The Rainbow Children
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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.[citation needed]
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.[12]
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.[13]
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.[14]
Track listing
All songs written and produced by Prince. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Track listing/configuration' not found. 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.
Personnel
- 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)
Charts
| Chart (2001) | Peak position |
|---|
| Chart (2020) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| French Albums (SNEP)[15] | 75 |
References
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- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Critic Reviews for The Rainbow Children". Metacritic. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Prince: The Rainbow Children > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Weingarten, Marc (November 23, 2001). "The Rainbow Children (2001)". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Price, Simon (April 22, 2016). "Prince: every album rated – and ranked". The Guardian. Retrieved March 31, 2025.
- ^ A sprawling, instrumentally dazzling work which all but spurns pop songwriting. [Jan 2002, p.99]
- ^ 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]
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Berger, Arion (January 2, 2002). "Prince: The Rainbow Children". Rolling Stone. ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cinquemani, Sal (November 21, 2001). "Prince: The Rainbow Children". Slant. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
- ^ The music, such as it is, is a river of fat-free, dirt-free, melody-free jazz Olestra. [Feb 2002, p.112]
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Rock (1970s)". tomhull.com. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
- ^ 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]
- ^ Christman, Ed, "Retail Track: Purple Brain", Billboard, August 4, 2007
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."rainbowchildren.com". July 2, 2025.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Johnson, Cecilia (November 20, 2016). "Cbabi Bayoc and Prince's "The Rainbow Children" cover art". The Current. Minnesota Public Radio.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Top Albums (Week 23, 2020)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
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Further reading
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Phipps, Keith (November 20, 2001). "The Rainbow Children". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Ross, Mike (November 17, 2001). "The Rainbow Children". Jam!. Archived from the original on January 11, 2016. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Brown, Ethan (December 24, 2001). "Pop Music: In Brief". New York. Archived from the original on January 27, 2002. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Prince Transcends His Own Genius on Rainbow Children". New York Press. January 22, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
External links
- {{Metacritic album}} template missing ID and not present in Wikidata.
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