The Rainbow Children by Prince
In the early ‘00s, the music of Prince often was overshadowed by his status as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince. Twenty years on, often overlooked recordings from that era are being reissued in beautiful packages. The latest, The Rainbow Children, is a 2001 concept album relating to Prince’s religious faith with many biblical refences. The song cycle tells the story of a divinely inspired movement to transcend racism, violence and oppression. Spiritual striving had been an undercurrent in Prince lyrics; here it takes jump center.
Some of the vocals are basso profundo and processed—thus spoke a prophet from inside a dark cavern. However, most are in Prince’s familiar voice. As musically ambitious as anything Prince attempted, The Rainbow Children opens on a Booker T soul groove with ‘60s avant-garde jazz soloing before segueing into a spacy rock jam that eventually turns molten. “Muse 2 The Pharaoh” is slippery R&B; “Digital Garden” evokes the great ‘70s moments of Curtis Mayfield. There are orchestrated suggestions of Sun Ra’s Afro-centric cosmos and the all-embracing musical universe of Sly Stone.
Radio friendly? Ready for the dance clubs? No—The Rainbow Children is too eclectic and too bound to its story. It demands to be listened to from genesis to revelation.
