well i just finally picked up this album and I have had one listen, so far I think it's at least interesting, a very different prince, I'm liking the guitar on alot of the tracks though, what are you guys opinons? the last december is my fav. song so far, i hope the rest of the album will grow on me

Well, it's pretty much the most talked-about album Prince has ever done, at least among his fans. It's analyzed, dissected, and discussed all the time here. Which makes it really interesting. It seems like not a week goes by that someone doesn't start a thread about it, even all these years later. And it's the most controversial thing he's done because of the strong statement of religious ideas and beliefs. Some accuse Prince of being sexist and anti-Semitic on the album as well. I bought it when it came out and have listened to it so many times. I've loved it, hated it, been pissed off by it, danced to it, played it for friends, and tried to ignore it, but I can't. Whether I agree with all the lyrics or not, this album challenges me and that makes me glad to be a Prince fan.

best prince album since lovesexy imo.

yeah i like it but i could do without the antisemitism.

Best since The Gold Experience imo.

SlamGlam said:

There's no anti-semitism on that album. Just cuz it mentions 4 Jewish surnames in one song. Jeez!!!

MrHappyRave4 said:[quote]

SlamGlam said:

There's no anti-semitism on that album. Just cuz it mentions 4 Jewish surnames in

Like a thief in the night
My Lord come and strike
Leave nothing but ashes to the left, dust 2 the right
Holocaust aside, many lived and died
But when all truth is told
Would u rather b dead or b sold?

MrHappyRave4 said:

1. I presume you are not counting Abu Cah, Tom Lynch, John Blackwell and Thomas Jefferson. In which case, apart from Mr Rosenbloom, Mr Pearlman and Mr Goldstruck ... what's the fourth name? Ah ... you said it - Jesus.

2. It isn't 'Just cuz it mentions 4 (?) Jewish surnames in one song' that the accusations of anti-semitism were made, rightly or wrongly, about the album.

.
[Edited 12/23/06 14:34pm]

Is the Holocaust reference a comparison of the position two peoples found themsevles in or an antisemitic statement? I lean towards the anti-semiticism because of the 'aside' lyric... as though discounting or playing down the significance of the event.

That said, this is one of the strongest albums Prince has released. Musically it is awesome and, at the very least, lyrically it is challenging. I wish we could get a few more albums like this.

TRC is the reason why I still check new Prince albums.

i like all the songs on the album they are so good, even family name, i just don't like the lyrics to that song, i don't understand what prince is trying to say, anybody know? i love the instrumental and experimental feel the album has

BoySimon said:

at first i though he was saying that as bad as slavery was the holocost was worst but i was convinced that it was the other way around. which is silly. for one the hollocost was just one part of a 5000 year old hell the jews have gone through. not to mention being held as slaves for much longer that slaves in america.

it also seems to ignore that there are slaves in the US today.

and i am still not sure what to make of the line from The War...

U give me AIDS, your history
When it comes 2 mine, another name
Many die and this is true
Red, black, yellow, even Jew
Claimin' God was backin' U
All across, what a fool.

well, this is gonna get interestin'real quick!
*breaks out the popcorn*

TRC is pure genius!

This album is a true "masterpiece".

A) Musically
B) Lyrically
C) Thematically
D) Sequentially (in terms of the songs' "sequencing", or order, and flow.)

4 me, Prince's brilliance shines the most when he is the most inspired, and records a "theme album", which is "demonstrated" clearly with 'Lovesexy' and 'The Rainbow Children'.

Musically speaking, 'The Rainbow Children' is right up my alley, so 2 speak... every instrument, and every part.

Plus, it sounds like it was recorded on 2" tape... warm and with depth. It may have been mixed in ProTools 4 all we know, but I wouldn't be surprised if it recorded on tape first. Either that, or Femi and Prince really hit it right digitally, and went 4 the analog sound, so 2 speak.

Also, I don't perceive any "anti-semitism" in those lyrics. The "holocaust aside...many lived and died" line, is just saying that there have been other attempts at genocide that receive lesser attention... and maybe that the perpetrators have been able 2 get away with it, as a result.

...just my 777 cents.

Nice tracks. My fave is 1+1+1=3. Just don't like the voice in between the tracks. I refer to it as the "darth vader" voice

Its mostly garbage.....a few decent tracks towards the end.

it's a masterpiece in my opinion. great example of musicianship.

emesem said:

I wouldn't call it garbage at all. I would say it isn't for the weak at heart. I think people that make music, produce music, and/or are hard core fans would appreciate aspects of it, if not all of it. It is an experiential album--some of it will resonant, some of it won't. I think a lot of it is really great and fascinating but some of it, I pass on by.

I wouldm't call any of this man's work garbage. Ofcourse, I am an "obsessed" fan and that's 'nuf said.

luv4u said:

i'm glad i'm not the only 1 thinks this. i love the cd. it's just the "vader" voice gets me.

luv4u said:

Yeah, that and Everlasting Now are my favorites on the album. I don't know if this has been discussed before (because there have been hundreds of TRC threads; who can keep up with them all?), but I think the theocratic order he's talking about in this song is more about the order of the trinity than about having a government theocracy. The math points out that 1 + 1 + 1 does not add up to 1 (the trinity being a cornerstone of Catholic faith and belief in the trinity being a key test of how Christian religions are viewed in the world). I think he's saying that he does not believe the Holy Spirit is God, which is interesting and kind of major for Prince's religious views.

But I also think 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 was a leftover song about a threeway that he pulled out of the vault and rewrote the lyrics to.

1+1+1=3 cannot be about the holy trinity, JWs don't believe.

1+1+1=3 is THE most over-rated Prince song EVER. I honestly don't get the praise this song receives. Before I owned the album I was SO looking forward to this tune... it's a new Erotic City, it's a new this, a new that... It's a new Graffiti Bridge, that's how crap this song is.

It is the only low-light on the album.

Thematically; There is a lot in question with regards sexism and anti-semiticism on this record, as I said before... I like this record because it is challenging... that said... Prince would not have written this album, certainly not the lyrical content, prior to his conversion to JW. It would be interesting to hear a conversation between a 1992 Prince and a 2007 Prince. Spiritually, they would be a million miles apart.

BoySimon said:

Dang boy, what do you think about 'Wedding Feast' then?!?

If that track hadn't actually been put on there I'd say it's a damned near perfect album. But it fails abysmally, and just completely throws the whole set out of whack, and everything that has been building before it. It's neither cute nor funny - it's just cack.

But of course, that's just my

BoySimon said:

That's what I'm saying--the song is attempting to disprove the trinity and point out that other religions are completely wrong.

SlamGlam said:

geezus, not this shit again...

The album is rightly called a masterpiece IMO... it took me a few listens to really appreciate all of it fully though...

It's the album that (again) keeps me at bay for the next hour+

I swear, when that guy's got somethin' really cookin' in his head, the result will make you beg for more.

I guess it's the drive he needs to drop our jaws.
I really don't care what the lyrics are about, as long as that passion is there.

Isn't that why we all come back?

I am not flying upon the wings of the New Translation.

IstenSzek said:

I agree.

I hated it at first, but I love it now, for some reason I listen to Wedding Feast 5 or 6 times in a row.

SlamGlam said:

U give me "A's", in your history
When it comes 2 mine, another "day"
Many die and this is true
Red, black, yellow, even Jew
Claimin' God was backin' U
"All on a cross", what a fool.


That's what the lyrics are. He's saying that black history is not fully taught in school.

As far as the "Black, White, even Jew.." I think he was saying everybody's blood was spilled in this country (America); It's just awkward lyric structure to make it rhyme.

And the last line about "all on a cross" was his dispute of the way Jesus died. We know at the time when Prince wrote this, he was started to get in to JW, and he was believing Jesus died on a pole/spike at "Sterros? (sp)"

However, I see many data bases have printed the lyric as "AIDS" and "Name" but if you hear what he's saying it doesn't make sense with these these words.
[Edited 12/25/06 4:49am]