The Rainbow Children

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 colour booklet. It is commonly reported that only 1000 vinyl copies were pressed [this data is still to be confirmed] and it was not available on vinyl again until the Legacy release in 2020.

The Rainbow Children
Studio album by
Prince
ReleasedNovember 20, 2001
RecordedSeptember 5, 2000–June 19, 2001
GenreJazz fusion[1]
Length68:49
LabelNPG, Redline Entertainment
ProducerPrince
Prince chronology
The Very Best of Prince
(2001)		 The Rainbow Children
(2001)		 One Nite Alone...
(2002)
Singles from The Rainbow Children
  1. "The Work, pt. 1"
    Released: 2001
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(54/100)[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Entertainment WeeklyC+[4]
Q[2]
Rolling Stone[5]
Slant[6]
Tom HullB[7]

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 religion, 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.

Musically, The Rainbow Children marked a shift back towards a more "organic" sound for Prince. Unlike its predecessors, the album featured live drums, and made ample use of horns. Many songs were performed live during Prince's 2002 One Nite Alone... Tour, which became an instant success with fans and critics alike.

The Rainbow Children was released through the independent distributor Redline Entertainment, and was released with minimal promotion per Prince's wishes, as he wanted to focus more on the music and less on the sales factor of the release. It has sold 158,000 copies in US stores as of summer 2007, and an estimated 560,000 copies worldwide.[8]

The album also had a dedicated promotional website that offered the tracks "She Loves Me 4 Me" and "Mellow" as free MP3 downloads.

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.[9]

Track listing

All songs written and produced by Prince.

No.TitleLength
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.

Charts
Chart (2001) Peak
position
French Albums (SNEP)[10] 78
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[11] 74
US Billboard 200[12] 109
Chart (2020) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[13] 60
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[14] 28
French Albums (SNEP)[15] 75
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] 29
Scottish Albums (OCC)[17] 35
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[18] 30

References
  1. Guitar Player Magazine July 2004
  2. "Critic Reviews for The Rainbow Children". Metacritic. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  3. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Prince: The Rainbow Children > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  4. Weingarten, Marc (November 23, 2001). "The Rainbow Children (2001)". EW.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009.
  5. Berger, Arion (January 2, 2002). "Prince: The Rainbow Children". Rolling Stone. ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  6. Cinquemani, Sal (November 21, 2001). "Prince: The Rainbow Children". Slant. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  7. Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Rock (1970s)". tomhull.com. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  8. Christman, Ed, "Retail Track: Purple Brain", Billboard, August 4, 2007
  9. https://blog.thecurrent.org/2016/11/cbabi-bayoc-and-the-the-rainbow-children-cover-art/
  10. "Lescharts.com – Prince – The Rainbow Children". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  11. "Swisscharts.com – Prince – The Rainbow Children". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  12. "Prince Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  13. "Austriancharts.at – Prince – The Rainbow Children" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  14. "Dutchcharts.nl – Prince – The Rainbow Children" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  15. "Top Albums (Week 23, 2020)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  16. "Offiziellecharts.de – Prince – The Rainbow Children" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  17. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  18. "Swisscharts.com – Prince – The Rainbow Children". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 10, 2020.

Further reading
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