Happy 20th Anniversary to Prince’s twenty-fourth studio album The Rainbow Children, originally released November 20, 2001.
There's no denying Prince's genius. His prolific output was both a blessing and a curse for the general music-loving public, who often struggled to keep up with his constant stream of releases and often shifting musical focus. After a period of releasing music under the O(+> moniker and then retreating behind a digital fortress releasing music through his pioneering NPG Music Club website, Prince reclaimed the name most people knew him as and delivered his twenty-fourth studio album, The Rainbow Children.
But as he would often say during the tour in support of the release, “For those of you expecting to get your ‘Purple Rain’ on, you're in the wrong house.” Although he had reclaimed his Prince name, he wasn't interested in looking back. Nor was he interested in delivering an album that fit people's expectations of what a Prince album should sound like.
In its purest sense, The Rainbow Children is a concept album heavily influenced by his religious conversion to being a Jehovah's Witness, an ongoing interest in Egyptian mythology, and his increased draw to the free-flowing nature of jazz. With a vocally treated narrative throughout, it was a challenging return to general releases and one that quickly divided critics and fans alike.
Reflecting his journey of divorce and spiritual awakening, The Rainbow Children's narrative details betrayal and banishment from a rising utopian society founded by The Rainbow Children. The leader, known as The Wise One, reels from the betrayal of his loved one and looks to God for the arrival of a new partner, a Muse who will eventually join him as his Queen. Meanwhile, the Banished Ones cultivate a new ruling society and encircle The Rainbow Children in a digital garden and try to overthrow The Wise One. Joined by his community willing to go door to door to do the work, The Rainbow Children eventually dismantle the restrictive digital garden and chase The Banished Ones from the land. Marrying the Muse, the Wise One and the Rainbow Children undertake a renewed life with a love of Christ.
Got that? It's a lot, yeah. And sometimes the album suffers under the narrative, but the genius of the music punches through.
From the jazzy opener, the rousing "Rainbow Children" with a promise of a utopian society made up of all races and colors, to the velvet seduction of "Muse 2 the Pharaoh" floating on a smooth Rhodes melody and one of Prince's finest vocal performance, to the James Brown inspired funk of "The Work, Pt. 1," the album begins with Prince effortlessly floating from genre to genre with the ease of a man free from expectations.
This musical exploration continues throughout the album with mixed success. Just when it gains momentum, the overbearing narrative sidetracks it somewhat, and tracks like the sublime romantic throws of "Mellow" or the sweetness of "She Loves Me 4 Me" feel suffocated by the weight of surrounding tracks.
When the album suffers momentarily, issues are soon course-corrected by pounding funk grooves like "1+1+1 is 3" and the educational double punch of epic funk with the thought-provoking "Family Name" and the high energy climax of "The Everlasting Now."
Closing out the album with "Last December," it's easy to think Prince is trying to shape a new millennium anthem. Building off sweet guitar strumming, the track soon gets wings and soars. An intimate look at the end of one's journey on earth, "Last December" builds with a gospel feel and connects to the listener with a promise of redemption and salvation.
The Rainbow Children remains a deliberately confronting album, and its highly religious narrative might be too much for some. As a whole, it can be a lot to get through, but it contains some unforgettable moments of a man renewed by a reclaimed identity and the freedom to go where the muse takes him. It's a shame that most people exposed to Prince's most popular recordings missed out on some of his most powerful in the later efforts, but this was not destined to be the album that would bring them back.
Note: As an Amazon affiliate partner, Albumism may earn commissions from purchases of vinyl records, CDs and digital music featured on our site.
LISTEN via Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube: