Reviews (page 10 of 12)
3,5
Flava flav was surprisingly bearable in this
I did enjoy this.
Identifying Public Enemy : It’s Public Enemy
More than 35 years since their debut album, the hip hop world is yet to better Public Enemy. Innovative and combative, but really accessible. The two vocal tones work perfectly together. This album sags a bit in the middle, but there is plenty here to enjoy. Rating: 3/5 Playlist track: Fight the Power Date listened: 26/05/23
See the value as an album but not for me
Fight the Power!
This is nice exuberant but still political rap. A pleasing and nostalgic listen.
funky.
3.4/5
Justifiably angry - good beats and impactful lyrics. Not a genre for me and a bit repetitive but powerful music
This was good and I overall enjoyed it for the genre, which is not usually something I gravitate towards. Awesome beats and rhythm too.
A bit long, could do with some cutting down to make it more streamline but generally a decent record
Music and lyrics was ok. Not my favorite genre but thirty years later not impactful as it was in 90
First public enemy I've ran into on this list and I'm hoping they have their better albums.
I would have liked this a lot more if I didn't have to hear Flava Flav's stupid ass voice.
A pair of mongrel dogs fighting in the carpark of a pub in the rough part of town. One shits all over the back heel of the other one and shoots a look into its eyes as if to say 'don't you dare come round here again'.
Man, this is early in the genre. So many missed opportunities to drop f bombs, but instead they used nice language and rhythms to convey their message. Much respect for that.
It's not even that I don't like this. I can appreciate it. Production value, lyricist ability, endless sounds and being slammed over the head with the message. It's just not for me overall.
I haven't heard this in a little while. It's lost a little something with me.
I had a copy of this album already, but haven't listened in a while. It's a pretty heavy album - brutal really with all the sounds they through at you and pretty relentless. There is quite a contrast between Chuck D's political commentary and Flavor Flav style
Good album.
It’s ok. Not my favorite style of hip hop though
I liked all the different and interesting sound samples.
Bit of a mess! More interesting as a social commentary than as something I'd listen to because I enjoy it
Alright, Fear of a Black Planet by Public Enemy. I've had two Public Enemy albums on this list so far, and while I do enjoy listening to these guys overall with their lyrics full of righteous outrage and energy that makes you want to start a riot and highlight injustice wherever you are - be it on a crowded subway on the way home from the office or dropping off the little ones at daycare - this is my least favorite of the two; and let me tell you why. The album is way too sample-heavy overall, relying on it's chaotic (albeit carefully put together), mix of noise, riffs and even samples of their own music to create the anarchic feeling of an album with a little too much going on and a little less focus on the lyrics. Hell, I feel like I'm on high alert throughout the entire album, and while this might be what was intended, I also feel like I'm about to have a panic attack in front of a bunch of strangers which has never been exactly my idea of a solid time. When the lyrics get to come to the forefront, though, they are great, and an anthem such as the critically acclaimed Fight the Power at the end of the album makes you think that what you just went through wasn't so bad after all - what counts is the final destination, and even if it was a bit of bumpy road (and by bumpy I mean feeling like you're dodging missiles and gunshots during rush hour) getting there, you got what you wanted in the end. Now take a deep breath and keep going about your day. You've been through a lot.
A groundbreaking album when it came out, now it sounds slightly dated.
Enjoyable rap album, a bit out there, but iconic none the less. 3/5. Favorite Track: Burn Hollywood Burn
old school, aggressive, quite good.
Hugely influential and featuring Chuck D’s baritone: “the voice of God in a storm” according to The Bomb Squad. Still not really my thing, but I’d take PE over most other narcissistic, violent and mysogynistic rap music. A million miles away from De La Soul’s light and funny 3 feet high.
I love Chuck D's delivery, and I find the aggressive, squally mesh of sound backing the vocals appealing. The messages are urgent and are presented with no little wit - sadly, much still resonates today. My big beef? Man, this sounds dated. I own the album, but possibly because I thought it an important record rather than a particularly listenable record. This is a 3.5 but I'm in a mean mood, so rounding it down to a 3.
Not their best but anything coming from chuck D is already going to be better than most
I am not in fear of this album and I appreciate it for what it is. It is however not best suited as a soundtrack for a destressing and relaxing walk. I was going for forest fun but ended up with gangsta gun.
I like this album more than their other album from earlier. I give a high 3.
Dated production and flows, but the anger still pops out the songs and the energy is high. Still, despite loving hip hop and rap, and hating racists, I still don't really enjoy listening to public enemy
Moins emballant que "it takes a nation of millions...", pas de tube qui se détache, mais ça reste bon, la superposition de sample donne des titres pleins de fureur, de chaos, de bruit, grand melting pot de la culture des 30 ans précédents, digéré et recraché dans ta face. J'aime bien.
Testosterone levels doubled listening to this. Sounded like they were cruising for smacked botty.
Salrightttt
Samples coming out their arse blends well. Back when hip hop was innovative creative and respectful. While still getting their point across. When dissing was saying they needed to wash their ass or their mother has golden nipples. Takes me back to seeing them in tramlines ‘16 where me and Matt got a picture with Chuck D. Spoiler: it wasn’t Chuck D. Any cunt could have been Chuck D - the real magic is how they’ve made this music in this time period. ~10 years before the CD came out. DJ (Terminator X?) an absolute big dog Long tho. 3.5/5
groovy scratches album starting incident at 66.6 is wow yeah this is hip-hop kinda homophobic tho -1 ok pop off freestyle not the biggest hip-hop fan but it's cool
Classic hip hop, pretty good
Not really my thing
Good stuff.
Great, not stop
Its a 3 Lyrics are really impact ful even today sadly
Hip hop
Not a big fan of hip hop, these are obviously very well thought out lyrics but I'm also not big into listening to lyrics so not gonna be analyzing that. Saved songs: Welcome To The Terrordome, Pollywanacracka, Final Count Of The Collision Between Us And The Damned
Great messages, good beats and vocals, mixed quality of songs, but a memorable journey. While I'm not a fan of Hip Hop, this was very decent listening.
мало что запомнила кроме Голливуда
Ha! Call this rap? Hardly a nigga, muthafucka or ho to be heard. Yes please, I'll take that.
Groovy
This was a little milder than I was expecting. It was not bad overall.
In "Fear of a Black Planet", Public Enemy grasp the bull by the horns, realising hip-hop's full potential to shock, outrage and offend. They also take the opportunity to make a statement on the world from their unique perspective, and harness their genre as a vehicle for change that threatens to break down or crash every few minutes. This album is rich, overwhelming, chaotic, furious, exhausting, incendiary. Play it loud and drown. The music is dense and seems impenetrable on first listen: a complete overload of samples and effects, like Spector re-incarnated. Listen to the opening bars of "Brothers Gonna Work It Out" for an accurate representation of the flavour of this record: squalling distorted guitar, a heavy, front-and-centre beat, discordant keyboard, ad-libs dropping in and out, piles of reverb, and Chuck D spitting out a hurricane, barely pausing for breath. Chuck is an admirably passionate MC and there are so many lyrics to take in - pages and pages all at once - that I could only let it wash over me at first. Song by song, I became enveloped in the urgent, angry world echoing all around me: "Fear of a Black Planet" is a spectacularly immersive album. "911 Is A Joke", "Who Stole the Soul" and "Burn Hollywood Burn" were just some of my highlights on first listen, as well as the iconic "Fight the Power". It's only after a few listens that I caught wind of the anti-Semitism row that plagued the band more than any other, and then identified the problematic lyrics in the otherwise knock-out "Welcome to the Terrordome." It was hard to keep approaching the work in the same way, knowing the group's anti-semitism and homophobia severely injures the album's mission statement and undermines Public Enemy's plea for a tolerant world. At its heart, though, I can't deny that "Fear of a Black Planet" is a compelling listen. It's overlong, stretching its dense, cacophonous and enveloping production to its limit over 63 minutes, but perhaps that's the point. It's hard to feel quite as engrossed in "B Side Wins Again" or "War at 33 1/3" as it is in "Brothers Gonna Work It Out" or the intoxicating "911 Is A Joke", because lack of sonic variation or vocal delivery has caused a serious fatigue. By the end, it's hard to even determine whether the group are calling for peace, violence, or anything in between, but it's a gripping and engaging album that demands full attention.
Some great tracks with strong social commentary from the time. I like hip-hop but I don’t love it and this album was very much ‘of its time’ for me.
While still decent, in my view a significant step back from It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. 3/5
Never a great sign when you’re relieved that an album ended and the Spotify algorithm took over.
Really inventive use of samples, solid listen.
A lot of the themes in this album are still relevant 30 years on quiet sad. Very good early hip hop album.
Pretty good
not quite 4 but most tracks were good
average 90s east coast hip hop
Hype energy, get's you nicely riled up as I guess they intended. Too much 'over the place' to enjoy a full album listen but has many cool parts
Fun in-your-face rap. A fun style, but most songs sounded really similar, and 20 songs just felt too long.
Though hip hop is not a genre I listen to at all, I respect the hell out of this album. The songwriting achieves its goal of making the listener aware of the systemic racial issues in the world and highlights important topics worth pondering. I'm glad this album was successful and I hope it ruffled a few feathers. 3.5/5
their 2007 album "how you sell soul" is way better
Very influential but doesn't hold up to today's standards. Sounds pretty dated
älskar old school hiwp hawp
6/10. A little disappointing, I liked their other albums better. Still solid, but lacking some energy.
I like concept/themed albums, and this is a 5/5 on that front. The beats are also solid, with impressive production. That said, the choice of "instruments" makes it a bit… ¿noisy?, in a way that make it hard for me to pay attention to the background sounds individually, but also makes it hard to pay attention to the lyrics. It's a little bit strident for background listening, but also hard for me to actively listen to for the reasons I just mentioned. My heart wants to give this a 4, but my head has to give it a 3 based on my previous rating scale. So far that's been: 3. I liked this but probably won't listen to again 4: I liked this and will likely check out to see if I want to add it to my regular rotation And unfortunately, due to the "I don't know when I would listen to this" issue I doubt the second part will happen.
It's alright, felt like too many breakdowns/speeches/interruptions. Not enough hooky jams to be memorable.
Meh, was ok, annoyed me how it kept switching from ear to ear in my headphones
Best Song: Fight The Power. There's a reason it's the most popular off the album. Pure righteous fury. Worst Song: 911 is a Joke. Great, a full Flava Flav song. Overall: Flava Flav thankfully takes little airtime on the album (although still more than he's due). Chuck D has such a buttery smooth flow which, when paired with his political lyrics, make compelling songs. Still, some of the production is dated, hindering its listenability in the modern day.
A lot of Jazz and rock influence. The old school rhyming cadence was nostalgic
Solid, but noisier than expected. Few tracks stood out. Maybe need a few more listens.
A decent rap album from public enemy. Nowhere near as entertaining or influential as their first album. This one is a bit too sporadic with their short songs and bits between some of their aggressive songs. Chuck D has a great flow and the heavy bass and drums make this a unique sound only public enemy can do. 6.5/10
Hip-hop. Ni fu ni fa.
kuuntelin loppuun, parempi kuin odotin! tosi 1999, ei voi väittää etteikö olis vanhentuneen kuuloisia skrätsäys-/sämpläys-interludeja, hassu tuplaustyyli. voimaa ja sanomaa (jota en kuunnellut)
Better than the first one I heard.
Not my type
Very Oldschool, good tracks but a little to oldschool to be among my favourites. Delivers a message.
Two thousand twenty two the number, another summer, sound of Public Enemy to kill your slumber, Music hitting half as hard, cause you know it got old, Once dangerous, hey, hey! Now a critics darling y'all, Flav's yappin' while Chuck's rappin', Saying like he mean it, Meanin' when he say it, While Terminator X spinnin', These beats he be killin', Insert generic line here, Insert generic line there, A true relic of hip hop history, But no one's bumping this recently.
Very interesting soundscape, more a special effects album than a music album but interesting to listen to
solid album overall, hard hitting lyrics that are still pretty apt for some situations today, some of the hook melodies and sample repetition I found to be a bit grating
Great energy from a classic hip hop group. I think it should be intergraded in political science classes’ curriculums.
these beats still sound great after 3 decades
Chewbacca?
Not my favorite public enemy album - too much going on with the production - can't hear Chuck D and Flavor Flav
Good
S'aite I like public enemy flava Flav is funny
jammy
ok, not my genre
I can appreciate the importance and influence of this work and others by Public Enemy, but 80s/90s hip hop is really not my groove most of the time. I don't listen too closely to lyrics, so perhaps that's the source of my feelings of underwhelming. This album also feels too long and repetitive musically.
I enjoyed this for the most part and liked how aggressive it was. I'm not a fan of Flavor Flav, but Chuck D is great. I thought the use of sampling was cool and how they built rhythms off of random sounds. The song structures were cool with how the songs flowed together. I thought it got repetitive after a bit.
Love the genre and respect for the topics of the lyrics but couldnt get into this one
i only listened to half of it but it was okay i guess
Good, would need to give a stronger listen to evaluate more deeply
Gesellschaftlich relevante Lyrics Behandelt Problem der 1990er
I preferred Gang Starr to this (as recent hip hop comparisons) and I'm trying to work out why, I think Gang Starr was more laid back. I totally enjoyed this album but can't see myself listening so readily - I listened to GS like 3 times. But there were totally ones in this album that were an absolutely bop - I guess it was also quite long so harder for me to reflect and pick those out. 3.5 ideally
There are better Public Enemy albums
J’aime la diversité qu’il y a dans cet album. Il y a aussi un côté un peu plus décontracté que dans It take a million to hold us back. Le message passe pareil.
Intéressant d'entendre l'album sur lequel se retrouve l'excellente et importante Fight The Power. L'album est par contre long et répétitif. C'est dense et ça vient épuisant. C'est un peu difficile aussi de se concentrer sur le propos. L'intro est bonne et bien montée, 911 Is A Joke et la pièce Reggie Jax apportent un côté différent qui fait du bien. Pour un album de 1990, je m'attendais à quelque chose d'un peu plus différent. Il a définitivement eu un impact sur plusieurs groupes qui ont suivi, donc une étoile bonus pour ça.
Svidio mi se. Možda bi čak i slušala par pjesama jednom godišnje.
Nostalgija osobno, ništa više.
Was fine but not amazing imo. I really liked the sampling of news recordings etc.
I liked it as far as hip hop goes but probably wouldn’t listen again.
Pretty good! I don't think I've ever really listened to Public enemy, but it wasn't what I was expecting. It was more...thoughtful, and less violent than I expected. There's a line in a KRS-one song that says the difference between emcee-ing and rap is: "Rappers spit rhymes that are mostly illegal. Emcees spit rhymes to uplift their people". This album seems more in line with "emcee-ing", especially compared to Straight Outta Compton or something like that which came out around the same time and also deals with many of the same frustrations. I much prefer the Chuck D. parts to the Flavor Flav parts. Chuck D gets 4/5. Flavor is like 2/5. All in all, album is like 3.5/5 (because it's weighted more towards Chuck D.).
Well, once again my notes disappeared. I liked some of the famous songs, but otherwise was a bit disappointed...other than the big hits, I thought the rest of the album didn't do much to stand out.
Obviously a seminal and extremely important album full of adventurous sampling. I'd have to really listen to the lyrics to bump this up, but it's not half bad as a background album either.
nja, inte den bästa hiphopen vi haft. men helt okej
Fue un disco que no me desagradó, para ser de este género. Creo que todavía no llegaba la época de R&B con tonadas sexosas o el Hip Hop de sonar como idiota y eso le da puntos.
Cet album a quand même bien vieilli en comparaison à beaucoup de trucs old school. Je comprends pourquoi c'est un album si important dans l'histoire du genre. Pas mon genre trop trop, mais s'écoute bien quand même.
Le caractère lancinant et répétitif de la musique est parfait pour accompagner la verve énergique de Chuck D ; en même temps, cela devient vite redondant, malgré les intermèdes instrumentaux de Terminator X. Quelques succès ressortent évidemment : "911 Is A Joke", "Burn Hollywood Burn".
Political hip hop at its best . 911 is a joke and Burn Hollywood burn are standouts .
Great album, some awesome sampling and Fight The Power to end with, what's not to like?
Good one
Got thru whole album. Rather enjoyed it. Only couple times wonder is this going somewhere
Not my forte, but a nice old-school album nonetheless.
Całość brzmiała jak jedna bardzo długa i bardzo średnia piosenka, trochę te piosenki wszystkie takie same były. Generalnie nie było to nieprzyjemne do słuchania, ale myślę, że nigdy więcej tego doświadczenia nie powtórzę.
Bardzo ciekawa warstwa muzyczna. Bogactwo dźwięków, różnych sampli i ciekawie zmiksowane. Przekaz liryczny trochę mniej adekwatny do naszej sytuacji z racji braku czarnej części społeczeństwa.
Nie jest to zły album, to na pewno. W kontekście roku 1990 i tego co wtedy było, to jest nawet album dobry. Muzycznie. I to bardziej w kontekście techniki muzycznej, bo mało to chwytliwe. Lirycznie jakoś nie powala. Niemniej jednak w obliczu roku 2022, ale i nawet trochę w obliczu tego co wychodziło w rapie amerykańskim parę lat przed i parę lat po 1990, nie jestem w stanie wystawić więcej niż 3.
Enjoyed some of the songs.
Too much exposition
I liked it
Föredrar a Nation of Millions, den här kändes lite för lång. Går ändå hårt men lyssnade på Chief Keefs Back from the dead 2 genast efter vilket va kray, i kontrast var dehä int så galet!
Not their best
This is the first rap album I've actively listened to and gone through the whole thing, the genre is still new to me, and I gotta say.. I really enjoyed it. It was just fun!
Raising social consciousness and making tracks people can move to.
Chuck D has a great voice man. Super Iconic. Not the biggest fan of Flava Flav. It's probably not my favorite Public Enemy album, but it's pretty solid honestly.
I love hip hop but this album doesn't age very well. It's got a few solid tracks but a lot of filler that just doesn't feel right.
FIGHT THE POWER
The music was not for me
Ruff.
A lot of great stuff on here, but also a lot of filler
Solid album
Very angry
Classic East Coast album so it had - discussion of systemic racism - Hype men - good DJing - Kinda Antisemitic - kinda homophobic - kinda against interracial relationships 3/5
Welcome to the terrordome!
-Cool guitar solo stuff happening in "Brothers Gonna Work It Out." I wish they put it a bit higher in the mix, I would think that would make it a lot cooler -Some cool rhyme scheme stuff happening in "Welcome To The Terror Dome" -Good general message and storytelling in "Burn Hollywood Burn" -Some nice stuff, but nothing really makes me want to listen more
Liked a lot of the tracks and beats, but there's just too much exposition.
This was pretty great to listen to first thing in the am on my dog walk.
Good, just feels a lot like a rehash of "It takes a nation of millions". 3
A good album with good songs and a solid message. I enjoyed it for sure.
I'm sure it was a touchstone for the genre and culturally relevant but it just isn't my jam
Rating: 6/10 Best songs: Fight the power
Didn’t hate it. There were some catchy songs!
I like public enemy maar was nu niets dat me achterover liet vallen
Czas na kontrowersyjny album dosc kontrowersyjnych czarnuchow, jak mowi jeden z kawalkow, burn hollywood burn, trzeci w dyskografii zespolu, a czemu kontrowersyjny i dosc a nie bardzo, bo jednak jest to album ktory sprzedal sie dobrze i jakos znalazl sie na tej liscie, wiec porusza jak na lata 90 kontrowersyjne tematy czarnej spolecznosci, rownouprawnienie, seksizm w kulturze hip hopu, czy chocby mieszanki rasowe, czy nieudolnosc wladz i sluzb, 911 is a joke, dziwne jak bardzo po 30 latach nadal aktualne sa te problemy, aktualne ale jednoczesnie wypaczane w druga strone, bo tak jak hollywoodzki trak mowil o tym, ze ktos czarny nie dostanie powaznej roli w filmie, tak teraz niepisanym wymaganiem jest obsadzenie czarnej roli, zeby uciszyc krzykaczy rownosciowych i ich walki o urojona rownosc, czy z takim zamyslem pisali swoje teksty chuck D i flavor flav, tego nie wiem, ale nie wydaje mi sie zeby obecnie bylo duzo lepiej niz wczesniej, a czemu nie bardzo kontrowersyjny, bo grupa pozbyla sie najbardziej radykalnego czlonka przed tworzeniem tej plyty, pan professor griff wylecial za pojazdy na zydowskich mniejszosciach, nie musze mowic nawet o tym, ze def jam to wytwornia z dosc mocnymi korzeniami w ziemi obiecanej, co do samej plyty, to album jest napakowany kawalkami tak klasyczymi, ktore nawet radiowym sluchacza musialy sie obic sie o uszy w szelakich produkcjach telewizynych, wspominiany juz burn hollywood burn, ktory jest jedynym featurowych trackiem, ale jakim ice cube i big daddy kane na jednym kawalku, czy fight the power jeden z szybszych kawalkow plyty, do tego dochodzi welcome to the terrordome, na godzinnym materiale znajdzie sie az 20 trakow, bo album zawiera sporo skitowych mini kawalkow, a wiekszosc kawalkow jest budowana na ostrym samplowaniu i loopach, do tego dobra robota na tambulach i skreczowaniu jak przystalo na lordowego DJa, nie jest to moze poziom beastowych bojsow i ich paulowego butiku, ale kolazowe samplowane z pewnoscia jest mocnym akcentem plyty, album zestarzal sie dobrze, ale jednak wydarzenia takie jak meczennikowanie grzegorzow flydowych calkowicie zmienia odbior tej plyty dla mnie
i thought it was a little all the same, and the songs were unnecessarily long when they shouldn’t be, but it was a good album overall and i do really like it
Okay okay. Full dicksclosure, I listened to MOST of this but as we’re now off for the weekend I’m gonna post a review now. This didn’t grab me as much as I hoped. I was greatly enjoying the lyricisms and the ideas behind the songs but the music didn’t get me jinking and janking in the way I NEEDED as I prepared my eggs. Rap and hip hop is inherently quite repetitive and I guess I just needed something more dynamic at this time of the morning. Hey, I’ll come back to it at some point.
Starts off with high energy and total chaos, was worried a bit too much energy! Then some quite good tracks, serious messages brought in a playful way. Then chaos again, sometimes ok, sometimes giving a headache.
It wasn't bad at all, but, as with pretty much every album with that many songs, it kinda goes down after the first half. However, it's a solid record IMO.
The aggressive and energetic beats and instrumentation were solid. DJ Lord's cuts were phenomenal throughout. I appreciated the subtle sci-fi samples strewn across the project; Star Wars themed cover is cute lol. ‘War At 33 1/3’ featured a more contemporary flow, so that was nice to see. Also, that Ice Cube feature was 🤤🤤 // Favs: Contract On The World Love Jam / Anti-Ni**er Machine / Burn Hollywood Burn / Leave This Off Your Fu*Kin Charts / War At 33 1/3
Conceptually this is great, but the old school hip hop with its scratches sounds really dated and is difficult to listen to.
Important Hip Hop, the production sounds slightly dated, unfortunately some of the issues discussed aren't. Some good tunes are sprinkled throughout. BT: 911 Is A Joke, Welcome to the Terrordome, Fight The Power
It got a funky beat but is pretty political. 0RS
Rap en estado puro. Para amantes de dicho género. Ritmo y letras.
Just a bit too many parts of random talking... sandwiched between two classics. Still a worthwhile listen.
Rap, no es para mí
I liked it. Angry, militant. Above average early 90s rap.... that being said it's too long. And there is the whole anti-Semitic/homophobic angle that I didn't pick up on until Ed pointed it out... which is shocking considering the acclaim. First four tracks are great. Burn Hollywood Burn is fun. I'll give it a three.
Old school und lyricslaschtig. Isch haut semi enjoyable, weme nid aues versteit.
Heavily focused on race. Rightfully so though. It's good.
It was okay, though I’m not a huge fan of 90’s hip-hop.
as much as I enjoyed some of these songs some of them were just too repetitive and long I got bored halfway through. shame. I like the style of songs like “Incident At 66.6 FM”
An inoffensive rap album. Was ok.
decent
Wow! Fun samples. Serious lyrics.
Not mu favorite hip hop album but definitely influential.
Not bad.
Ok album not my thing but good lyrics. Songs got old quick
Like it
Old school hip hop. Probably quite fresh in 1990, and some cool tracks, but not my favorite rap era.
Prima maar beetje heftig
3/10
7,5/10
90’er hiphop, sampling, oprørsk, fight the power, “sort tv-station”
Their best album, fight the power is still anthemic
Was fine, maybe overhyped although maybe I’m listening to it in the wrong setting (on my own instead of at a party or something ). There’s something about the beats that drown out the vocals in songs that lower my ability to hear what the rappers are saying, not to mention being nit picky about some lines. Liked the 911 song, but even the best tracks weren’t that memorable for me.
Those lyrics were deep. The sounds were chaotic at times. 2.5
Accidentally started listening on shuffle 💀💀💀 Sound effects are sometimes a bit weird and date the sound of the music, like one of those shitty radio DJs Quite a few instrumentals, not a fan 😬 Some of the songs are a bit too long MESSY Faves - Who Stole The Soul?, Welcome to the Terrordome, Fear of a Black Planet, Revolutionary Generation No songs saved or added to playlists Overall - not bad or unlistenable! Just v messy and a bit dated, not really for me Would I check out their other music - probably not
ffcc
This is the first Public Enemy album I've listened to. I listened to it quite happily, though it's really not something I need to listen to again. The music is too repetitive.
Yknow it’s always a little hard to talk critically about albums like this without being insensitive or ignorant, so apologies in advance It’s very unique, and apparently one of those albums that really started the trend of overtly political themes in rap albums. I think Burn Hollywood Burn is probably one of the better tracks on this, pretty unarguable themes and I think the featured artists add a lot to the musical portion. Fight the Power is also a good track, definitely more reminiscent of older hip hip in my opinion. There’s some very positive views that I’m glad they’re championing, including support for interracial relationships and being actually pretty damn women positive for a genre that’s infamously not I’ll try not to tiptoe around it; I don’t think this albums aged very well and I think some of the themings a mess. The whole themes of black unity get completely derailed by all the attacks against groups Public Enemy has personal beef with. Meet the G that Killed Me just might be one of the most homophobic songs I’ve ever heard and really implies that black unity’s great unless you’re gay. There’s also just a lot of weird attacks on stuff like obtaining public assistance for food, which again hurts that message of unity. I also just really don’t like the sound collage stuff going on in a lot of these tracks, to the point where some of them are excruciating and detract from the lyrics; from a purely musical perspective, I hate the end of Power to the People, Brothers Gonna Work it Out, and that one song I’m not gonna write out. I also think the vocals themselves just don’t have enough oomph, it feels like they’re missing emotion at times when this is very emotionally charged album content wise I think there’s absolutely some valuable insight and themes in this one, and they’re conveyed very directly, but I just think there’s too much I dislike about select content and the actual music portion of a lot of this album is just awful and actively harmful to the ability to enjoy this one. Also I kinda don’t like how Flavor Flav gets a pass for being a serial woman beater and I feel like it never gets brought up because his public image is so positive. Don’t think I can quite justify giving this a 1 but easily a low 2
it doesnt look like my type of album
Still don’t like this much - harsh and annoying, which is the point to a degree. It is more interesting now as a quasi-historical document; I was most engaged when I was reading the lyrics on Spotify along with the music.
The sampling was chaotic and stimulating, at times entertaining with all the recorded messages, and at times the samples were at odds with each other harmonically, like how I've noticed with some other albums in this space. I guess the point is they are purely being treated as rhythmic tools. I do t mind the edginess, but I didn't notice much appealing about the lyrics. Interesting how high the instrumental-to-vocal ratio was
I feel like I have to TRY to enjoy this, like most early hip hop. The rapping sounds dated and the beats are made with primitive technology. The sampling is fun and it is culturally important, but not enjoyable as music, for me
Not my thing, but som good tracks
Ser mange skryter av tekster og tematikk, men jeg klarer ikke helt å få fatt på det. Blir litt sliten av mange låter her om gangen.
A bit too frenetic for my taste.
Not a fan.
there were a few songs on here that i liked, but the overall flow did not awe and amaze... i understand the cultural significance of the album but this one just is not for me im afraid.
Standard
This is an album that was clearly not designed for someone with my particular brain function because all the layering and panning made me physically dizzy.
Semmoista paahtunutta, väljää hipediräptihoptia jota ei oikein jaksanu kuunnella. Tylsähköä.
Not really my jam
I love the message but hate the music, it's way too stuck in the past with all the DJ-scratching effects and the rap that feels more like a talk rather than sticking to the rhythm, which I wouldn't mind normally but it became too much on this record after I got to the 8th track of 20
Boring sample based hip hop. Beginning of the 90s there were far better albums already.
fine, prob 3/5
Its giving Thomas the stank engine
Although it might say my favourite genre is currently electronica, this was painfully repetitive to listen to. There were some good moments and the lyrics are still relevant today, but that doesn't mean much when you have to listen to what sounds like a dragged out 1 second loop over and over again.
There's a space movie these guys should see if they're looking for a black planet
Groovy, though I found the singing to spoken to enjoy whilst reading as it was at time jarring and took me out of the book.
They’re basically from my hometown but I didn’t love this
Nope not for me. I understand it was a game changer in the hip hop world. But I just can’t sit through an entire album.
Nope, allt utom texterna som är bra förstås. Samhällskritik är nästan alltid bra i den här formen och rap funkar bra för det tycker jag. Public Enemy är bara inte för mig, i alla fall inte detta album. Inga låtar som jag gillade speciellt mycket osv. Kommer ej lyssna igen.
Maybe I wasn't listening attentively enough, just seemed pretty meh
This would have been a better listen if I was at a party instead of answering emails at 9 am 🤣
Fml
toch niets voor mij, terminator x
Ну...
Не большой фанат репа
Not a big fan of rap, but this one is at least nice. 2.25
Nah
I don't really like music with to much (what I find) random sounds added and this album has a lot of that. I get that it's the dj era of hip hop and this group certainly should be on this list. I just can't get in to it at all.
I respect the group but I was just not feeling it. Not sure if it's because I am tired of rap in general but this was just an uninteresting album. Lots of politically charged, well written songs, but got bored of it halfway through.
Ok so I listened to the album twice, first listen I just didn’t get it- it bounced all over the place and was a lot of noise.. Second listen however the noise did seem to grow on me and I heard the layer upon layer of sound that had been put together, however it still just wasn’t my thing- Best track- ‘leave this off your fuckin charts’ (less vocal) although I quite like 66.6 too. Worst track- ‘brothers gonna work it out’ Average 5/10
5/10
Rap isn't my thing, and still isn't. At least this album didn't make my ears bleed in the same way as other rap albums and songs have. I can see how people might like this album, good luck to them.
its okay
Occasionally amusing
Just very classic 90s American rap album isn’t it? Fun but wouldn’t listen again, beats very similar across the songs so none really stood out.
Fine listen but mostly samples
No lo terminé:(
Not my cup of tea.
Not for me. I don’t get it. Wish I did….massive genre just leaves me cold.
Old school hop-hop. Somewhat Intelligent, non-ghetto lyrics with uptempo drums and other decent samples (imo the best part of hip-hop). 63 minutes is too long. Gets old listening to black, black, black with lame white voices making tripe statements. The power isn't white. It's the establishment and the elites.
A lot of attitude but got a bit tedious
Too Scratch heavy. Was like a Terminator album feat public Enemy, half the album it seems like theyre not even there. Felt half arsed. 2.5
This music does nothing for me sadly. High energy and the lyrics aren’t meaningless but just not something I enjoy listening to.
I understand that it was a landmark release and it spoke volumes about the zeitgeist of the late 80s/90s, but on a musical level it just didn't hit me and honestly I feel like I'm a bad person for thinking that.
not the music im into, but i can feel the quality.
not for me, 90's rock
90s record sound effects didn't age well for me.
Gangsta Style
Es divertido por un rato. Buenos beats. 2.5
01) Contract on the World Love Jam (Intro) - 5,5 02) Brothers Gonna Work It Out - 5,5 03) 911 Is a Joke - 6,0 04) Incident at 66.6 FM - 5,0 05) Welcome to the Terrordome - 5,5 06) Meet the G That Killed Me (Skit) - 5,0 07) Pollywanacraka - 5,5 08) Anti-Nigger Machine - 5,0 09) Burn Hollywood Burn - 5,5 10) Power to the People - 5,0 11) Who Stole the Soul? - 5,0 12) Fear of a Black Planet - 5,0 13) Revolutionary Generation - 5,0 14) Can't Do Nuttin' for Ya Man - 5,0 15) Reggie Jax - 5,0 16) Leave This Off Your Fuckin' Charts -5,0 17) B Side Wins Again - 5,0 18) War at 33⅓ - 5,0 19) Final Count of the Collision Between Us and the Damned (Outro) - 5,0 20) Fight the Power - 6,0 TOTAL: 5,23 (52/100) Current ranking: 802/892
It was fine. Cool general vibe but was very repetitive.
Just not my vibe man I like it better than it takes a nation to hold us back just realizing I’m not really much of a public enemy fan two out of five I feel like I could hear the lyrics more than takes a nations to hold us back
One good song a good album does not make.
nene.
no mi estilo pero bien espacial
Solid samples and beats but that’s all I really liked from this one. I can tell why people like it, but it wasn’t for me.
at first, I was excited for the change in vibe, but as it went on, I started to lose my mind
pensé q era rock por la portada,,,, no es mi género ahora mismo pero taba bueno (2.5)
some powerful songs but pretty intense
Arguably one of the most influential albums in hip-hop, aggressive and expressive. Not my cup of tea though.
Hasta ahora no fue mi favorito pero no estuvo mal.
Sorry hope I’m not your next enemy.
Good. 90s hip hop. 7.25/20 60.21%
Not for me...
no
I appreciated how this really emphasised the album format, as listening to it as a whole allowed the story to unfold. However, this wasn't really for me. Some parts sounded like when you're messing around on Garage Band and using every special effect possible. Rating: 2.
I am not interested in Rap so my opinion is not important. 2 stars or D+.
Never hit for me. So cluttered
Not my genre but a decent listen for a change of pace
don't really enjoy the lyric heavy east coast political rap scene but i bet i'd like it more if i actually listened to the lyrics. cool to learn about how this sound became impossible due to impending sample law changes.
Okay this sadly wasn’t anything too special to me. Obviously the messaging and themes this album tackles is very important, however for my taste the delivery of these topics comes off incredibly dated when listening to today. I did enjoy the chaotic and all-encompassing production, and the sampling lays a very clear groundwork for why followed in hip-hop. Yeah sadly for me, just wasn’t something I’d put on.
Didn’t really have the impact I thought it would. Pretty cool that there’s 1001 albums on this list and they keep throwing in the same genre/years in a short time span >:(
Fight the power
Very mid
Some of these hip hop albums are hard for me to rate. A lot of the individual songs are enjoyable enough, but the album as a whole just goes on and on and I’m so fucking ready to be done by the end
Kyllähän minun, 90-luvun rap faniin, pitäisi tästä tykätä. Mutta soundi ei vaan natsaa kohdilleen
It’s ok, just not my vibe. Sound quality is decent and the vocals are authentic and well written.
Hope this is the last one from Public Enemy
First time listening to this album. Great beats, great samples but I am once again asking: why are rap albums so damn long. Not even the good instrumentals could stop me from losing interest halfway through 2/5
Rap, Hip hop? Nicht meins.
meh
It's alright but it's very repetitive
Inte min smak
Not my cup of tea
ovo je najbolje opisati, barem je meni takav doživljaj bio, kao hiphop inačicu rage against the machinea, premda je, dakako, ovaj album izašao prije nego što je ratm počeo s radom. a to u konačnici znači da je ovo predug, krindž, mjestimice dosadan i gdjegdje dosta naporan repniški album. barem meni
Wouldn't listen to it again, but "Fight the power" is such a significant track!!! #StanleyLee
tråkigt
2.5
Inte min typ av musik och detta höll på för länge. Men stark avslutning!
Mostly noise. I understand the protest but there isn't any real cohesiveness to this noise.
It's just regular hip-hop and doesn't do anything for me at all.
Album #59 Public Enemy: Fear Of A Black Planet I think that old-school hip-hop had less to do with making enjoyable music, and more so about packaging important messages for the black community in a digestible manner. It is much easier to radicalize the youth by giving them something catchy to remember rather than boring them to death with lectures. For whatever reason, I just don’t get gripped by much rap; it seems weird to say because the music was really high-energy and dense lyrically, but this album just bores me. The messaging is fine and well, though I can’t say I relate to much or feel too empowered by it. I find it hard to care about my own problems, let alone everyone else's. For me, music is an escape, so I’d rather drift away than be yelled at for over an hour. Why is every rap and electronic album over an hour…To be honest, I thought that the front man was charismatic and compelling, though it wasn’t enough because the lyrics at times were pretty corny. I think that for what this album is, it is probably great, I just don’t enjoy whatever it is, so disregard my opinion. Best Songs: Revolutionary Generation, Welcome to the Terrordome, Pollywanacraka Worst Song: Can’t Do Nuttin For Ya Man! Score out of 10: 4
I don’t enjoy the music
Logan Lore: I used to play "Bring the Noise" by Anthrax and Public Enemy as my hype song for football. I'm indifferent towards their music/beats/styles. It's hard to separate from Chuck D's retarded political takes and social commentary. 2/5 black berets
Lowk stressed me out
monotono boring che palleeee ho preferito it takes a million to hold us back
nahh
Very far from what I call music.
Well, it's good at angry gangster rap and hip hop.
Not really my type, feels like 90's rap that guys would listen to in a movie. It's okay but nothing memorable for me at all.
Fin troppo lungo e fin troppo hip-hop
Public Enemy again... Chuck D. claims that “Fear of a Black Planet” was "a deep, complex album". Objectively speaking, that's certainly an exaggeration, but it's certainly true when compared to its predecessor, “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back,” which I reviewed recently. The “development” essentially consists of the fact that the samples typical of PE are no longer used only selectively, but actually continuously. I can't say for sure whether this is an improvement. To my ears, the sound has changed from empty to intrusive; the sweet spot would probably have been somewhere in between. What I did notice, however, are the samples based on distorted guitars, which point the way to the monumental Judgement Night soundtrack (are there actually people who have seen the movie?) three years later. Where was Public Enemy when that was recorded? Back to the topic: “Fear of a Black Planet” isn't particularly annoying for hip hop. However, it provides little justification for why two Public Enemy albums are on the list.
534/1001
Not my style of music
not a fan lowkey. i see the appeal but just not my thing (maybe i wasn’t in the right mood for it? will relisten later)
I don’t listen to much rap/hip hop, so I can’t give it a fair critique. Overall, it sounds dated and not something I would choose to listen to. I had to push through the last several tracks just to finish it.
I love the 90s rap sound but I didn't really think there were bangers on this album. I see the influence on later rap groups. Cool album historically but not one I'm trying to listen to again
not for me
I’m not going to lie I’m really not feeling it with this music
I don't think this electronic hip hop style will ever be for me. At least I hope not.
This album is full of annoying songs. Not all are annoying, but a lot of them are. Definitely brings the album down and it's not even that good to begin with. It's not boring. It's not entertaining either, though. At times, I wanted to like it, but most of the time I just wanted it to be over.
Not my fave
Final Public Enemy album. It's been a good while since their last. About ~250 albums, to be precise. The gap was much narrower between my first and second albums of theirs. Anyways, it's fortuitous that the list has rolled this album for me now, as I've begun pre-writing my reviews for the remainder of the hip-hop albums on this list. This was actually going to be the next album I'd be listening to ahead of time if I didn't roll it today, which is kind of a crazy coincidence. Good to get them out of the way early, though listening to a bunch of hip-hop albums in close proximity of one another has kind of undermined the things I can say about them - I'm too self-conscious about how repetitious my criticisms are becoming. Anyways, on with the music. More of the same, really, though I was kind of digging the first couple of tracks. The songwriting was pretty alright and the bombastic vocals weren't half-bad, either. Like most hip-hop albums, my problem boils down to quantity. There are too many tracks and the album was way longer than it needed to be, which left me bored and disengaged for much of the duration. I find the lyrics hard to take seriously as well. The cameraphone and bodycams have kind of one-shotted the civil rights movement and the police brutality narrative. Book time. A lot of political wank. Wikipedia says that this performed well on the charts, had a significant influence on the trajectory of hip-hop, was well-received by critics and went a long way in popularising hip-hop for a mainstream audience. Yeah, these are solid qualifiers. I cosign this inclusion. ================== Four hundo albums. I have now officially cleared over a third of the list. Feels good. This hundred simultaneously felt quicker and longer than the previous hundreds. Quicker because this was my first full hundred with weekend albums enabled, and longer because I sank into a crippling album debt multiple times while clearing this hundred. I'm on top of it now, but only because I've streamlined my review-writing process considerably. I've given up on talking about individual tracks and have merged that section into a general overview of the album, which I find makes it easier for me to engage with the music while also communicating my thoughts on an album more effectively. This is also the hundred where I've begun pre-writing my reviews, as alluded to earlier. Hopefully the buffer I'm building starts doing the heavy lifting for me soon. There were some alright albums within this past hundred. "Ambient 1/Music for Airports" was okay. It occasionally pops into my head, though I'm not raring to give it another listen anytime soon. My review of Taylor Swift's "1989" still stands as one of my favourites. I'm surprised by the number of things I had to say about that album. I rolled both Doves albums within this hundred. I didn't like "Lost Souls" at the time, but I did quite like "The Last Broadcast". I'll have to give the band a re-listen somewhere down the road. "Elephant Mountain" was pleasing. That album has popped into my head on occasion. Same goes for "Brothers In Arms". Adele's 25 was another album I enjoyed reviewing. "Nixon" was a pretty good early-2000s indie affair. The vocals were kind of off-putting, but the instrumentals were pretty great from what I recall. I enjoyed going chuddy mode on my review of "Untitled (Black Is)", similarly to how I did with this album. It was nice to revisit "Gorillaz". I wound up liking that album more than I had previously thought. I also had a ton to say about it. It's my longest review by a mile. "One World" is quite possibly the best album out of this hundred, though The Last Broadcast puts up a gallant fight. I quite like my interpretation of One World as a summery, extra-planetary vacation album. The ten-minute instrumental track on that album is prime stuff, too. "Clube Da Esquina" was an album I didn't think all that highly of when I reviewed it, but it has surprisingly persisted within my memory. The mental image of being in a seaside village on a cold summer's morning persists within my memory. "Pelican West" wasn't all that bad. I remember it having a pleasing, soft sound if I'm recalling correctly. Let's take a look at the favourite artist trunk once again. Things are running alright - we're only down one album from the last hundred. That being said, we're slightly off-schedule. I should be rolling two albums I like per hundred in order to reach the finish line with a few remaining. The Beatles: 2/7 Eels: 1/1 The Flaming Lips: 2/2 Gorillaz: 0/1 (-1 since last hundred) Pink Floyd: 2/4 Radiohead: 2/6 Total: 9 albums remain
was fine, nothing special