independent and unofficial
Prince fan community
Welcome! Sign up or enter username and password to remember me
Forum jump
Forums > Prince: Music and More > Anyone here dislike The Rainbow Children album?
« Previous topic  Next topic »
Page 4 of 4 <1234
  New topic   Printable     (Log in to 'subscribe' to this topic)
Reply #90 posted 01/11/22 8:21pm

luv4u

Moderator

avatar

moderator

jjhunsecker said:

lavendardrummachine said:


I don't have the first clue what you're talking about even after someone messaged me to try and translate. Whatever you're on about is out of style and doesn't sound like it's what the org needs more of. We need more activity, not less.

[Edited 1/11/22 12:04pm]

[Not them snip - luv4u]



Move on JJ it's NOT them.

Now back to our regular station, same bat channel, same bat time.

canada

Ohh purple joy oh purple bliss oh purple rapture!
REAL MUSIC by REAL MUSICIANS - Prince
"I kind of wish there was a reason for Prince to make the site crash more" ~~ Ben
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #91 posted 01/11/22 10:42pm

LoveGalore

TrivialPursuit said:



LoveGalore said:


A diss? No. No more than releasing Shockadelica was a diss. Was Violet the Organ Grinder a diss to Susannah? I don't even consider I Hate U a diss to Carmen. But to imagine Prince was unaware that he was working with his copycat's baby mama is a bit of a reach. Especially around that time, he was keenly aware of that whole crew from Stone to Badu to Quest to Dangelos and on.


Oh, I think Prince knew all of Angie & D's background. Don't get me wrong. I'm only saying I don't believe he did it as a push toward D. That's all.

Violet about Susannah? Never heard that. "I Hate U" is pointedly about Carmen, as much as "I Love U, But I Don't Trust U Anymore" (and half of Rave) is about Mayte). But yeah, "Shockadelica" always felt more like Prince needling Jesse, which really... sorta funny, than a diss. I would've liked to hear Jesse sing that one, put some of his guitar work over it or something.

See, now I'm just missing neo-soul. Someone said Tevin tried to get into Neo Soul quite a few years ago. I never heard it.

Let me just go listen to Embrya or something.



For sure I Hate U is about Carmen. But the twist at the end ("I love you, I love you, I love you") kind of takes the edge off any dissing.

Violet almost certainly is about Susannah, referring to being in the middle of a crystal ball. It's a theory anyway.
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #92 posted 01/11/22 10:55pm

Buttox

Phase3 said:

So I often overlook this album.Maybe because it is "Prince's Jehovah witness" album
I remember back in the day on here it was often criticized
Maybe because of the religious lyrics or maybe because of the deep scary Darth Vader voice
But on a long trip today,I inserted my Rainbow Children CD in the car CD player and I instantly fell in love with this album and I'm not even that religious
The music to the songs is incredible plus there is a lot of humor.see songs like "wedding feast"
My friend next to me in the passenger seat busted out laughing when he heard that
Songs like "everlasting now" is very up lifting and lifted my mood

This album should have been. Bigger than it was

So 20 after it's released,how do you view this album now?
Favorite songs??
I also applaud how experimental prince was when he made this album


The Darth Vader voice destroyed the album's cohesiveness (and title track) and the misogynistic and mythological lyrics had me worried about Prince's sanity. Music was good but Everlasting Now and 1+1+1=3 were too similar. I attended a listening party with 2 other people in DC and 2 of us had reserved reactions. It's another "what might've been" album of unmet potential.
[Edited 1/11/22 22:59pm]
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #93 posted 01/11/22 11:54pm

TrivialPursuit

avatar

LoveGalore said:

For sure I Hate U is about Carmen. But the twist at the end ("I love you, I love you, I love you") kind of takes the edge off any dissing. Violet almost certainly is about Susannah, referring to being in the middle of a crystal ball. It's a theory anyway.


Yeah, that always confused me early on.

Now, I think it's that he was so obsessed with her (per the lore), infatuated, or simply in love with her, that while he still hates what she did, he still loved her. Love doesn't just end. In the song, assuming every word is based on a feeling he had, he says he's going to make love to her until she regrets cheating on him.

I'd like 2 have the defendant place her hands behind her back
So I can tie her up tight and get into the act
The act of showing her how good it used 2 be
I want it 2 be so good she falls back in love with me

Right now I hate U so much I wanna make love until U see
That it's killin' me, baby, 2 be without U

I think the implication is if he didn't love her so much, he wouldn't hate what she did to such a degree. What's that saying, the ones that you love the most can hurt you the most?

With "Crystal Ball" being referenced throughout some of his music, I don't see that as some vague reference to Susannah. Especially years later.

"eye don’t really care so much what people say about me because it is a reflection of who they r."
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #94 posted 01/12/22 6:46am

garneren

TrivialPursuit said:

And moreover, he made such a point about this album and its lyrical content, living the role of calmed down, Jehovah's Witness enlightened human being - which his sweaters, double-breasted wrapped suits, and thoughtful glasses - that it's hard to ignore the lyrics. They basically defined him. If there was ever a Prince record that stated "this is me," it was The Rainbow Children.


Most every other previous record is just Prince doing what he does in that moment. TRC was different. It was calculated.

Exactly this! Which actually makes Kevin Smith's account of his Rainbow time with Prince all the more fun to listen to.

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #95 posted 01/12/22 11:24pm

TraSoul82

TrivialPursuit said:



TraSoul82 said:


Seeing how D'angelo's career was derailed by crafting an oversexualized neo-soul ode to Prince, I can't blame him. Prince's rebuttal (YMMSS), was also served with "gospel-delic" undertones.


Where do y'all get your information???? You're saying D'Angelo - a straight Black man - is singing an ode to Prince, another straight Black man? If it was undersexualized, would it have been better? An ode is a poem written to a specific topic. So was D'Angelo singing about fucking Prince? Cuz that's what you're basically saying.

I'd love to make you wet
In between your thighs 'cause
I love when it comes inside you, mm
I get so excited when I'm around you


That's the song you think is an "ode to Prince?" Asking for a friend.

Back to the real topic:

The only person who derailed D'Angelo's career was... wait for it... D'Angelo.

Alan Leeds, his tour manager for The Voodoo Tour, said the experience of him being the naked dude in the video ""took away his confidence, because he's not convinced why any given fan is supporting him." He later became an alcoholic after a friend committed suicide. He backed off from the scene because he didn't particularly like being a sex symbol. He wasn't talking to his friends or family, and his management as well as Leeds dropped him. That was all of his own volition.

"U Make My Sun Shine" wasn't a rebuttal. Prince worked with Angie Stone, who had also collaborated with D in the past. She's free to work with whoever she wants, so Prince snagging her wasn't some diss. Anyone who gets an opportunity to work with Prince is going to do it.

I honestly don't understand the nutty bullshit folks come up with sometimes. I really don't.




You're determined to make things WAAAAYYYY more dramatic than anything I indicated.


"Ode to Prince" = a sonic tribute (in the spirit of...).
The song obviously has a memorable hook, yet it's officially called "Untitled" (Sort of like an unpronounceable symbol). Questlove (and I believe Raphael Saddiq) indicated that D'Angelo was never built to be the sex symbol that the song turned him into. He obviously had some demons, but the situation was exacerbated.

YMMSS is very similar in the vibe of the baseline, but the message is brighter (no pun intended). That's what I noticed about TRC: had the same music been paired with sexy or sultry lyrics, were talking about a "neo-soul classic" in my opinion. The album is objectively polarizing in terms of message/music.

I also doubt the Angie Stone feature can be dismissed as coincidence. But it was a subtle back and forth between talents, not a bi-love triangle FFS.
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #96 posted 01/13/22 12:01am

TrivialPursuit

avatar

TraSoul82 said:


Dude, I'm just debating. If you want to call it "dramatic," then that's on you.

"eye don’t really care so much what people say about me because it is a reflection of who they r."
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #97 posted 01/13/22 9:56am

TraSoul82

TrivialPursuit said:



TraSoul82 said:




Dude, I'm just debating. If you want to call it "dramatic," then that's on you.



No disrespect intended. Sarcasm and hyperbole are two swords I wield often.

I just had an image of the video and imagined him looking down at Prince.
It was the hypothetical scenario I was referring to.


But as far as the album goes, it's one of the most sonically cohesive offerings I've heard from Prince. It has a "pocket" that I can sit back and enjoy. Typical for most; "Experimental" coming from him.
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #98 posted 01/13/22 12:34pm

TrivialPursuit

avatar

TraSoul82 said:

TrivialPursuit said:


Dude, I'm just debating. If you want to call it "dramatic," then that's on you.

No disrespect intended. Sarcasm and hyperbole are two swords I wield often.


Understood. T'is hard to emote in text. I'm just debating, though. I like to expand on an idea, explore theories or whatever. I'm never that riled up about something on here. (Well, unless someone gets into race or whatever, but that seems to be less and less these days, thank God.)

I agree sonically it's a very interesting take on Prince music. I don't think he'd ever really done anything like that before. But man, those lyrics. I can't. hahaha

"eye don’t really care so much what people say about me because it is a reflection of who they r."
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #99 posted 01/14/22 10:30am

CandaceS

avatar

TrivialPursuit said:

...But The Rainbow Children isn't nuanced. It's preachy, uncompassionate, it's "my way or the highway." Because anyone in the storyline that isn't a rainbow child or a follower or whatever is rubbish. Like Prince said, "you can cut that how you want, but it's the truth." No, Prince, it's your truth.

I think about Wendy & Lisa, and how they had to deal with Trevor Horn's homophobic ass, then circled back around to Prince with his bullshit post-Rainbow Children...


clapping Well said! I'm glad he later moved away from that dogmatic view (and reconciled with Wendy & Lisa).

"I would say that Prince's top thirty percent is great. Of that thirty percent, I'll bet the public has heard twenty percent of it." - Susan Rogers, "Hunting for Prince's Vault", BBC, 2015
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #100 posted 01/15/22 7:08am

Factor1

DotsofU said:



TrivialPursuit said:




LoveGalore said:


TrivialPursuit said: You're serious? I would not expect that from you! It's the antithesis of plastic/acrylic production, I'd think you would have loved it.


I. Fucking. Hate. It.

I have tried and tried and tried to listen to it, get a new perspective on it. Something about it truly makes me upset and pissed that he did it. I don't care about the narrator's voice.

(Plot twist: it's not Darth Vader, like y'all are sayin'. Darth spoke through a machine that helped him breath. Prince slowed down his voice. The differences are clear.)

Moreover, it's the fucking dogma. OMG just shut up already about the accurate understanding of law and all that shit. It's nothing more than a Jehovah's Witness promo. I don't care how he frames it, that's what it is. It's dogma.

And while he touched on religious things in the past, it was always more nuanced. Sure, there were more pointed things like "God" or the Lord's Prayer in "Controversy," but it was still almost treated like a pastiche. It was religious tinged, like "Anna Stesia," "The Ladder," "Purple Rain, "Free" (a favorite), "Still Would Stand All Time," or even "Moonbeam Levels."

He mixed God and sexuality, and I get that. I trully understood what his thinking was on it. To have sex, and have those open, uninhibited feelings of love and bliss and pleasure are the highest form of feeling we can have on earth to that of being in God's presence. And even then, it pales when/if we ever are eventually in the presence of God.

But The Rainbow Children isn't nuanced. It's preachy, uncompassionate, it's "my way or the highway." Because anyone in the storyline that isn't a rainbow child or a follower or whatever is rubbish. Like Prince said, "you can cut that how you want, but it's the truth." No, Prince, it's your truth.

I think about Wendy & Lisa, and how they had to deal with Trevor Horn's homophobic ass, then circled back around to Prince with his bullshit post-Rainbow Children.

And yeah, I can appreciate the production. It's not acrylic, which is odd since he started that with Emancipation five years before. The organic, trippy, LSD-inspired trip on it; I really can. But man, I can't get past his words and lyrics. For a man who used to promote things like a utopic Uptown full of of acceptance, positivity, live and let live, he certainly made a 180º on The Rainbow Children.

It's a Karen record - you do what I say, cuz this is how it should be, periodt! He channeled his inner-slightly-inconvenienced-white-women vibe on it.



You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth... I think I love u



It’s one of Prince’s top 10 albums of all time. Great musicianship, production, and song-writing.
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #101 posted 01/15/22 11:01am

SantanaMaitrey
a

Musicianship? Okay. Production? Okay. But songwriting... How often do you see a song from this album pop up in a "best Prince songs" top 10? Or even a top 30?
If you take any of this seriously, you're a bigger fool than I am.
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #102 posted 01/15/22 11:07am

LoveGalore

SantanaMaitreya said:

Musicianship? Okay. Production? Okay. But songwriting... How often do you see a song from this album pop up in a "best Prince songs" top 10? Or even a top 30?


Hardly the rubric for quality considering he released 40 albums. Tons of people adore Last December, 1+1+1 is 3, Everlasting Now, Family Name, etc.
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #103 posted 01/15/22 11:09am

SantanaMaitrey
a

Really? Who?
If you take any of this seriously, you're a bigger fool than I am.
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #104 posted 01/15/22 12:17pm

DotsofU

avatar

EEEEKS, I am not a fan - although I really tried

Putting the lyrics/religion stuff aside - that's a can of worms I don't want to open.

This is when his funk started feeling less experimental, less edgy and monotonous. It started becoming a boring James Brown impersonation.....

Coming after NPS, Rave and the disaster that was 1999 New Master - this is the period where I finally started to give up on him.

There are a few gems: Mellow, Digital Garden, She Loves Me For Me

OOOh, can't forget I love Last December too.. so while there are 4 songs that I really like, unfortunately my extreme distaste for the rest overshadows these great ones....

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #105 posted 01/15/22 12:26pm

Phase3

SantanaMaitreya said:

Really? Who?

Carlos Santana even covered "The last December"
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #106 posted 01/25/22 4:27pm

DotsofU

avatar

TrivialPursuit said:

Polo1026 said:

It's dogma - only if you don't respect it. If you don't respect it then regardless of how it framed or who the messenger is, you'll always cringe at that ideal or the stance being taken. The Rainbow Children work is an affirmation - not a preachy this way or no way law but a disdain for the message makes it preachy regardless. The Cross IS preachy, period. The ONLY way we fix this is the Cross.

It also might bug you that Prince is the one saying "this is who I am" when he appeared to be preaching spitituality over organized religion. As someone raised by a pastor and doesn't subscribe to organized religion, the idea the Rainbow Children is preachy is laughable. Actually, the majority of what Prince is saying on that record would be considered blasphemy by christians.

The christian Prince is on this record is NOT a "Karen" matter of fact, I understand you're passionate about your dislike here, but watch that comparison please. Comparing this record to a "karen" which to me defines as a social terrorist, it goes well beyond what is necessary for respectful discourse. There are people that believe in Jesus that do not subscribe to any Karen behavior.


I actually don't need tips on how to view things or have an opinion, but your effort is honorable.

It is a Karen record because he came across, quite frankly, as a religious terrorist. As noted in other replies, the misogyny, anti-Semitism, fundamentalism, etc. is incredibly off putting and more than a 180 from Prince. And I never said Christians were Karens, although you're making me doubt that.

And how is it that it's okay for Prince to say "this is who I am," but suddenly I'm the bad guy for not liking that? Sorry not sorry, but my de facto stance is not to be blindly woo'd by everything ol' boy said or did. How am I the disrespectful one because I call it dogma? What a hypocritical point of view. Not unlike Prince's views on The Rainbow Children.

You can wave your PK flag all day, but I too was raised in a similar household. The independent Baptist church I was raised in was created by my grandfather (whose name I carry) and 4 other families. They found Southern Baptists too laxed in their way of doing things, and set out to create an even more conservative church. I was practically born in the aisle between the offering and the benediction. So don't come to me as if you have some unique POV. That church, by the way, still stands, with an even bigger building, owns literally half the block, and has a religious school attached to it. I've watched them buy every house on the block that someone sold, only to tear it down, and pave it for parking and storage. It's a monolith of gluttony and excess, which is ironic considering their conversative suffer-to-serve messaging.

There is no Christian Prince. There's a Jehovah's Witness Prince. And before that it was Seventh Day Adventist Prince; almost as bad but at least he was openly eating pussy and fucking. JW's aren't Christians. They're fucking insane.

thank you. thank you. thank you.

well done.

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #107 posted 01/27/22 2:53am

lurker316

avatar

SantanaMaitreya said:

Musicianship? Okay. Production? Okay. But songwriting... How often do you see a song from this album pop up in a "best Prince songs" top 10? Or even a top 30?

Everlasting Now is in my personal top 10.


  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Page 4 of 4 <1234
  New topic   Printable     (Log in to 'subscribe' to this topic)
« Previous topic  Next topic »
Forums > Prince: Music and More > Anyone here dislike The Rainbow Children album?