Btw, in case it's not common enough knowledge, he's reclaimed the name "Prince" again.

From: "Kurt Gottschalk" <ecstasymule@hotmail.com> But I'm fascinated by Kurt's inclusion of Rainbow Children,

...

which on first listen sounded like a ponderous Jehovah's Witness concept album. Should I try again?

you should absolutely try it again. the jehova stuff is easily overlooked after a couple listens, and really isn't that overt anyway. [...] the album is his best entire album, start to finish, in a decade or so. great band feel, and no painfully embarassing songs.

Well, "Wedding Feast" is intolerable even as a joke - I can't even stand the 60 seconds it lasts... :) I don't think the lyrics are quite so easy to overlook, but I can do it, since I'm not lyrically-oriented anyway. It's pretty strong musically, but only a few songs approach previous musical heights. A few sound to me competent retreads of previous stuff ("1+1+1=3" [cf. shockadelica era], "The Work pt 1" [cf Sexy Motherfucker - we only need one overt JB style track from Prince], etc) - the title track is very nice, and I like closers a lot - good Prince anthems ('everlasting now', 'last december'). 'Family Name' I find forgettable. Still, worth picking up, imo. Haven't heard any of ONA. I suppose as an old (but failing) Prince fan, I should seek it out. -- Vincent Kargatis np: Dismemberment Plan - "A Life Of Possibilities" (Live @ Crocodile 2-26-00 early)