LadyCabDriver said:

That may be true LCD, but we know that just ain't gonna happen.
I'll be pleasantly surprised if he's inducted in the
Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

It was the first Prince album since Lovesexy that made me go What was that? after I listened to it and that was a good thing cause I hadn't felt like that in many years with his music. It's still one of my favorites. The music is so kick ass. I look at the lyrics as a story. I'm not at all offended by them, even though there were a couple of things he said that I didn't agree with, I just laughed at it. It's a masterpiece and I wish more people could hear this.

Hit&Miss for me overall.I dug the fact He was Playing Live Instrumentation again&that was really a added bonus.but the songs on a whole were Hit&Miss for me.I think from a Playing Perspective this is Better than the stuff He has put out on a whole in over a Decade IMHO.wasn't too cool on the Lyrics except "She Loves me 4 Me".I truly Feel Prince has fallen way off on the Lyrical Department IMHO."1+1=3" was cool for me because it took back to the "Love or Money" Era.but this Album was missing the Jams for Me overall."Family Name" has that tight Louis Johnson Bass Groove from Michael Jackson's "Burn This Disco Out" from the Off The Wall Album.but the Playing outweighs the Overall Content for me.for Me He can't seem to Put Words&Music together anymore IMHO.it's like when He had Michael Bland&Sonny&couldn't bring a Song to Match the Grooves they were Playing.John Blackwell is Badd no doubt.I Applaud the Playing on the Album overall nice Fenders&whatnot but overall Prince just doesn't Hit me with the Songs.if this Album was Instrumental it would have been Better for me IMHO.I give Props to Prince for getting Najee out of the way quickly.but just Him being Associated with Prince on Record or on Stage is Reason too Being Very Afraid.so overall for Me Hit&Miss but far Better than the Past Decade&Change Easily IMHO.just Him Playing Live&doing His thing is so much better than Him looking lost.I might not be knocked out with this Album on a Whole but I give the Brother Props for getting back to Him.

1st time I listened to it [after 30 hours of download hell]
I was shocked in a very positive way. The sound of the disc
was so incredibly fresh and organic when compared to songs
on Rave or even some of the monthly downloads on the npgmc
-altho those sounded a bit more healthy already.

It was the first time in a long while that you couldn't
predict where the songs were going after the first minute.
Surprises, unpredictable moves and cool mellow vibes with
beautiful instrumentation.

After that initial shock of positiveness the lyrics began
to bug me more and more.

I've made my peace with the album again now and enjoy it
for what it is: an immensely creative monolith of an album.

And eventho I still feel a bit ill-disposed toward the last
two songs "Everlasting Now" and "Last December" for their
overtly religious content, I can now just enjoy them for
the brilliant musical offering. The guitar lacings and the
exquisit drumming.

The one thing that seems to bother the most people, i.e.
the 'narrator' or 'all my dreams voice' if you will, is
actually one of my favorit bits about this album.

See, instead of just viewing "The Rainbow Children" as just
another Prince album with a collection of songs, we should
take it for what it is. Not as a collection of songs that
will have to bridge a timespan of 1 year before we get new
stuff. But as a kind of transit of gestation.

It's a move into a very positive musical glass of water and
a certain style and ease that's been lacking his music for
the best part of a decade now. I wouldn't call it a return
to form tho, but just a means of escape from the mold of
plastic production and predicatble sounds. Radical as it
might be, it opens up a lot of doors for the next projects.

I'm not too concerned about the religious content anymore
now that I've received "One Nite Alone" and notice that he
still manages to pull off beautiful songs without stuffing
them full of religious propaganda.

It's much more likely that The Rainbow Children was a very
personal outing, someting he wanted to get off his chest to
be able to move on to another level.

And it seems he did. Proof of that being the ONA tour and
the amazing shows he puts on again. [as compared to, say,
the Jam Of The Year tour].

About this post: Beautifully written!
I don't say this just because I agree with it,
because I don't agree with all of it, but I do agree with most of it.

The style is almost poetic. The development is outstanding.
The paragraphs...the sentences not criss-crossing the entire page;
the spacing of the paragraphs... all remind me
of another poster.(smile)

I would like to add this. When I go back and listen to some
of the older songs and compare the sound to the same songs
done by Prince and the NPG live, now...Man!, I'm glad he has
moved on up a little higher. The music now is fuller,
richer, and more fierce than ever!

Oh yes, my opinion of TRC? It's Great!

[color=purple:4208078f71:46ef1e4ada] Am I the only perosn on the org who hated TRC more now than when I first listend to it??? Damn I worry about you guys!!! And on a trival side note; wasn`t the original name for TRC supposed to be The Larry Graham Experience???



TRC

TRC was Princes answer to all those idiots who said Prince could not cut it anymore. Saul, Beck etc...they didnt exactly say he couldt cut it but they had beocme critical openly on his work in popular print. Prince saw Dangelo and the new soul patrol doing his schtick. Prince made TRC to teach the children how its done..its his way of saying what Morris said in Purple Rain right before he sang Jungle Love, "why dont ya stay a while..see how its done". This is how you use the rhodes..this is how you do a slow jam..this is how you fuse rock and soul..this is how you do the guitar and make it sound so smoove and effortless..this is how you make a decent, easy on the ears melody...but he did it his way and with his own context (religion, dogma, etc). So fucking what if he did? Most who dog TRC are blatant idiots who have grown to just criticize any Prince output because of extraneous shenanegins. No objectivity whatsoever...and being put off on the religion thing is just sooo much boolshit..he's had bang you over the head dogmatic lyrics for a long"goddamned" time. TRC is like the Parade of the '00. It is totally inpsired and he returned to form in the studio with this one and it seems he got his confidence back so watch the fuck out for the next official studio release.Only Prince could have made this record and it sounds it. Thank "god".

Sounds more like a experiment, then music 2 me.

If ya don't like it...time to jump ship...

How many times do we have to answer his question.

Half love it (mostly newbies, post 1992) and half hate it (mostly old schoolers, pre 1992).

I am part of the later half wondering what the hell he is doing, thinking and what direction he is possibly going in. Every genius has his blue period, Prince is having too many of these periods.

...i cant wait to see how he will follow it

again, you must be under 25 and never have had the influence of lovesexy

TRC was Princes answer to all those idiots who said Prince could not cut it anymore. Saul, Beck etc...they didnt exactly say he couldt cut it but they had beocme critical openly on his work in popular print. Prince saw Dangelo and the new soul patrol doing his schtick. Prince made TRC to teach the children how its done..its his way of saying what Morris said in Purple Rain right before he sang Jungle Love, "why dont ya stay a while..see how its done". This is how you use the rhodes..this is how you do a slow jam..this is how you fuse rock and soul..this is how you do the guitar and make it sound so smoove and effortless..this is how you make a decent, easy on the ears melody...but he did it his way and with his own context (religion, dogma, etc). So fucking what if he did? Most who dog TRC are blatant idiots who have grown to just criticize any Prince output because of extraneous shenanegins. No objectivity whatsoever...and being put off on the religion thing is just sooo much boolshit..he's had bang you over the head dogmatic lyrics for a long"goddamned" time. TRC is like the Parade of the '00. It is totally inpsired and he returned to form in the studio with this one and it seems he got his confidence back so watch the fuck out for the next official studio release.Only Prince could have made this record and it sounds it. Thank "god".

Sorry, meant to say 'How many times do we answer THIS question' nothing personal.

Some people think TRC was this giant leap in musical musicianship?? I don't know where this comes from. He has played those instuments before, he has played that music before, and we all love it. The music is nothing new. The lyrics and outlook is what is different. Besides a new band. He changes his band like he does he underwear.

Yes, it is a milestone lyrically, just like ATWIAD, the black album and Lovesexy was. But those didn't divide the masses like this one. Way over the top. Lost so many.

Musically it is the same greatness, no growth, nothing new, just a different package.

It will go down as the ultimate...jump the shark.