The rainbow children is the only comercially availible full lenght i didn't own, so i figured i at least owed it to myself to get it and listen with an open mind. Now I've listened to it a few times, I definitely agree i will need to spend more time with it to make a final judgement cause it is definitely not a pop record where by the end of each song you can tell if you like it or not. It requires a little more of an active role by the listener.

My initial reactions are I'm a little underwelmed, the darth vader voice throughout gets a little tyring. To it's credit, it's a highly experimental record, based on what i read, I really expected it to be more of a staight forward jazz record. However, as is the nature of experimental music, it can be hit or miss, and unfortunately, my inital reaction is it is much more of a miss than a hit. The shoving of his religon down my throat is a little off putting, but i can get past that and try to appreciate it on a musical level.

The Wedding feast really bums me out, i almost have to turn the record off at that point. The digital garden and everlasting now seem kinda interesting, but they really do pale in comparisson to my fav prince songs.

Could someone please try to explain why some on here revere it as a "masterpiece" "one of his best"??

Could someone please try to explain why some on here revere it as a "masterpiece" "one of his best"??

LAProducer said:

I guess because of the consistency of the sound, the concept, and the extremely professional musicianship and production.

All of which I can hear, but to my ears the consistency of the sound is just loads of boring songs that sound too much alike, the concept is fevered religious rantings delivered in an annoying vader voice, and the musicianship and production don't really matter a damn if the music is boring.

Like you, I was underwhelmed on first listen, filled with horror by Wedding Feast, and never managed to make it to the end of the album the first few times I listened to it. I've tried again and again to get into it, but I think I've just about given up on it now (at least for a while, I'll probably try again). Music that I have to force myself to listen to is definitely not the sort of music I should be listening to.

To me, the whole thing sounds as if it was originally conceived as one song, Prince's ode to his new found faith and path in life, which in the world of record-contract musicians would probably be destined for the scrap heap or would end up as a B-side at best, but, because Prince can do what he wants, he decided to stretch it out into a long tedious boring 78 minute long faith-fest.

Having said all that, I'm glad the album exists. I don't think it would if Prince were still under contract to WB, and it is interesting to hear any and all ideas Prince explores, even if I don't necessarily like them or 'get' them.

wedding feast is meant to be bad, it's a joke, prince is laughing at the end of the very short track.. talk about no sense of humour

Could someone please try to explain why some on here revere it as a "masterpiece" "one of his best"??

blackboab said:

Do you think it makes any sense to intentionally include bad music on an album?
Plus, I wouldn't think that many people are looking for a laugh a minute when they listen to music.
I know I listen to music for enjoyment, but not for giggles. If I want a laugh then I'll listen to a Bill Hicks 'album', or something.

Face it, Wedding Feast is just plain wrong on all levels!

wedding feast is meant to be bad, it's a joke, prince is laughing at the end of the very short track.. talk about no sense of humour

blackboab said:

Yeah, but damn. The idea that because Prince thinks something is funny means we have to as well otherwise we have no sense of humour...

It's a total fuck up. It's not funny in the slightest, just painful on the ears. Why is it funny to include something that's meant to be bad? The man's been funny lots of times on record - this just isn't.

AsylumUtopia said:

No, i agree with blackboab, Wedding Feast is a good musical joke, like Dionne was in "The truth". Anyway it took time to me to appreciate TRC, but finally it hit me last winter, with "everywhere" as an entry point. Now i think it`s a very rich record.

Im french so i don`t understand the darth vader story, maybe it`s better like this.

at risk of repeating myself

muse i hate this song its just plain offensive

LaMood said:

When I first heard TRC at the listening party during the 2nd celebration, EVERYONE in the room I was in laughed and smiled during The Wedding Feast. It lightened the mood up a lot and I think, at that moment, it was taken for what it was meant to be...a small piece o' cheeze in a very heavy album.

I too find it funny that such a small track can cause such hatred by people...

Ah well, too each their own!

The reason so many don't "get" TRC is because in this case say unlike musicology Prince is not at all catering to his audience. He is asking u the listener to streach yourself both sonically and intellectually. He has in essense as someone said created an alternate universe for the listener to inhabit for the duration of the CD. In other words if u lack imagination u will not be able to immerse yourself in the piece. Some people don't get "2001 a space odessy". I find all the complaints about "darth vader" and "the wedding fest" as well as the dismissal of the album as religious rambling to be the comments of people who aren't looking at the the work as serious art but as entertainment. TRC contains Prince's thoughts on finding faith (TRC everywhere everlasting now) purpose (last december) and race. Also in embedded in the story which is told as a religious allegory is his relationship with mayte, mani, the media/WB. The music itself is a combination of jazz, pop balledry, ambient, funk, neo-soul & hiphop. This album asks for the listener to put forth some effort not everyone is up to the task. Especially those caught up in Prince the entertainer as opposed to those who feel Prince's genuis go beyond just making u shake your ass.

tricky99 said:

I agree with your 'alternative universe for the listener' and that it requires some intellectual stretching in order to be grasped.
If you read my first post on this thread, you'll see that I do have an appreciation for TRC. However, I've tried for too long to get into it and I can't. Sorry, but it's just not possible to immerse yourself in it if you find the music bland and boring. So I've put in the effort, but because I don't like it, by your reckoning I'm not up to the task, which means I lack imagination ?
I don't think so. You could apply that logic to practically anything.
The reason I cannot immerse myself in the piece is because I find it to be lack lustre, mediocre jass/funk which doesn't challenge me sonically (and sure as hell didn't challenge Prince musically), and not due to a lack of imagination.

I don't think even Prince would laud TRC as highly as you do.


Because one finds something boring really doesn't mean anything about the the particular work. Many i'm sure find classical music, citizen kane, and 2001 boring. That says more about their taste than it does about the art. I'm sure Prince would not have released it if he was not proud of it. It is much more involved musically then some of his other work . Prince did do the work. Just because u don't like it doesn't mean there wasn't a lot of effort put into the work both physically and conceptually. Any idiot can listen to the CD and know it wasn't created in the afternoon between lunch and watching Ophah. Hard work was involved. At least realize that. Also it sounds like nothing else in Prince's catalog which means that he had to strearch himself out of his own comfort zone to create it.

Spelling edits.
[This message was edited Fri May 21 6:28:43 2004 by AsylumUtopia]
[This message was edited Fri May 21 6:29:20 2004 by AsylumUtopia]

The rainbow children is the only comercially availible full length i didn't own, so i figured i at least owed it to myself to get it and listen with an open mind. Now I've listened to it a few times, I definitely agree i will need to spend more time with it to make a final judgement cause it is definitely not a pop record where by the end of each song you can tell if you like it or not. It requires a little more of an active role by the listener.

its not a good record.... thematically more than anything else, I find it misinformed and irrelevant...

My initial reactions are I'm a little underwelmed, the darth vader voice throughout gets a little tyring. To it's credit, it's a highly experimental record, based on what i read, I really expected it to be more of a staight forward jazz record. However, as is the nature of experimental music, it can be hit or miss, and unfortunately, my inital reaction is it is much more of a miss than a hit. The shoving of his religon down my throat is a little off putting, but i can get past that and try to appreciate it on a musical level.

yes the music is flipping Jazz with various other things, but it is by and large a jazz records... jazz muzos will love it no doubt

The Wedding feast really bums me out, i almost have to turn the record off at that point. The digital garden and everlasting now seem kinda interesting, but they really do pale in comparisson to my fav prince songs.

Wedding feast.... just play it to all those ppl who u want to put off prince for life

Could someone please try to explain why some on here revere it as a "masterpiece" "one of his best"??

LaMood said:

When I first heard TRC at the listening party during the 2nd celebration, EVERYONE in the room I was in laughed and smiled during The Wedding Feast. It lightened the mood up a lot and I think, at that moment, it was taken for what it was meant to be...a small piece o' cheeze in a very heavy album.

I too find it funny that such a small track can cause such hatred by people...

Ah well, too each their own!

Because one finds something boring really doesn't mean anything about the the particular work. Many i'm sure find classical music, citizen kane, and 2001 boring. That says more about their taste than it does about the art. I'm sure Prince would not have released it if he was not proud of it. It is much more involved musically then some of his other work . Prince did do the work. Just because u don't like it doesn't mean there wasn't a lot of effort put into the work both physically and conceptually. Any idiot can listen to the CD and know it wasn't created in the afternoon between lunch and watching Ophah. Hard work was involved. At least realize that. Also it sounds like nothing else in Prince's catalog which means that he had to strearch himself out of his own comfort zone to create it.

LAProducer said:

try separating the music from the psychobabble. That band (and it is, it's not just Prince as is the case on Musicology) is on fire. A quick point about that, Prince is currently doing the rounds extolling the virtues of a real band, except Musicology (the album) is 90% him on his own. I feel The Rainbow Children is truely a better example of 'Real Music by real musicians'. The production is warm, it just feels very organic to me. It takes time, but the payoff is sweet.

BTW, Darth Vader voice? When did Vader ever sound that retarded?

The rainbow children is the only comercially availible full lenght i didn't own, so i figured i at least owed it to myself to get it and listen with an open mind. Now I've listened to it a few times, I definitely agree i will need to spend more time with it to make a final judgement cause it is definitely not a pop record where by the end of each song you can tell if you like it or not. It requires a little more of an active role by the listener.

My initial reactions are I'm a little underwelmed, the darth vader voice throughout gets a little tyring. To it's credit, it's a highly experimental record, based on what i read, I really expected it to be more of a staight forward jazz record. However, as is the nature of experimental music, it can be hit or miss, and unfortunately, my inital reaction is it is much more of a miss than a hit. The shoving of his religon down my throat is a little off putting, but i can get past that and try to appreciate it on a musical level.

The Wedding feast really bums me out, i almost have to turn the record off at that point. The digital garden and everlasting now seem kinda interesting, but they really do pale in comparisson to my fav prince songs.

Could someone please try to explain why some on here revere it as a "masterpiece" "one of his best"??

Saying TRC is one of P's best is an insult to all of his great records. Man, I should not even play TRC in the same player as 1999 and Purple Rain. TRC is elevator jazz. WEAK. All this talk about the "musicianship" on TRC is misguided. Where's the musicianship in this tired ass derivative jazz sound? Lyrically, TRC is one of P's WORST outings ever. Here are some words I would use to describe the lyrics:

impenetrable
self-indulgent
cryptic
humorless
dumb (as in just plain stupid and silly)
insulting
offensive
inchoate

Talk about overrated. TRC is the most overrated Prince record that there is. I wonder how many of the TRC loyalist actually listen to this record all the time. It takes a serious act of mind for me to listen to TRC and I’m usually cringing throughout half the songs.