Anji said:

TRC certainly did divide up the fanbase all right.

XxAxX said:

Yes, it sure seemed to divide us. I'm a athesist and I love TRC. There are some things I wasn't too thrilled about, but on the whole, I think TRC is a brilliant piece of work.

Anji said:

I guess you're right.

He was trying to be controversial, although I think much of said "controversy" and debate comes from the albums ambiguity.

PurpleKnight said:

Some of us don't find those to be flaws.

MetroArea said:

but how sad that he had to "try"..when in the past he just "was".....

you know your in trouble when an album is marketed as "controversial" before its released..

just as bad as MJ throning himself the "king of pop"..

contrived at the least...

sosgemini said:

You are very good at contradicting yourself. When you read all the comments, you realize how CONTROVERSIAL TRC is.

It is either love or hatred when it comes to TRC.

sosgemini said:

I don't know if he was really 'trying' to be all that controversial for the sake of being controversial with TRC. He could've marketed it as being controversial because he kmew that a lot of people would not agree/care for/be pissed off about said lyrics that directly tie to the JW faith, as well as the lyrics that deal with racism, the holocaust, displaced bloodline, etc.

As a JW myself, there were still references to some of his new age philosophy beliefs, as well as other lyrics that could be attributed to any Christian following outside of JW. And then there's 'the opposite of Nato is Otan line'...lol.

But to stick to the controversial reference of Rainbow Children, you could say he was trying to do that with Dirty Mind, Controversy, and most of his catalogue. Prince just didn't care who was offended by his lyrics on any of his albums/CDs. In that respect, Prince hasn't changed.

Anji said:

Perhaps You should consider correct spelling.
The "Princebonics" are silly and weaken your argument immensely...

Housequake2K2 said:

n there u have it.

love

sosgemini said:

His CONtroversy has ALWAYS been something of a front. True, the lines get blurred with time, but u have been misled (like many others) if u think n the past, Prince 'just was' CONtroversial. It's always been 4 show & it has almost always been calculated.

peace

wallysafford said:

A word to the wise: Never call anybody on that unless you're prepared to do some serious editing with every post you make. We'll be watching.

OdysseyMiles said:

I can't say enough how much I love TRC. It is my #2 favorite Prince album of all time.

Someone mentioned skipping tracks. I have to say that TRC is one of only a handful of Prince albums where I can't simply pick a song or two from it to listen to. I have to play it straight through everytime.

BTW, let the haters hate. It won't take away any of the joy this album gives me every time I listen to it. And I'm actually an atheist. So whatcha think about that, PurpleKnight?

I have said this before, and ill say it again. This album was the most disappointing musical purchase of my life. Even moreso than graffiti bridge. At least graffiti bridge had ?ofU. He could put together an album of burps and farts and I would spin it more times than TRC.

TheBigBang said:

I think you're an atheist who is able to stomach offensive, charmless lyrics.

Doesn't make the album any less annoying.

BTW I find it ridiculous when ppl say something like "The album's a masterpiece. I just tune out the lyrics."

It's like, if an album is truly a masterpiece, should you really have to tune out anything?

The fact that most non-JW listeners have to tune out the lyrics and pretend they're not hearing the pretension and offensive nature of the songs is just sad.

PurpleKnight said:

That is patently untrue.

The fact is it's just U, n a minority, who is unable 2 appreciate the album 4 what it is. No doubt, u will spend the rest of ur time here blindly justifying ur position. Blindly, cos it is U who doesn't get it, yet prejudiced 2 the xtent that u can't even fathom the error of ur ways.

love

Anji said:

First of all, drop the pathetic "I'm Prince's right hand man" gimmick and stop copying the way the man spells.

Second of all, almost every non-JW Prince fan I've heard from has said that they love the music on TRC but have to tune out the lyrics. That is indeed sad.

Strange. Very few, if n e, of those eye no not b longing 2 the Jehovah Witness faith, have taken xception 2 The Rainbow Children. Unlike u, we respect other viewpoints.

Like eye said, u will no doubt blindly find evidence 2 justify ur position. They call it self-CONfirmatory bias. As is always the case with prejudice.

love

Eye c PurpleKnight is a mere nineteen years of age.
It figures. Hopefully, n time, ur mind will opn.

love

Anji said:

I respect other viewpoints too. It's Prince on the TRC who doesn't.

Now excuse me, but I have to go lay down. Translating your post to english has given me a headache.

PurpleKnight said:

Eye have absolutely no doubt u blieve that statement 2 b true but it doesn't add up.
C n e 1 of ur comments about the JWs, or The Bible 4 that matter.

love

Anji said:

I back up every statement with valid reason and logic.

PurpleKnight said:[quote]

Anji said:

That's speakin for a lot of people (almost all non-JW prince fans). It's not necessarily sad that you have to tune out the few pro-JW lyrics on TRC. It just doesn't float your boat.

As a JW of nearly 20 years, I've followed Prince early on (can still remember hearing I Wanna Be Your Lover on the radio for the first time). Now havin been raised to reject overtly sexual lyrics in my family (but most families do with their kids anyway, be they Christian, atheist, Muslim, etc), I had the conflict of dealing with Prince's sexual lyrics, esp. when I was approaching puberty (I was 11 when 1999 was released). But that didn't stop me from appreciating the sheer complexity of his music--the linn drum programming, his guitar playing, the keyboard hooks, the overall symphony of sound that Prince generated. The way I dealt with Prince's lyrics that didn't jive with my beliefs (and I wasn't even a full-fledged JW till I was almost 16) was this:
Most musicians/singers I listen to aren't JW. They have their own beliefs and philosophies that they adhere to. The few people that have expressed their views on God on a record or in a performance didn't necessarily tune me out if I didn't agree with them. It's just that in Prince's case, whatever he's feeling at any given time, he expresses through his music consistently, be it religious/political/racial/insert topic here. That has been my struggle in follwing Prince's career as a JW, enjoying his music for what it is, whether I agree with his view on things or not. Your distatste for TRC's lyrics is just the flip side of what I've learned to deal with at an early age. Just remember, you still have the whole catalogue of CDs Prince made before he became a JW to listen to. TRC, like the rest of his releases, are an expression on what he's doing/feeling/expression of himself at the time of said release.

KoolEaze said:

guess u not a fan of the funk.

all ya'll do is complain other than feelin the artistry of the music.


this sounds like yall:

"U know this is funky, but I wish he play like he used 2 ol scraggly head sun of a (SLAP!!) Ohh! " - Everlasting Now

Dont let nobody, bring u down!
Join the party, make a sound
The everlasting Now!

i tell you guys.
the LP i didn't care for.threw it out

But..
before i did my fave song is 1+1+1=3

i swear when i hear that song i think:

Lovesexy....Spooky Electric.

that song to me sounds like Old School Prince "88"

that's gotta be a track he did around that era and didn't release it or he knew which instruments to use for a "old school" sound.

ONA Live.....rocks!

PurpleKnight said:

But, u 4get, PurpleKnight, u said previously, "The fact that most non-JW listeners have to tune out the lyrics and pretend they're not hearing the pretension and offensive nature of the songs is just sad. TRC is for JW's only. It's very pretentious. The theocratic order? Shut up, Prince."

These hyperbolic statements of urs r patently FALSE. Whichever school u went 2 needed 2 teach u better logic, not 2 mention ur parents, who clearly didn't teach u the value of respect.

U r a nineteen year old boy. Perhaps u r 1 of the few who needs 2 tune out the lyrics bcause it is ur narrow mind, which cannot manage having 2 deal with viewpoints other than ur own. U look foolish talking loudly of 'valid reason n logic' when n fact ur hypocritical, prejudiced n HATE-full mindset is here 4 all 2 c.

Sit the fuck back down, so that u can b spoon fed.

.
[Edited 7/1/05 2:18am]

rationalman said:

i agree its the only Prince album that i cant stand

As sosgemini said, I rarely comment on these types of thread. Simply because my opinion won't change anything. Either you like it or you don't.

However... where would we be if we weren't still debating an album now 4 years old?

As it happens, I LOVE this album - but I understand why it gets up a lot of people's noses. If you don't like it, don't play it. If you like it - play it! Simple as that.

MetroArea said:

Looking back over Prince's body of work, if I was searching for an example of the man 'trying to be controversial' I certainly wouldn't nominate TRC as the most obvious example. He's a JW so wanted to make an album expressing his view of the world. Isn't that what artists do?

Personally, I'm an atheist but love this album more than anthing else he's produced over the last 15 years or so. To say it is only for JWs is an obvious nonsense.

You obviously don't like the album, and that's fair enough. You might have a more constructive discussion if you didn't mistake your opinion for fact (on the other hand, you'd make a great religious zealot yourself) .