set of 3? In the below, I am referring to LF as the single album.

TRC does feel more complete. LF has a little bit of a throw-away feel.
TRC really excited me when it came out.
LF took me a few listens to get into (4Ever is, IMHO possibly the worst song he's ever made and that made it hard to appreciate the album).
I think it's too early to tell, as I'm still going back to LF for more, while TRC's been carefully shelved.
I find lyrics on both a little offensive, but can stomach the LF ones better, but I like the fact that TRC was a complete concept with an overriding story (kinda like Symbol but done better, I think). OTOH, LF has a coherent theme, feel and sound.
Nothing on LF got me the way the title track and Family Name did on TRC and there's nothing on TRC I hate (including Wedding Banquet which I treat as a joke, at least as bearable as 77 Beverley Park...). Except maybe Back to the Lotus which did blow my mind a bit...

Basically, it's a very hard call. I think I'm inclined to say that TRC's "better" but that i prefer LF, but I'm not sure I can stand behind either of those statements 100%.

L4OATheOriginal said:

You are quick to judge, and that's unfortunate for you and this conversation. You OBVIOUSLY don't know me or know what I know, or hear what I hear. And that's fine. But don't demote me to being an idiot because no one hears the alleged beauty in that pile of shit you call The Rainbow Children. I'm not the only one who says it's racist, so redirect your angst to ALL those who think like I do. I never said "All the Midnights In The World" was a "great tune", so think again.

Sounds like the only person who is ignorant, would be the person I'm responding to.

ernestsewell said:

it comes from teh same bullshit album u rave about tho but whatever dude ur ears need cleaning but like i said perviously, the album is not racist and u fail 2 comprehend that just like others do when it comes 2 the rainbow childen ..8 years later this album is still being talked about, no one will b talking about planet earth tho..

L4OATheOriginal said:

While I appreciate the overt attention you're giving my jock, let's try to stay on topic, shall we?

Not sure what album I RAVE about all the time, as I love many Prince albums. In fact, the list of "Don't Like" is 10x shorter than the list of "I Love That" albums. Again, you make it personal by telling me something about Hearing Health yet I don't remember a Prince album having directly talked about dirty ears. Odd. You drift a lot. There's medication for that.

The Rainbow Children is a racist, segregationist, overtly religious and preachy album; in that vein it's also very offensive to a lot of Prince fans, and listeners in general. It's turned a LOT of Prince's fans off to the record. You referenced Planet Earth. How fun for you to try and pin that one me. Yet although I've said PE was a much better album than Musicology and my cat's farts are better than TRC, I don't RAVE about it. When his '00 material is compared, then yes, PE is a stronger album FOR ME.

TRC: I can't get past the lyrics to really dig into the music, or whatever. For me, someone who has clean ears and is a grown man, it's the package as a whole that I take or leave. Prince would never sell just parts of his music like just a bass line or just a percussion part and leave it at that, so why would I listen to it that way?

The album is still being talked about because it still reflects a beginning in Prince's self-editing process, his head buried deep in Larry Graham's ass while walking down the aisles of the local Kingdom Hall. I don't FAIL to get anything, son. You fail to realize a few things about people. Let's review.

See, there's this thing in the world called free speech. That gave birth to a great thing called an opinion. We all have one, or two, or many about any particular subject. Despite the colloquialism of comparing opinions to dirty anal cavities, the truth stands in that my opinion will obviously differ from yours. This is a fact you need to accept. That vein on your forehead might not pop out so much once you do.

You seem rather defensive about something that you have no real stock in, aside from the $14 price tag, and obviously a lot of listening time on your part. However, I have better things to do than taint my brain with racist and separatist bullshit on that 5" circle of shit.

Aaaaaand scene.

The Rainbow children is leaps and bounds more musically impressive than lotusflow3r to me.


However, I would listen to lotusflow3r a million times over before having to sit through the Rainbow Children


TRC is ... very long, very slow in places, and I absolutely HATE concept albums which require narration...the music should stand on it's own. Also, lotusflow3r is the kind of album I just play and enjoy without have to immerse myself completely in it--I can play it while cleaning, working, or doing something. Try doing yard work while playing TRC and you're constantly being interrupted by strange narration....and lawd, do not want to be trimming bushes when Wedding Feast plays.

LF on all levels. TRC sounds nice, but the lite-jazz stylings put me to sleep until toward the end he disappeared up his own ass with those lyrics.

Lotusflow3r the winner as its not trying to shove Dogma down your throat. TRC has 2 good songs, whereas Lotus has 12 good songs

LF is rushed. put bits of Lotusflower and mplssound together and U have a decent album.... maybe not musicology but good, not great... at least it's better than Planet Earth...
Bria Valente's album is great though.
TRC is quite an indulgent album but musicallu phenomenal.
It has one of Prince's GREATEST mistakes though - slowed down oratory throught the album

'dre

"The Rainbow Children" may not be my favorite album but I'll take it any day by far over "Lotusflow3r/MPLShit" for the simple fact that it contains no sellout shit hop on it whatsoever.

TRC vs LF, no contest.
Rainbow Children is the perfect Prince album. His musicianship on that album is untouchable. The music lives and breathes, it flows from one song to the next. And after it´s finished it leaves you craving for more. This album is a natural high. And no it's not racist.
Now Lotus Flower is a nice attempt at a rock,psych record. But ultimately is as someone noted before a collection of songs. The first 3 songs sound great together and are probably meant to go together. But after his somewhat doubtable cover of Crimson and Clover (if you listen to it out of the album´s context it's not as powerful as in the 3 song sequence it's placed on the album)the album becomes a collection of songs. However I do like the intro and outro of the album very much... It's not bad but not the masterpiece TRC is.
My vote is TRC all the way!

I find it hilarious that more than a few folks claim TRC to be musically great, then proceed to say that they can't listen to it or find it un-listenable.
Like something because you like to listen to it, and enjoy it, not because you think you think you should.

Since it was first released i have laughed out loud at all the folks who have hated the dumb thing, then proceed to say something like ...."but I forced myself to listen to it until I liked it"

Dont brainwash yourselves sheeple! what's wrong with you guys

TRC is tied with MPLSOUND with me as the absolute worst albums Prince ever made.
TRC dimwitted pretentious cheese,... released hot on the heels of "1999 The Master", you actually see where his mindset was at the time;...fucked up on drugs or religion but most possibly both.
.
[Edited 8/13/09 20:23pm]

ernestsewell said:

not saying u can't have a freedom 2 speech, but i do find it funny that not only just u, but others constantly gripe about his religious overtones since he changed his religious beliefs. if it's such a PROBLEM 4 all of y'all, then Y r u still listening 2 prince? y aren't u listening 2 cat stevens? (can't remember his new name sorry). how does prince's CHOICE of religion affect y'all so much? lovesexy was preachy during the tour and the album and YES it did get flack 4 that. where is the rainbow children racist? and if u say family name i'm gonna laugh so damn hard at u 4 it cause either u don't listen 2 the beginning of the song where the narrator is xpressing that if u look deeper, there is NO SUCH THING AS RACE, we're all ONE race and should treat each other equally.

Anxiety said:

I agree with TRC being more focused,but i disagree on LF being a musical quilt like SOTT..LF has a steady guitar theme like GIO said tapping late 60's and early 70's..The race issue on TRC is an old issue and will never be settled,so from a instrumental standpoint,it's jazzy and organic and not bad.But I'm a rock guy,so my choice is LF

L4OATheOriginal said:

Musically, I love TRC. I love Prince's Jazzier stuff. But I wish it had been an instrumental (with minimal vocals maybe) album. It would be one of my favorites if this were the case.

Muse 2 the Pharoah is one of my fave ballads till he gets to making statements about slavery being worse than the holocaust. To a slave, yes, to a subject of Mengele's...maybe not so much. He just took that album places I wish he hadn't. (and quite honestly places I never thought he ever would). Had an artist of Jewish descent created an artistic work stating that "Slavery aside, many lived and died, but when all truth be told: Would you rather be sold or tortured, experimented on, starved to death, gassed...." there would be a shitload of uproar and that work would probably be shunned by large numbers. Way more than was ever done in any way shape or form to TRC. To my recollection the uproar was fairly minimal as far as these type of things go.

Yes, Prince always preached. But he preached a message of LOVE and GOD. It was a much more open and inclusive message back then.
[Edited 8/13/09 8:25am]

johnart said:

exactly.

Rainbow Children is the better one to me. It was really one of those works when Prince did just what he wanted to do without thinking about pleasing anyone else.

Lotusflow3r's nice enough, though. Oh, and it has a better ending track.

L4OATheOriginal said:

See Johnart's response above, last line. Says it all.

ernestsewell said:

still doesn't answer my question 2 u about what YOU find what is racist and what's not. but whatever ...if u want 2 orgnote me about this then we can take it there

L4OATheOriginal said:

No private bullshit. Slug it out in public!

The Rainbow Children for me. Those who dismiss it (for whatever reason) are really missing out on the pure musicality of Prince.

Like I said to a friend after Lotusflow3r was released: "Its his best album since The rainbow Children"

The reply was: "The Rainbow What now?"

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

TRC - Lotus Flower is the only prince CD i cant stomach listening to = so glad i didnt buy this project!!

TRC

L4OATheOriginal said:

If you've read me raving about PE, then you can google and find me ranting about TRC. This isn't exactly the first post I've made about TRC being racist, and I wasn't the only one either. Dig up. Otherwise it's

ronnwinter said:

wow, you can't even get into the work? Do u have trouble getting into feel good feel better feel wonderful, or housequake? For all it's wackyness, I find rainbow children really fun. The work is one of his greatest James brown style funk grooves ever. Muse 2 the pharoah is also a heckasex groove with an irresistable electric piano riff. I can understand not getting into say, wedding feast or she loves me 4 me, but to say there r only 2 good songs...for a fan of prince's other stuff, I just can't get wit that viewpoint. I do agree however that lotus smokes it, but then again I think lotus is a pretty incredible achievement (something I've had difficulty convincing my friends of, believe me!)

johnart said:

Are neither votes being counted because frankly, both make me wanna hurl with equally intense gut spasms!

SavonOsco said:

i don't necessarily disagree with you, but i can think of how 'chaos & disorder' turned out to sound like a "guitar album" even though it was definitely something cobbled together from disparate sessions, and even "the vault" gets tagged as a "jazz album" although it's actually MEANT to be an odds'n'sods contractual obligation toss-off. my point, if indeed i have one, is that i think prince can piece together collections of songs and find a running musical theme or quality that gives the collection a sense of continuity, even if the songs were meant for different projects originally. i do hear a thread passing through the entirety of each disc on LF, even if that thread can get pretty thin at times. meanwhile, the whole of TRC sounds custom made for that particular project to my ears.

Anji said:

well... there are only two songs on R Children that are any good, the first two and they pure vintage prince. the rest...well what can we say? lets be honest.

ernestsewell said:

i'll have 2 go with supa on this one ..if u can't answer me here or elsewhere, then ur lack of xplanations r without merit. i shouldn't have 2 google nothing, either u answer the question posed or it proves u don't know what ur talking about racism. Period!