The Rainbow Children
2001 studio album by Prince
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 54/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Entertainment Weekly | C+ |
| The Guardian | |
| Mojo | |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Slant | |
| Spin | 2/10 |
| Tom Hull, on the Web | B |
| Uncut | 4/10 |
The Rainbow Children is the twenty-fourth studio album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on November 20, 2001, by NPG Records and Redline Entertainment. It was also released through Prince's website earlier in the year. It is the first album released outside of the NPG Music Club to be released under the name of Prince again, as he had reverted to his previous stage name from his symbolic moniker a year earlier. It was released on double vinyl with a glossy color booklet, and was not available on vinyl again until the Legacy release in 2020.
This concept album illustrates common Prince themes of spirituality and human sexuality, as well as love and racism, through the fictitious story of a social movement toward a Martin Luther King Jr.-inspired utopian society. The album seems to allude to his recent conversion to the Jehovah's Witnesses denomination, but Egyptian monotheism and New Age concepts such as the Akashic records are used as metaphors as well. Jazzier than any of his previous efforts, it was met with mixed reactions. Some fans saw the album as a musical and spiritual evolution for Prince.
The Rainbow Children was released through the independent distributor Redline Entertainment. At Prince's decision, it received minimal promotion, as he wanted to focus more on the music and avoid commercialism. The album sold 158,000 copies in US stores as of summer 2007, with an estimated 560,000 copies worldwide.
The album also had a dedicated promotional website that offered the tracks "She Loves Me 4 Me" and "Mellow" as free MP3 downloads. The domain is currently for sale.
The album cover features Cbabi Bayoc's "The Reine Keis Quintet". Prince favored the painting of a women's band, as he was backed by an all-female ensemble.
01Track listing
All songs written and produced by Prince.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Rainbow Children" | 10:03 |
| 2. | "Muse 2 the Pharaoh" | 4:21 |
| 3. | "Digital Garden" | 4:07 |
| 4. | "The Work, pt. 1" | 4:28 |
| 5. | "Everywhere" | 2:55 |
| 6. | "The Sensual Everafter" | 2:58 |
| 7. | "Mellow" | 4:24 |
| 8. | "1+1+1 Is 3" | 5:17 |
| 9. | "Deconstruction" | 2:00 |
| 10. | "Wedding Feast" | 0:54 |
| 11. | "She Loves Me 4 Me" | 2:49 |
| 12. | "Family Name" | 8:17 |
| 13. | "The Everlasting Now" | 8:18 |
| 14. | "Last December" | 7:58 |
| 15. | "Untitled" | 0:04 |
| 16. | "Untitled" | 0:04 |
| 17. | "Untitled" | 0:04 |
| 18. | "Untitled" | 0:04 |
| 19. | "Untitled" | 0:04 |
| 20. | "Untitled" | 0:08 |
| 21. | "Last December (Reprise)" | 0:38 |
| Total length: | 68:49 | |
Additional notes:
- Tracks 15-21 are all hidden tracks and are all silent with the exception of track 21, which gradually fades in to the repetition of the word "one" being sung.
02Personnel
- Prince, lead and backing vocals, electric guitars, Fender Rhodes piano, Yamaha Motif 6, Korg Trident, bass guitar, drums, electronic percussion
- Najee, Soprano saxophone, flute
- John Blackwell, drums, cowbell and Roland V-Drums (1-9, 11-14)
- Larry Graham, bass guitar (4, 14)
03Charts
| Chart (2001) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| French Albums (SNEP) | 78 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) | 74 |
| US Billboard 200 | 109 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard) | 4 |
| Chart (2020) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) | 60 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) | 28 |
| French Albums (SNEP) | 75 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) | 29 |
| Scottish Albums (Official Charts) | 35 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) | 30 |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “The Rainbow Children”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Prince Rainbow.jpg by Unknown author, Fair use
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