The Rainbow Children
by Prince
  • Record Label: Redline
  • Release Date: Nov 20, 2001
User Score
7.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 52 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 40 out of 52
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 52
  3. Negative: 11 out of 52

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  1. WinstonJ
    Dec 5, 2002
    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 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.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

30
#30 Most Discussed Album of 2001
82
#82 Most Shared Album of 2001

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
54

Mixed or average reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 10
  3. Negative: 2 out of 10
  1. Q Magazine
    80
    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]
  2. The A.V. Club
    30
    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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  3. Uncut
    40
    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]
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