CD Odyssey Disc 630: Public Enemy

I didn’t get to the gym again today and my body is starting to notice. Lack of gym time plus two straight weeks without a game of ulti and I need some exercise bad. I can feel my mid-forties body starting to fall apart. As my friend and gym-buddy Chris is fond of pointing out, “entropy’s a bitch.”

Disc 630 is….Yo! Bum Rush the Show

Artist: Public Enemy

Year of Release: 1987

What’s up with the Cover? The band gathers around a turntable, looking serious, although about what is unclear. There is a harsh light glaring down and with Chuck D dressed in white, it looks a bit like an operation room. The other band members need to scrub up though – it doesn’t look like a sterile environment to me.

Then again, the glaring light also seems to imply an interrogation. I like to think they are interrogating their music. All art needs to be interrogated a bit by the person taking it in – that’s how it reveals its secrets.

How I Came To Know It: I was already a fan of Public Enemy so this was just me buying another album of theirs on spec.

How It Stacks Up:  I have three Public Enemy albums, and while “It Takes a Nation of Millions” is easily my favourite, it is a close call between this album and “Fear Of A Black Planet.” Despite “that album’s critical acclaim I’ve got to put “Yo! Bum Rush the Show” in second. If nothing else it accomplishes in twelve tracks what it takes “Fear of a Black Planet” twenty to get done.

And for those with incredibly short term memory, here is the recap since it is my last Public Enemy review pending buying more of their catalogue:

1. It Takes A Nation of Millions: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 513)
2. Yo! Bum Rush the Show: 4 stars (reviewed right here)
3. Fear of a Black Planet: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 480)

Rating:  4 stars

If you’d ever wondered what Public Enemy would sound like if they would just lighten up and rap about sweet rides and fly girls, then listen to “Yo! Bum Rush the Show.”

Public Enemy’s first album is considerably more traditional than either of their next two (and more famous) records, but it would be a mistake to dismiss it on this basis. This is top-tier rap from the late eighties and as good as anything else you’ll hear at that time.

While present, the layers of sampling that Public Enemy is famous for is not as thick here either, but if anything this just lets Chuck D’s rap genius shine through. He is one of rap’s great vocalists and with simpler beats and sparser samples his power comes through that much clearer. Even Flavour Flav is at his nasally best. While not as consistently brilliant on the mic as Chuck D, Flav has his moments. On “Yo! Bum Rush the Show” he generally gets more opportunities to show off his skills, particularly on “Too Much Posse” and “M.P.E.” the latter of which he alternates verses with Chuck D and holds his own.

As I noted at the top, Public Enemy raps about some of the traditional early subjects here, starting with the opening track “You’re Gonna Get Yours” which is a love song about an unlikely car – the Oldsmobile 98 (n.b. ‘98’ is the model, not the year).

If you don’t know, the Oldsmobile 98 is a true full-sized sedan. I’m more of a Springsteen muscle car kind of guy, but for Chuck D his Oldsmobile 98 is like a laden Spanish galleon. It’s a big, bold beauty that’s broad and loose in its handling. It is a ponderous and powerful symbol of wealth. My favourite line:

“I’d rub my boomerang – feeling proud

And I wouldn’t even hear them cause my radio’s loud

Cruisin’ down the boulevard

Treated like a superstar

You know the time so don’t look hard

Get with it – the ultimate homeboy car.”

This song is followed up by the perfect pairing of a rock guitar riff with Chuck’s ‘rolling thunder’ rap style on “Sophisticated Bitch” a song about a man-eater. This song reminded me of Ice T, and it wouldn’t surprise me to learn his work would be positively influenced by early Public Enemy.

A lot of “Yo! Bum Rush the Show” sticks to my favourite old school rap subject, namely the “I can rap better than you” game. Thirty years into the art form that is rap music, the “I can rap better than you” game is still the best game in town. Public Enemy lays down a clutch of these songs on their debut album and they’re all good.

 From “Miuzi Weighs a Ton”:

“Accused of assault – a 1^st degree crime

Cause I beat competitors with my rhymes

Tongue whipped, pushed, shoved and tripped

Choked from the hold of my Kung Fu grip.”

And from “Public Enemy No. 1”

“Well I’m all in  - put it up on the board

Another rapper shot down from the mouth that roared.”

Having proved that they can rap about rapping as furiously as any of their peers, Public Enemy still finds a few choice spots to deliver their message of black empowerment. The title track calls out racial inequality on the systemic side, but Public Enemy never sits on their laurels and blames the state; at its core theirs is always a proactive message.

“Megablast” is a cautionary tale about the dangers of getting addicted to crack, and “Rightstarter (Message to a Black Man)” calls for people to take responsibility for their actions, not just blame The Man:

“Our solution – mind revolution

Mind over matter – mouth in motion

Corners don’t sell it – no you can’t buy it

Can’t defy it cause I’ll never be quiet

Let’s start this right.”

As careers go, Public Enemy certainly took their own advice, getting started right and staying strong. For a debut record “Yo! Bum Rush the Show” is ambitious and in your face, and it sets the stage for the career one of rap’s most enduring, influential and important acts.

Best tracks:   You’re Gonna Get Yours, Sophisticated Bitch, Miuzi Weighs a Ton, Rightstarter (Message to a Black Man), Public Enemy No. 1, 

CD Odyssey Disc 513: Public Enemy

Happy Saturday!  I’m home from a bunch of random errands, mostly pleasant, and now I’m going to write this review.  I was actually home an hour ago, but I fell down the Youtube well – more on that later.

Disc 513 is…. It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back

Artist: Public Enemy

Year of Release: 1988

What’s up with the Cover?  The Messenger of Prophecy and the Cold Lamper (aka Chuck D and Flavor Flav) appear to have been arrested for some crime which – if you listen to the record – is either illegal firearm possession or stealing samples.

How I Came To Know It:  After I finally succumbed to the good advice of many decades and bought “Fear of a Black Planet” (reviewed back at Disc 480), it was a simple matter to move on to this album, which chronologically came just prior.

How It Stacks Up:  I have three Public Enemy albums.  I like all of them, but “It Takes a Nation of Millions” is easily the best.

Rating:  5 stars

“This time around the revolution will not be televised,” Chuck D advises at the beginning of this album, breathing new life and new perspective into the ideas of another man – Gil Scott Heron – a generation earlier.  For an album that came at the height of the debate of how sampling could be considered new music, I can think of no better starting point.

I admit that back in the late eighties I was dubious at the idea of sampling.  I even thought of it as stealing, not realizing at the time that every other form of music ‘samples’ all manner of things:  chord progressions, licks, styles, imagery – you name it.  It is part of art, and listening to “It Takes A Nation of Millions” you would be hard pressed to call it anything other than art, and great art at that.  This album is rife with sampling; beautifully rife with it.  Rife like a garden is rife with flowers, or a rainbow is rife with colour.

When I reviewed “Fear of a Black Planet” I noted that sometimes the sheer number of layered samples made the songs too busy in places.  There are a ton of samples on “It Takes a Nation of Millions” as well, but they serve the music so much better.  The songs never lose their genuine funk, and despite the many samples, remain melodic and connected.

It may be my bias toward Queen, but my favourite sample is the Flash Gordon theme used in “Terminator X To the Edge of Panic.”  This is a seamless blend of rock into rap on a level far more interesting than simply having Anthrax play guitar on a track.  Also, the way Terminator X scratches the sample into the groove takes the original Queen classic to another level.  Later in the song, Chuck D lays down his grade A raps in praise of his DJ as the song grows organically into something even better.

The album has sixteen tracks, which is two more than I usually think reasonable.  However, in this case all sixteen are exceptional.  So hard to pick my favourite on a record with this many classics, but I always return to “Don’t Believe the Hype,” which is a wide-ranging dissing of the band’s detractors, and more generally anyone in society who would prefer they stay silent.  A couple of sections from the song exemplify the band’s thoughts for those critics and reviewers they might offend:

“The book of the new school rap game

Writers treat me like Coltrane, insane

Yes to them, but to me I’m a different kind

We’re brothers of the same mind, unblind

Caught in the middle and

Not surrenderin’

I don’t rhyme for the sake of riddlin’”

And later:

“Leader of the new school, uncool

Never played the fool, just made the rules

Remember there’s a need to get alarmed

Again I said I was a time bomb.”

These lyrics show that while they can be funky and fun as all hell, Public Enemy were also very much about taking on serious topics.  When Chuck D says “again I said I was a time bomb” he is reminding both listeners and detractors that if you give him a stage, he might say some things that folks don’t want to hear.

A lot of the undercurrents here are frustration in black communities and racial tension in the U.S. that as a middle class white kid from Canada I will never be able to understand.  That said, listening to “It Takes A Nation of Millions” gives me some insight – however fleeting – into a different experience than my own.  For me that is a big part of what good music is about.

And this is good music, regardless of any other message.  Every song, whether it is sampling Queen, a James Brown horn lick, a speech of some political figure or just some (not so) random dialogue always delivers a beat that loosens your backbone and gets you grooving.  That’s another big part of what music is all about.

To return to Gil Scott Heron, his quote got me thinking and I had to learn more.  I looked it up on the Interwebs and found that it was originally the title of a spoken-word poetry piece which is absolutely awesome.  This led me to a six part documentary on Heron detailing his life, his poetry his music and all the artists he influenced.  I watched the whole thing in one go before returning to write this review.

Heron was sometimes known as the “Godfather of Rap” (a term he both enjoyed and finds a humorous reminder of his age).  In 1993 he released a song called “Message to the Messengers” where he reminded young and upcoming artists that they had a responsibility to speak the truth, and make not just their own communities better, but to make a difference world-wide.  It was inspiring stuff.

Now I want to know more about Heron, particularly his music.  All this because Public Enemy borrowed his phrase and put it onto an album that was so amazing that it helped convert me from a distrustful ‘metal-only’ teenager to a fledgling appreciator of protest rap.

Best tracks:  all tracks

CD Odyssey Disc 480: Public Enemy

The Odyssey rolls on, approaching 500 reviews!  What will I do when I get there, dear readers?  Keep on goin’, I suppose...

Disc 480 is…Fear of a Black Planet

Artist: Public Enemy

Year of Release: 1990

What’s up with the Cover?  The imminent collision of planets!  Although the writing style would make you logically think of Star Wars, this cover reminds me of a movie I recently saw; Lars Von Trier’s “Melancholia.”  “Melancholia” is a movie about how a group of characters react to the very real possibility that a large planet may crash into the earth…or may just miss us; scientists aren’t telling.

In this case, the collision planet is apparently the Public Enemy planet, complete with massive logo.  Underneath, stock ticker style, you are reminded that this album is not in fact about celestial collisions but is instead “The counterattack on world supremacy.”  As headlines go, that one needs work.

How I Came To Know It:  One of my friends in university was a guy named Jeff, who was from Toronto, who I have sadly lost contact with.  He tried to get me to listen to both this and Ice T, but I had little interest in either at the time (I was new to my folk music phase).  A few years later when my roommate Greg also had this album I gave it a chance and liked it a bit more, and eventually I liked it enough to buy it for myself.  So I guess to summarize how I came to know it?  Gradually.

How It Stacks Up:  I have three Public Enemy albums.  I have to put this one last of those three, despite its important place in music history.

Rating:  4 stars

“Fear of a Black Planet is the artistic endpoint for the heady days before artists had to pay for samples, and represents the best and worst of that period.

There are so many samples on this record, music, dialogue, various sounds – you name it.  Like the most skillful conductor, Public Enemy pulls together this disparate soup into exceptionally catchy musical arrangements.  Despite it being vilified in the day by the ignorant (including me at the time), this takes an incredible skill and an unflinching artistic vision.  It is hard to pack this much stuff into a song and not end up with a hot mess.

At the same time, I can’t help but find the album a bit busy for my personal tastes.  It may be done brilliantly but at the end of the day there is still just too much going on for me.  A classic example is on “Burn Hollywood Burn” which in addition to multiple music samples, has a recurring whistle sound.  The sound is very evocative of a traffic cop, and in the context of the song you can picture a cop blowing his whistle as he diverts traffic away from arson.  In this case the arson is in the form of Public Enemy’s rhymes against Hollywood’s racial stereotypes.  I can’t deny that it works but I find the whistle, clever as it is, prevents me from having a deeper emotional connection with the song.  Despite that, this is one of my favourite songs, because I simply can’t deny Chuck D’s amazing rap action and the old school beats the band lays down.

Strangely, I find the saturation of sound less frustrating on the instrumental tracks, and “Contract on the World Love Jam” and “Leave This Off Your Fuckin’ Charts” are two of my favourite songs, despite their insatiable appetite for sampling.

Lyrically, Public Enemy has a well-deserved reputation for taking on anything and everything, and “Fear of a Black Planet” explores every awkward element of race relations in America in unflinching fashion.  Gone are the days of merely rapping about how well you can rap, and yet they also reject the equally two dimensional topics of drugs and murder that would later grow into gangsta rap.

The songs tackle topics like interracial relationships, black stereotypes in entertainment, and the double standard of 911 response in bad neighbourhoods (on the Flavor Flav classic, “911 is a Joke”).  They end the record giving a musical middle finger to Elvis Presley on “Fight the Power.”  When they aren’t confronting a tough topic, they are deconstructing the way they are perceived by the public and the media reacting to them.  Ordinarily I would find this post-modern rehash annoying, but Public Enemy are so good at it I can’t fault them.  Sadly, “Fear of a Black Planet” doesn’t have a standout on this topic like “Don’t Believe the Hype” off their previous album.

In fact, for all my respect for “Fear of a Black Planet,” I find I prefer their previous two albums, “It Takes a Nation of Millions” and “Yo! Bum Rush the Show.”  A big part of this is my aforementioned preference for the simpler arrangements and lower sample content where the band’s natural brilliance shines through a bit better.

Regrettably, for all its innovation, “Fear of a Black Planet” suffers from the all-too-common recording sing of not knowing when to say when.  The album is bloated at twenty tracks, and that bloating gives it a directionless quality that makes it a lot less memorable.  I would have preferred fourteen tight tracks that hit you hard, and don’t give you any filler time to catch your breath.

In many ways, “Fear of a Black Planet” reminds me of Led Zeppelin’s first album (reviewed way back at Disc 27). On the one hand I recognize its creative brilliance, but on the other I find it doesn’t connect to me as strongly as a lot of other contemporary rap artists, or even PE’s own earlier records.  Like Zeppelin, it is a five star album for influence, musicianship and production, but a three star album in terms of how I react to it.  And so like that album, I split the difference and rated it at four.

Best tracks:  Contract on the World Love Jam, Brother’s Gonna Work It Out, 911 is a Joke, Burn Hollywood Burn, Revolutionary Generation, Leave This Off Your Fuckin’ Charts, Fight the Power