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Q Magazine

His most consistent work since 1991's Diamonds And Pearls, although you'll need to ignore the peculiar narrative episodes in order to fully enjoy it. [Jan 2002, p.106]

Spin Cycle

Unfortunately, the record is burdened by a pretentious, overarching narrative about "the Wise One" and his struggle with "the Banished Ones."

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Billboard

It deftly balances sweet ballads, outer-space jazz, acid-rock, and firecracker funk superior to almost anything he has offered since perhaps "Sign O' the Times."

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New York Magazine

With its fluttering horns, gauzy percussion, and the playing of smooth-jazz saxophonist Najee, Prince's new album, The Rainbow Children, is steeped in the kind of fusion [Miles] Davis pioneered.

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Mojo

A sprawling, instrumentally dazzling work which all but spurns pop songwriting. [Jan 2002, p.99]

E! Online

The experiments sometimes work, but the album is mainly weighted down by cryptic religious ramblings that sap the pop life right out of it.

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Entertainment Weekly

The album's light jazz-funk grooves sink under the weight of his sanctimony. [23 Nov 2001, p.82]

Uncut

The music, though lithe and limber in a jazz-fusion-funk bag, lacks melodic distinction, while the vocals are delivered in a variety of electronically treated styles that are irritating at first and increasingly so on repeated exposures. [Feb 2002, p.125]

The Onion (A.V. Club)

The Rainbow Children contains one good song, a ballad called "She Loves Me 4 Me," buried beneath layers of spiritual horseshittery.

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Spin

The music, such as it is, is a river of fat-free, dirt-free, melody-free jazz Olestra. [Feb 2002, p.112]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 31 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jack T gave it a10:
I can see where some people will be putoff by the religious narrative, but I love the cohesiveness of the cd and the music is great throughout. And though it is a concept album, it's one that he obvoiusly poured himself into and just totally went for it. My favorite cd (start to finish) of the past 20 years.

Cindy C. gave it a0:
My girlfriend gave me this as a present, knowing i was a big Prince fan, and over the years i have tried to like this, but cant, i hate this thing for so many reasons, mostly because it just sounds like lame rehashes of his previous wok with goofy spiritual overtones. Yes it features la live band sound with great musicianship, i just wish they were playing some other songs.

R P gave it a0:
This one is almost imposible to enjoy unless you wear purple toned glasses. It is as cheesy as anything he released in the 90's The compositions are just as predictable tired and uninspired as anything he did in the 90's except played by great musicians. If you like jazzy Prince find Madhouse "6" you will enjoy it a lot more and your eyes wont hurt from rolling them so much.

alexander y gave it a9:
A fantastic through-composed narrative. Sure the "story" being told may be weird at time, but as a musical experience and a piece of art, it is fantastic. From one track to the next, emotion builds and the listener gets lost in a sea of -- for lack of a better word -- Prince. Truly fantastic.

orlando D.smith gave it a7:
On then surface I positively accepted it, was initially disappointed in some tracks, one where he tried to sound like bohemian spiritual rapper in' muse to pharaoh' but grew to like it. Happy that he's made a transition, and not resting on a vain attempt to appeal & appease to the youth, visually on his LIVE AT LAS VEGAS cd featuring some of songs-I'm even more impressed.

mitch gave it an 8:
Very disappointed and shocked by the low ratings given by prominent magazines....I agree the persistent use of narrative is a bit much, but adds to the conceptual and religious nature of the album. Easily better than Musicology IMHO based strictly on the album's uniqueness. Somebody please back me up here...

Winston J gave it a 5:
Hmmm....insteresting jazz/funk/r&b fusion but not groundbreaking or anything. Might have given it a 6 or 7 without the warped preaching bullshit. No real songs here, just jams that fans have heard millions of times in his live shows anyway. Hopefully this is the last in a string of pointless albums. Hard to believe this is the same guy who gave us the 1999 and Sign o'the times albums. I think he was right when he put "1958-1993" on the cover of Come...he's been dead since then.

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The Rainbow Children

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