Have always loved this record. That is one thing about P albums before his death (still hurts to type that) they were all really cheap cause people were just about his 80s stuff. You could get his whole discography on Amazon for like 50 bucks. Now that just isn't the case.

Anyway - got TRC for like $3. That is high compared to the others I snagged. Just criminally underrated. It's crazy.

It´s weird, it´s afrocentric, it´s uplifting, it is a concept album, it´s bold and crazy and the musicianship is stellar while some of the lyrics are questionable, but it is a bold statement nevertheless.

And I like the production.

Prince and Femi Jiya did a great job, and John Blackwell´s drumming is superb.

Everywhere and Last December are my favorites on this album.

Agreed with all of you on this - I can't believe he dropped this album. MJ (or especially MADONNA) would never have the balls to make a statement this different and far off the mainstream path.

The fact that he was so huge in the 80s must have been so great - pretty much ensured he would have freedom for the rest of his days. God I'm glad for that.

The only "harsh" reviews I've ever read of this record centered on its lyrics, which is kinda irrelevant to the "musical" content (e.g. sounds instead of words).

NorthC said:

I tried to get into it, but I just can't. And it's not even because of the lyrics. (Although they surely don't help.) It's the bombastic pseudo jazzrock that combines all the worst of the 1970s fusion crap without adding anything new. I was SO glad that with Musicology he was getting back to actually writing songs again.

As a jazz fan I gotta say I think that he pulled off the jazz influences really really well honestly.

Really it's that fender rhodes sound, which I love very very much. There were solid songs on the LP too - but they were a little harder to find I suppose. I really like that about it although yeah, I could have done with less of the P-funk super low mythology voice.

Yes. I would even go as far as saying that it is my favourite Prince album right now. Used to be either Parade or Lovesexy. Musically it's superbe and I don't mind the vague concept. Just love his 'silent' years 2001-2003, before Musicology brought him sort of back to mainstream.

Favourite tracks:

- The Rainbow Children

- Muse

- Digital Garden

- Last December

rob1965 said:

After so many years I must say that The Rainbow Children is actually a fantastic album. I have to admit I never gave it the credit it deserved. Maybe I was biased by reviews I've read which weren't all too good or opinions from other fans I know who weren't too happy about all the jazz influences. And yes, the album takes some getting used to because it's a stray from what P had done before, although he always chose his own path. I just can't say that there is one song on the album that doesn't deserve accolades. In my opinion it belongs up there with albums like Lovesexy and SOTT. It is coherent and musically and productionwise it's unbelievable. And the artwork of course is fantastic. It's hard to understand the in some cases harsh reviews it got by fans and media. Probably that's because it has no real songs fit for radio airplay, at least not on mainstream radio. To me it's a classic, even so long after te fact.

You know....

In 2001, not many people knew what he was even talking about...The Subject and understanding of WHo the rainbow Children are was very underground...He was obviously switched on...Now days Rainbows Indigos and the like are talked about as being the NEW BREED.

I think that P was so far ahead of himself a lot of the time that its taken years for some of us Dufus,s to catch up

I've been digging on this album a lot lately.

Mellow and 1+1+1 = 3 have been in my rotation especially.

I'm still not a fan of the Vader voice. When I first downloaded the album, before it was released, I thought there was something wrong with the file. When I bought the album it was still there. I still argue that Prince could have told the story without the distracting narrator, but this holds up as a lovely album. It's not Lovesexy or Parade, but I get a similar feeling from it.

*missing comma edit

[Edited 9/20/16 21:49pm]