music.wikisort.org - Composition

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, and was not available on vinyl again until the Legacy release in 2020.

The Rainbow Children
Studio album by Prince
Released	November 20, 2001
Recorded	September 5, 2000–June 19, 2001
Genre	Jazz fusion[1]
Length	68:49
Label	NPG, Redline Entertainment
Producer	Prince
Prince chronology
The Very Best of Prince (2001) The Rainbow Children (2001) One Nite Alone... (2002)
Singles from The Rainbow Children
"The Work, pt. 1" Released: 2001

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	54/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Entertainment Weekly	C+[4]
Q	[2]
Rolling Stone	[5]
Slant	[6]
Tom Hull	B[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 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]}

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.

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
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[13]	4

Chart (2020)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[14]	60
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[15]	28
French Albums (SNEP)[16]	75
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17]	29
Scottish Albums (OCC)[18]	35
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19]	30

References

Further reading

• Phipps, Keith (November 20, 2001). "The Rainbow Children". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
• Ross, Mike (November 17, 2001). "The Rainbow Children". Jam!. Archived from the original on July 10, 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
• Brown, Ethan (December 24, 2001). "Pop Music: In Brief". New York. Archived from the original on January 27, 2002. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
• "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

• The Rainbow Children at Metacritic

На других языках

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[de] The Rainbow Children (Album)

The Rainbow Children (englisch für Die Regenbogenkinder) ist das 24. Studioalbum des US-amerikanischen Musikers Prince. Es erschien am 16. Oktober 2001 über seine damalige Website als Download. Prince stand von 2001 bis 2004 bei keiner Schallplattenfirma unter Vertrag und führte mit Hilfe dieser Website seinen Musikvertrieb selbst durch. Am 20. November 2001 wurde das Album in einigen Ländern bei seinem eigenen Musiklabel NPG Records und dem US-Independent-Label Redline Entertainment auf CD veröffentlicht.

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- [en] The Rainbow Children

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[es] The Rainbow Children

The Rainbow Children -en español: Los niños del arcoíris- es el vigésimotercer álbum de estudio del músico estadounidense Prince, publicado el 20 de noviembre de 2001 por NPG y Redline. Ha vendido cerca de 560.000 copias a nivel mundial.[1]

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[ru] The Rainbow Children

The Rainbow Children — двадцать четвёртый студийный альбом американского певца и композитора Принса, выпущенный 20 ноября 2001 года на лейблах NPG Records и Redline Entertainment. Диск получил положительные отзывы музыкальной критики и интернет-изданий. The Rainbow Children в коммерческом плане не был успешным и достиг лишь позиции № 74 в Швейцарии и № 109 в американском чарте Billboard 200[2].

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