In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine viewed "Parade" as a musically diverse near-masterpiece that is given depth by Prince's "weird religious and sexual metaphors". Simon Price later wrote in "The Guardian" that it was "the sound of Prince at his most effortless and assured. Cohesive and ice cream-cool, nobody would guess it was a soundtrack for a (sub-par) film. And it has 'Kiss' on it." In a less enthusiastic review for "Entertainment Weekly", David Browne said the record's ornate ballads and inconsistent material made it more self-indulgent than "Around the World in a Day". According to Mosi Reeves of Rhapsody, Prince's die-hard fans viewed the album as a charming mix of funk, jazz, and pop rock styles, but some detractors felt that its music was overblown. Reeves himself said that "this stylistic departure is an anomaly". In rapper Chuck D's opinion, Prince "turned off a lot of the black followers the album. I couldn't understand that. People don't want artists to endlessly repeat themselves, yet they can't tolerate change either. Prince changes all the time, always working on the public's imagination, always trying to keep ahead of them."