Daily Express review of TRC by Jeremy Novak, 3 stars out of 3, CD pick of the week;

Before we get on to the review proper, I'd like you to bear this in mind; the reverse of NATO is OTAN. Whether this is important or not I don't at this stage know, but what I do know is that it can mean only one thing: our favourite pint sized, purple, pop polymath is back.
Prince was always the most interesting of the Eighties Crucial Three. Unlike Jacko and Madonna, he was never dependent on anyone else, never needed a Quincey Jones or a Gaultier - it was all inside him. But that seems a long time ago and what he is best remembered for is his inspired self-promotion The Artist Formerly Known As schtick.
Thare was never a better time to be Prince. A small but perfectly formed Purple shadow is cast over planet pop and he is referenced by everyone from Basement Jaxx to Beck and Kelis.
Released through his NPG website and on import only, THE RAINBOW CHILDREN reflects Prince's conversion to the Jehovah's Witnesses, but Prince being Prince it's The Word of The Lord as interpreted by Gandalf. Lyrically it slips from God slot stuff to the odd - "We R what we eat, so we must eat a leaf. We'll dine under a tree. Unless it snows!" - to the joyous line about NATO (Really. It's from track two, Muse 2 The Pharaoh). Is he serious or having a laugh? Musically it's the most interesting thing he's done in ages, melding James Brown-isms, mid-Seventies jazz funk, pure pop and happy-clappy gospel. It's not easy to listen to, but there are some gems to be found.
This is Prince at his most audacious: infuriating, mad but inventive, fantastically easy to make cheap gags about, bur never dull. Take the opening title track. More barking things happen in this 10-minute burst than in most careers. A computer generated bass voive (who it turns out, is our narrator) intones: "With an accurate understanding of God and His law they went about building a new nation: The Rainbow Children." Then we hit a jazz-funk groove, all slinky Fender Rhodes piano. A chorus - "The Rainbow Children rise, Flying upon the wings of the New Translation" - before a funked-up break straight out of 1974. Then it bursts into a show-stopper-like from Godspell or Hair before finally slipping off into a wigged-out fade-out with screaming guitar.
You can laugh at him all you want - and he does lay himself open - but in a very real sense the opposite of NATO is indeed OTAN. And that'e something for us all to think about.