i still cant make my mind up if i like the album or not, sometimes i listen to it and i think its up there with the very best he has done and other times i think it just does not work at all.
i think that there is no doubt that part of the problem is the voice that gets in the way of the flow of the album, i feel prince could have cut a lot of this out. what do y'all think?

I recently taped it for someone and cut out all the talking bollox, it's much better like that

blackboab said:

Ok here's what I think. I think TRC was an inspired piece that got Prince out of his rut..now he is out of the rut. His next "real" release is going to be the shit. He only toured behind this one because the skeptics were pleased with it and said he should...thats right I said it..he reads these boards and others. TRC aint sold shit but the die hards and skeptics said TRC may have rhetoric lyrics etc but the music is kickin. So he decided to take this out on the road in little theaters as a showcase and advertisement. He now has the confidence to stretch and do inspired work after the cowtowing to trends with Rave and other releases.I also think that most people love TRC but they just dont know it, or like to bitch about things, or need an "easy" topic to post about to get reactions, and that TRC sounds like nothing else out there. Everyone knows Prince is in the groov e again, thats why they all clamorin to see the show and get the bootlegs. The seatbelt sign is now off..you are free to move about the cabin.

Boab, yeah I definitely think if P re-released this album with the title "Rainbow Children w/o that annoying scary wisord of Oz voice" I'd buy it again. I so want to take the CD, pop it on for a party or dinner or show it to a friend, but that voice always gets in the way. Some of the songs would be great background dinner music, but that voice really ruins the mood. It's embarrasing. I understand the point, but it really ruins the CD. Great, you can make your voice sound stupid!

The music does take a while to get used to. I'm putting mine on ice for a few months and going to give it a try later. I think that helps.

:KY:

I could do without the voice because first of all, I don't know what it's saying clearly. But I really enjoy listening to the music because it's just so 'mellow'. I play it most when I'm stuck home writing a paper. or when I just want to relax. It's so soothing, calming, and relaxing, I have to play it often...thanks Prince!
[This message was edited Mon May 13 13:13:13 PDT 2002 by purpleleaf7]

i'm stuck in the middle...i like the voice on some songs and not on others. if it were my album--and its definitely not--i would have altered the voice to match each song, like a Camille voice for some, the slowed down(which is not Spooky Electric IMO) voice for others.

But someone above said it best...TRC was for the diehards, and normally the diehards can put up with Prince's quirky ways and still get into his albums. Prince likes to weed out the 'non-converted' every once in a while--let's him get away with more if you know what i mean.

Lovesexy and ATWIAD are perfect examples. If someone takes his voiceovers and additions too seriously, they'll tend not to listen to the whole album and turn it off---then he can run the gammit of his funky theology without hearing the BS from junkfood journalists(like EW) and evangalists-->It's the CD equivalent to playing more risque shows-like Loveline on radio or Howard Stern on TV- later on around midnight, knowing the Moral Majority & grey hairs are normally asleep by 10PM)

rdhull said:

Yes. I agree.
I am not the biggest TRC fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I really do think it marks an end to the Rave, NPS era (thank god).
[This message was edited Mon May 13 14:33:22 PDT 2002 by randomduck]

i'm sure. i still don't like it.

blackboab said:

I'm one of those people who thinks the narrative voice is incidental. It doesn't bother me, not even the very first time I listened to it.

It's a return to form, and whether people agree or disagree with the lyrics doesn't change that. It's just a different perspective.

It's inspired and consistent in the way that no Prince album all the way through since 1987 has been. And one of the great things about it is that he's not rehashing the same music he used to do (as was the case with some of the material on Rave). All great Prince albums are distinct from one another and bring another element that he hadn't exhibited before. It could be easily said that TRC has the best musicianship of any other Prince album. And that's partly due to giving the drummer some.

May the short dude from Minne never put down the geetar.
[This message was edited Mon May 13 15:24:13 PDT 2002 by Supernova]

i positive.....it SUCKS!!!!!
maybe half of one track i can listen 2,it not the spiritual overtones,i love elephants and flowers,GOD,still will stand all time,etc it's the music the whole broadway sound that's killin me,sounds like it should b background music 4 a play

I like this album, of course i havent been a fan for anything as long as some of you may have been and havent heard loads of Prince so i got nothing to compare to. i didnt ever read stuff online about prince etc, so when i brought it it was just a little shock but ive grown to love it.