Fear Of A Black Planet

The high water mark of hip hop (or even 20th century music) before it went Gangsta. Political creative, inventive, challenging all the goodness marked by the genius of Chuck D who held a lighting rod against the American white hedgemoney. Few managed to do this, create truly orginal music with real time politics and make it commercial. There's a handful and they are up there with the best.

Still as relentless, powerful and relevant as it ever was, such a great album.

A scorching album. I would live to just sit and listen to all the tracks sampled in this. It might make a better (and longer) list than these albums! Lyrically raw and angry.

Welcome to the Terrordome!

Really gone on a journey with public enemy. Having heard a little but not much, this project has opened my eyes. This felt a little more polished, too many samples and not as raw as other albums I’ve listened to. Which isn’t a good thing. 3.3

Never listened to a full public album before - wasn't expecting the complex beats and samples. Nor was I expecting to like Flava Flav (Flavor of Love, anyone?). 4/5

Fight the Power is fantastic, but a lot of the rest of this album is pretty meh. I love Public Enemy, but Apocalypse 91 is just way better.

keep your song history private with some of these song names

Very old school hip hop.

Rap and hip-hop really isn't my thing. It's not bad, but I'm not going back

What a great album. I can't believe I've never listened to it until now. I don't really know Public Enemy well, even though I've seen them live... twice! I feel like I've been prompted to catch up with something I should have been listening to for years! 4.5 stars

Life is too short to spend more that 10 minutes listening to this hip hop crap. So I gave it 10 minutes and when it turned out to be as loathsome as I expected it to be I gave up on it.

Pretty classic rap album stuff, not the biggest fan but understand it’s cultural significance.

Not for me.

My infant quite enjoyed this one. She grooved along to it. That said though not every song drew the same acclaim. 3/5

Fear of a Black Planet is Public Enemy's third album - and their most successful. Public Enemy pushed rap in a socially conscious direction, and these songs are all about the racial issues that plague our world. From the title track to "Pollywannacraka," PE focused on the various manifestations of racism in society. PE express their messages in fluent raps, from Chuck D and Flavor Flav, and layered samples from DJ Terminator X. This album is regarded as one of the greatest rap albums - and of the greatest albums - of all time.

Rowdy, rude, and in your face. Flavor Flav with a bigger role than on ITANOMTHUB. Chuck D in prime form. Perfect production from the Bomb Squad.

Rapp finnst mér oftast ekkert spes og á þessari plötu voru mjög mörg ekki-spes lög. Hún endaði þó á neglu og ég hafði mjög gaman að innskotunum í lögunum þar sem fólk var að drulla yfir þá. Það bjó til rétta andrúmsloftið um að þeir væru öðruvísi og táknmybd minnihlutahópa sem er að berjast við ofurefli. Þetta tvennt togar þá upp í tvist

A hour-long album needs to be a lot more creative and a lot less sonically jarring. I've heard and enjoyed a lot of rap from this time period but this album was a mess

Maso

They're great!

This didn’t do it for me

Liked a lot of the samples used here, but as you know, this is just not my jam.

Conscious rap or political rap goes back nearly as long as rap itself. “The Message” was 1980, maybe? But PE revolutionized the genre and brought the sonic tools to match their overwhelming, aggressive lyrics. A PE song feels like every inch of space is filled with sound, and that’s by design. It should feel claustrophobic. So, I was not surprised when Maggie came to me, almost ashamed, to admit she didn’t like it. Liking it is not the point, although modern conscious rappers like Kendrick, J. Cole, and Lupe Fiasco have found ways to serve up sugar with their medicine. In 1990, we maybe hadn’t gotten there yet. At the time, Flava Flav was that sugar, and by our standards, that’s not enough. No, this is supposed to hurt a little. This one isn’t as good as It Takes A Nation…, neither as successful at accomplishing its own goals nor as fun, but it remains vital. 911 is still a joke in the communities PE cares about. Elvis remains a hero to most. Any number of recent tweets about JD Vance’s wife show there’s still a fear of a black or brown planet. But in the end, it’s an album I admire more than I love. I’m not too cool to still want some bops. I added “welcome to the terrordome” and “fight the power” to the playlist and kept it moving.

Fight the power!

I'd suggest that Public Enemy have aged better than their peers as their message of revolution stands the test of time better than gangsta wrap. The sound collage style of music was pioneering and the flow is very good. How ever I found the production patchy and the whole thing drags. Should have been a much punchier 40 mins.

I dont like it, it is not my genre sowy

Great album. Brought me back!

Another great one by Public Enemy, a sound collage that is amazing to experience in addition to the lyrics. Great album to make art or work to.

Fight the power! not bad.

I think I like It Takes a Nation... a little more but this one is insane as well

explosive, righteous, powerful, and just fucking cool as hell sonically. one of the best albums on the list flat out

Creative use of sampling and a lot of interesting subject matter here. Not super memorable and a bit too lengthy for my taste, but overall a decent listen.

8/10. Terrordome was awesome. Beats were great. Rapping was good and I enjoyed some of the approach on using humor to get points across. Also like the instrumental logs between some songs.

hippity hop

Actually really enjoyed this. Makes me think of the matrix and this sort of grimey 90s sound/ feel.

Not reasonating

Ні про що і не цікаво. 2/5

Still as powerful and relevant today as it was at release

This album is kind of a mess. Chuck D is such a good emcee that it’s a bummer that some of the songs are just jumbled

O melhor do rap para mim ao deixar lembranças da relação com o rock.

Some good political 90s rap here. I don't find this one in particular to be all that brilliant but there are some good moments throughout. Fav songs: - Brothers gonna work it out - Fight the Power

Enjoyed this.

Album has core memory vibes.

I know I have songs I like by Public Enemy but none is on this album. I'm missing the point - to me this is an album I could be without. Didn't enjoy it, couldn't appreciate it. I sound pessimistic but.. This is just a bunch of pointless annoyance for me.

What a great album, probably the best hip hop album out there.

The first part of the album went hard, I wanted to listen to the message they had in the songs. Unfortunately midway through it just became noice for me, until the last song.

Public Enemy bliver bare ikke mig

Oh wow. This is just straight up bad. 1 kinda okay song, rest is just stuffing

Angry '90s hip-hop at its best. The lyrics are aggressive, unapologetic, on point and relevant as ever. The whole album is one big protest against the system and oppression of black people. FIGHT THE POWER! 4/5

Very listenable. I don’t have much else to say.

A bit long, but it doesn't feel like it drags in. Enjoyable, standard Public Enemy fare.

Decent hiphop album! Fight the power!

Pretty cool hip-hop album. 3.4*

Second PE album in this project. But where «It Takes a Nation…» starts off with maybe their best track, this one doesn’t really get going until the Ice Cube-featuring «Burn Hollywood Burn», with «Meet the G that killed me» providing a false start. The rest of the album is really good, but the overall length and the first eight tracks drags it down to 3.

I have utmost respect for the social messaging on this album and think it absolutely deserves a place on this list. 5 stars on that front. That being said, the beats on some of the tracks and Flavor Flav’s voice can be downright annoying. I gave it multiple listens and with each I was snapped out of my enjoyment several times to the point I needed to turn it down. Maybe old school hip hop just doesn’t hold up, or more likely, I’m just getting old. Either way, I can’t give 5 stars to an album that had me reaching for down volume button.

Another album that I listened to in jr. High which began to shape an awareness to the world around me and a perspective I was.l not familiar. Still amazing how relevant this album is so many years later.

Still not into hip-hop

NSFW but great beats speaking the truth! Solid rap.

I thought I hated all early rap because of past Run D.M.C. albums on this list, but turns out I just hate Run D.M.C. This album kinda ripped, the beats were fire and it was a party on the track but also with meaningful lyrics. I’m no longer afraid of early rap

A listen once and never return type album. Not that I had a bad time but i see no replay value. Shout of flavor flav

Funkier than ITANOMTHUB Dare I say it, I like it more!

Listened Before? N Unsurprisingly AMAZING. Nothing has caught the energy of a generation quite like these gentlemen. They're raw power and aggression mixed with humanity. All they wanted was equality, peace, and probably reparations. I dig it a lot. This is a lazy review, but suffice it to say - an awesome album that is probably timeless. Added to Library? Y Songs added to playlist: 911 Is A Joke, Fight The Power

Classic, original

Although this album is better on a technical level than Nation of Millions, it didn't quite have as big an impact on me. Still good though.

Angry. I get that. But it unsettles me. I prefer music that inspires rather than enrages.

An absolutely hip-hop classic that 100% holds up. I have so many college memories of this iconic album. I remember the first week this album dropped, and it was ALL everyone was listening to and talking about all over campus. Public Enemy was so huge, and so respected for their political commentary in their music, that I remember us officially studying the album as part of our African-American studies class at UMASS. It was a big deal, because it was one of the first times I remember rap getting respected as a legitimate art form and not just a passing cultural fad. And the music was so damn good! Of P.E.’s run of classic albums, this may be my favorite. Chuck’s voice just dominates and he clearly has something to say, almost forcing you to listen to him out of fear he’ll kick your ass if you don’t. While Chuck’s words have meaning, Flav provides just the right amount of comic relief (and yet still creates a classic of his own in “911 Is a Joke”), and there’s a reason that the Bomb Squad became legends for their production techniques here and on It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.

Some strong Flavor Flav contributions

Although I'm not too interested in this genre - simply because it's culturally very distant from a person who lives where I do and from its context - I can smell greatness where it is. It's great musically, emotionally, technologically and message-wise. I remember when the album came out, I was in awe of the flow of it, the sheer power of the performance, the technical sophistication and excellence of the resampling and re-contextualization of so many musical elements already familiar from other contexts. The aggression and urgency of the message without it ever becoming a mere exercise in production technique. It's a great production, but it's also warm in a human sense. It's emotional without being clichéd, it discusses conflict without being exclusively confrontational. It's musical discourse at its best, profound, inclusive and considerate, and at the same time consistent and positioned. I would wish for so much of it in these turbulent times full of ignorance, malice and hate.

From a production standpoint this felt similar to watching a 90s movie with bad CGI. Might have been cutting edge at the time, but can't say it holds up. Prob enough to just say it's not my thing.

Hip hop and rap heritage. Sounds as fresh now as back in 1990.

I actually like this one a hair better than A Nation of Millions. Great nineties hip hop that get you BUMPin’.

AARP-aged white woman checking in: this album is banging, and the lyrics are important. Five stars all the way.

Ну это политический альбом. Я могу уважать приятный бит, забавное использование сэмплов, но оценить глубину лирики не могу. 3

I'm not a hip hop fan, mainly because of the constant beat. Burn Hollywood burn was ok

I've always loved 'It takes a nation..." but this is just a repeat to me. Maybe a bit more gimmicky? It's still good.......but not as good as before.

I'm just in awe of the production, mostly. Of course Chuck D and Flava Flav's rhyming and rapping is amazing and worth a five on theif oqn, but the production from The Bomb Squad? The sampling going on here? Incredible, incredible. It's this kind of sampling I would love to do if I were a producer myself. In fact, at some point in the future I gotta

Killer beats plus a legitimate cause that's still prevalent in today's society have made this album age as little as possible.

I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll bump up to a 5. I’ve never really heard Public Enemy before this; obviously I know about Chuck D and Flavor Flav in terms of name recognition and everything in between, but I’ve never listened. God, what a fool I feel like – this album is fucking rocking from top to bottom (ok, there’s a few lulls, but shh). In terms of just about everything from flow, to lyricism, to vocals, and especially in terms of the instrumentals, this album very rarely missed a beat for me. With that said, I think a few tracks could’ve been cut down or cut out entirely, and that’s really my only major flaw with this album; 63 minutes is a bit of time to commit to an album that never really takes its foot off the gas pedal, even with the amount of instrumental breaks here. The amount of sampling, especially in terms of spoken word speeches and radio criticisms really make it feel like an album that desires your attention at all times, as it should. I just think for my tastes there weren’t many points where I, as the listener, got a chance to fully breathe. Even when songs hit those long instrumental points, they’re so full of evolving noise that you can’t really take that step back to appreciate them. The biggest offender of this is easily the 5:43 runtime of Revolutionary Generation, which just went on for so long that it almost diluted the message for me. That’s a fucking nitpick though, really; I thought this was a fabulous album, and I’m honestly kinda glad it tested me as a listener. Paying attention for that much time through that many samples and that type of production (again, fantastic production) felt like an endurance test, and it’s a test I probably wouldn’t have gotten through at the start of this entire 1001 Albums bit. I could keep gushing about the flow and the lyrics and all of it, but I’m just glad this album lived up to the very high bar that was in my head. Very deserving of a 5.

Authoritative flow, relentless beats, perfectly crafted interludes, brilliant use of sampling. Intensely aggressive and full of righteous fury that's still relevant today, but still great fun to listen to. Fave Songs: Fight the Power, Welcome to the Terrordome, Brothers Gonna Work It Out, Burn Hollywood Burn, 911 Is a Joke, Contract on the World Love Jam, Can't Do Nuttin' for Ya Man, Power to the People

É o gênero que praticamente criou o techno. Mesmo ano de Magic Wand de Whodini inclusive. Algumas músicas excelentes, mas como um álbum é extremamente cansativo. Muitas músicas e não tem variedade o suficiente entre elas.

Not bad. Better than the previous hip hop albums. Songs not too long, not too weird. Cool instrumentals.

Some old school hip hop. Some tracks are pretty cool

Exceptional! Like a time capsule for the year of its release.

Definitely needs a better deep listen when I have time, but this was another really enjoyable album, a number of the tracks I knew but plenty I didn't.

Classic!

decent rap not in love with it tbh picks up a little bit for me

Now here’s an album :) absolute genius

This is such a great hip hop album. Production, lyrics, everything, just absolutely top notch. My favorite songs are “911 Is A Joke,” “Burn Hollywood Burn,” “Revolutionary Generation,” and “Fight The Power.” I don’t always love Public Enemy, but this is definitely their masterpiece.

Really enjoyed listening to this album. I don' take the time to listen to early hip hop. Feels like more instrumental for the majority of the album. Stand out tracks: -Welcome to the terrordome -Burn Hollywood Burn -War at 33 1/3

Stoked to be able to listen to this fully. Never really sat down to listen to ANY of their music besides what’s played on the radio or by other DJs. Such a perennial time In hip hop. As Wikipedia states the golden age of hip hop.

I had a hard time really getting into this album. While I respect and agree the message is important it's just not my style.

Yo siempre voy a favorecer el hip hop, pero Damm que este álbum de decepcionó, Public Enemy es conocido por varios clásicos de la cultura y incluso uno de esos estaba en este álbum, pero realmente como simplemente un álbum, no lo disfruté casi que nada. Lo salvó de un 1 los beats honestly.

Los beats stan durisimos, aunque las letras se mantienen hablando de lo mismo una y otra vez, no hay casi nada de story telling y siento que escucho lo mismo siempre. lowkey a disappointment. low 5/10. It's aight.

Die nächste Ladung Schrott!

I don't really have any great thoughts on this. Nothing really stood out. I'm not a fan of an album of any genre that just plods along. Is this socially conscious? If so it's not something I care for, but also from a country I don't care about.

4/5 - rad

No RAP

So fucking good. Awesome beats and political commentary.

Cool album. Saved one song. Not my everyday vibe but a good listen. 3.5/5

Fear Of A Black Planet was a fairly mixed bag for me. The songs here kept flip flopping in quality. On one hand, some of the songs have weak rapping and annoying samples , But on the other, The other songs have cool rapping, interesting sample usage (including one sounding like it's from Michael Jackson's Thriller). and groovy beats. The lyrics here are also cool at points and are never insanely dumb unlike some other hip hop albums. This is a generally good album overall where most of it's good aspects outweigh it's bad aspects. Best Song: Brothers Gonna Work It Out Worst Song: 911 Is A Joke

3/5

4/5

Organized chaos Production and protest An album phenom

I don't like rap

Prob my fav album of this time period / genre …. Lyrics are interesting and thoughtful for the most part … good use of all the sampling …. Attack bullshit in society and do it with upbeat vibe n a great flow song to song

Was somewhat familiar with Public Enemy’s game, as I listened to “Apocalypse 91” about 6 weeks ago, and thought it was just fine… Their style is their style - so points for originality of sound, though it did get a bit repetitive after a while… Going to say that “Fight the Power” was the best track IMO, as I’d give that song 4-stars out of 7-stars in my little rating system… Nothing mind-blowingly awesome on this album – but nothing all that awful either – but just can’t get it to a 3, so a 2 it is…

Wow - this was some kind of torture. Every song even more boring than the previous ones. As far as I understand, this album is quite important for the history of hip-hop. But definitely, absolutely, without any question not for me.

My friend played "911 Is A Joke" on our radio show back in college. We could only play clean music before 10pm so Public Enemy was great for that since they don't swear much. And I've also been listening to "Fight the Power" for a while, especially in 2020 haha. The indie rock band Deerhoof has a strangely good cover of it. This is another quality album from Chuck D, Flavor Flav, the Bomb Squad, and co. However, I think it's slightly less consistent than Nation of Millions.

A genre defining album

Not my favorite style of hip hop. This is hard and choppy - I’m more into the jazzy chill stuff. The beats are all the same and not very interesting or vibey. Definitely important legends for the genre. Very brave lyrics going hard ass hell on racism!

After 1 listen, this is another album where I know the importance of Public Enemy to conscious rap, but the samples and rhythms don't connect. 3/5 with the premise that perhaps after further listens, I'll finally get it.

3.5/5

Is it possible to make an album that is so infectiously fun which also spreads an important and profound message. Apparently so. You can hear how influential this album is and, in some cases, trace certain modern musicians songs directly to one of this albums innovations. Not as solid as their previous album, but still incredible. 4/5

Great Album in terms of sounds and political issues but i have to understand it more deeply

Not necessarily something I usually go for, but it is enjoyable. It’s got rythm and grooviness and all that. It’s giving me beastie boys too. Gotta be honest, I did not finish listening to it completely because I wasn’t really in the mood for it 🤷‍♀️

Motziges Hip Hop Album mit Rap und Acid Einschlag. Mich schreckt die Musik ab, so dass ich gar nicht zum exzentrischen Sprechgesang durchkomme. Das Beste am Album ist das Ende. Man hat dieses Album dank der lebensrettenden Skip Tast überstanden.

Very cool

Man does this album take me back. My brother listened to this album, along with NWA non stop. Such a good album. Chuck D is the man.

Ein sehr gutes Rap Album, hervorragend gesampelt. Zeitlos, nicht nur wegen der Texte.

A nation of millions…

Good, head banging and nonstop.

Rock/rap beats had me going, peak old school hip hop. Fight the power

Production is crazy, lyrics and flows are influential… but too old school for me

Boom! One of my most listened to rap albums. Great companion to Nation of Millions.

I really don't know how to feel about this because it's important, and at the same time uplifting and fun but musically I'm just not on board. I'm glad I listened to it but I don't think I will return to it

Wow. This was genius

Lots going on musically, strong social messaging throughout. I still struggle with hip-hop music but am coming to appreciate it's place in a musical world big enough foe everyone.

Classic hip hop. 4 stars

The cooler the sample, the cooler these guys are.

First, I admit it is my own shortcoming that I can’t appreciate much rap music. I liked the anger and the message. Rating this album is challenging. I doubt I will ever listen to it again but I am glad I heard it. It is one of the few albums on this list that really meet the “must listen” criteria.

Made me smile when I heard a sample of Musical Youth's 'Pass the Dutchie' in 'Revolutionary Generation'.

It’s just okay imho. A shaky 3.

This didn't really work for me (too dense maybe, lacking direction?) which is a shame as I loved It takes a nation :/

2.5

not for me

No me cautivó , lo intenté..

Crazy loops, hooks and changes, with a constant flow and astounding sonic scenarios, with fine bass and guitars. It drives you in and makes you feel it. The fear of a black planet is to be outside it.

This was a great listen. I loved the layers of sound and the rhythms. Best tracks: Brothers Gonna Work It Out, Welcome to the Terrordome, Burn Hollywood Burn, and, naturally, Fight the Power.

Too much going on

Did not enjoy at all. Soundtrack of chaos.

Not for me. 2.5

4.5

I feel like a rebel

Gotta listen again -- definitely groundbreaking but not quite my style.

Angry, powerful, on target, and infused with tremendous musicianship. Public Enemy needed to be taken seriously.

I Can’t Do Nuttin’ for Ya, Man, unless you give this album a listen! Give the Power to the People!

PE album 4 at 150 albums in. OK I get it, I need to listen to Public Enemy. Trouble is I already have. I've heard this one a few times before and liked it. Flav is on imperious form here especially on '911 is a joke'.

Only listened to half - good but not my fav

This has pretty much everything I like hearing in a hip hop album that isn’t an affiliate of NWA. I don’t really know how to sell it in a review, I just know that I enjoyed it enough for 4 stars. Choice Cut: 911 is a Joke

Wish I could give it a zero

I'm glad this was on the list, and I liked the rapping itself and the general vibes, but the short 1-2 second long samples of repetitive grating noises really started to wear me down after a while. Maybe that kind of sampling just isn't for me.

this was a great choice for the list. good beats and samples, energetic music, and powerful social commentary (that unfortunately still holds true today, almost three and a half decades later). i was really only familiar with bring the noise before this and honestly didn't know flavor flav from anywhere except crappy reality TV, but this is real stuff right here. favorites: brothers gonna work it out, 911 is a joke, welcome to the terrordome, fight the power

Awesome seeing this right after Elvis, since “Elvis was a hero to most but he never meant shit to me”. My introduction to Flavor Flav was one of those MTV dating shows, and not even the original Strange love or the one he starred in, Flavor of Love. I think it was one of the spin-offs of the spin-off like I Love New York or something. Anyway, he was the weird dude who sometimes showed up in this sorta trash television “reality” dating show. It absolutely blew my mind that this goofy guy with the clock was also in the iconic hardcore East Coast political hip hop group Public Enemy. I was familiar with Public Enemy in 2007 when I watched that crap MTV aired, but I just never made the connection until years later. EVEN THOUGH HE WEARS THE FUCKING CLOCK on the album cover of It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back Well anyway, even though It Takes a Nation… is generally considered Public Enemy’s best album, Fear of a Black Planet is my favorite. I also think it’s the album that most effectively utilizes Flavor Flav, and the album where Chuck D is at his best. On most other albums, I feel like Flavor Flav is either a bit annoying or severely under-utilized. Fear of a Black Planet hits the sweet spot: Flav adequately hypes up the other rappers on most tracks while also getting a killer track of his own here, “911 Is a Joke”. The first few songs build up to “Welcome to the Terrordome” and the album stays very dynamic and politically conscious throughout while closing out with their best song “Fight the Power”. Really my only problem is that the skits, interludes, and radio bits bring the flow of the album down.

Overall cool album sound is good. Not really what I like in hip hop but lyrically interesting and way better than the mumble crap they put out today. Superb mixing, flows a bit antiquated and suprising how much space they leave for the instrumental.

✊👊

I hadn’t listened to this whole album since I was in high school a thousand years ago. For an hour long, there really isn’t a lot of filler. It goes hard from start to finish with only a few breaks to showcase old school dj skills or throw in weird or funny samples. I had forgotten how good Public Enemy were at the style of rapping at the time, and obviously they had a lot to say. There are hardly any goofball bits, it’s 99% social commentary. You can see why so many bands and artist with a serious message always cite them, and this album in particular, as a huge influence. If there’s any criticism to this album it’s that rap has evolved so far from the fast beats and long samples that it sounds a bit dated. But the message is still relevant and the songs still hold up. One of the best.

Should we put like a drumbeat here maybe? How about a man crying out like a goose Love the genre that’s one half serious racial commentary and one half cackling gremlin noise

The "instrumental tracks" and the ones making Flav are not for me. The rest is great.

Should be on such a list. Although maybe takes a nation of millions should be the one. Didn’t fully enjoy though some good grooves.

I cannot deny the significance and importance of the album and its messages - shines alight on a lot of stuff and cuts otthe core as oppose to railing against it ineffectually. Its also much better to listen to than most hip hop - has is quite comprehendable (vocals remind me of the band "disposable heroes of hiphoracy" and interesting - its quality stuff. I cant give it a 5 as I really would put this album on for the joy of it. and also a surpise to see how their music has evolved and they have done death metal and techno collaborations, with a remix of Bring the Noise being their tap streamed tack - it sounbds nothing like Public Enemy .

This was very much of its time. And it was revolutionary &, thereby, incredibly influential. So for Hip-hoppers its a milestone. Has it aged well for the rest of us? It sounds like a million, if these are the sounds that turn you on. I can see the value in it, but I’ll never play this album again. Nonetheless, Fight The Power is an absolute highlight of 90’s popular music. Chuck D is a saint. The sampling is great & any sample from Billy Stewart’s version of Summertime is alright with me. I’m sure if I actually concentrated on the words, I’d rate it higher.

When I was a teenager, I used to ravenously consume the Sydney Morning Herald pink pages every Monday, picking out the interesting movies that were screening that week that I could tape. It also had the record reviews, mostly by Lynden Barber before he threw his hands in the air and shifted to movie reviews instead of music. Poor Lynden had clearly heard and reviewed a bazillion records by 1986, and he had tired ears. It took something really different to catch his attention. Through his reviews I discovered Kraftwerk, Cabaret Voltaire and a bunch of quite left-of-centre records. He liked an obscure record. Weird that Holger Hiller's Ein Bundel Faulnis in der Grube would get a mention in a major metropolitan broadsheet. Later, when I was working in a record store, Lynden's tendency to review very hard to get records was the bane of my life; you often couldn't get records he raved about for love or money, which the punters found hard to believe. But, in 1987, he raved - RAVED! - about the first Public Enemy album, and on the strength of that review I bought a copy, and it blew my mind. The follow-up, It Takes a Nation of Millions, was even better - a masterpiece. And Fear of a Black Planet was equal. I bought the first four PE albums as they came out and played them obsessively. As a white, middle-class Australian kid, the political realities they spoke about were largely new to me. Public Enemy were not always perfect in their expression (there are the occasional homophobic, sexist or anti-semitic utterance on record or in the press), but they were generally authoritative and eloquent about the emotional reality of living in a racist society. And they records sound amazing. I had never really heard a collage of influences like this. Along with Three Feet High and Rising and Paul's Boutique, this is the peak of free sampling, and they wove a completely new artform out of the scraps of what they sampled. It was aggressive, abrasive, funky, clever, energizing, angry, funny and powerful. This is not a perfect record, but it is both massively important and amazing to listen to. It still sounds fresh, exciting and relevant.

Good album very invocation of the time. Not my cup of tea, stars are subjective.

Not my thing. But am sure it is brilliant in its field. I am in another field ... far away ... birds are singing. It sounds very angry - I am sure with good reason. I feel bad giving a low rating. But I never want to listen to it again.

Public Enemy sound like nobody else. Such a musical mash up and Chuck D is a great voice. Only heard a couple of tracks before and the whole album deserves more listens, the words matter and I read some while listening. Gets an extra star for Fight The Power alone!

A masterclass in early hiphop sampling but maybe a bit bloated in the middle - could be better at 40 mins long. Social commentary has never sounded so cool 😎 Favourite track: Welcome To The Terrordome

Quintessential 90s hip-hop. I wish I liked this more than I do, but it doesn’t really do it for me. Definitely a good energy but I found some of the samples repetitive and the lyrics, while important for their time, were a bit heavy for me. I understand this is a product of the golden age of hip-hop. Just not really my thing.

Public Enemy. Angry rap. Predictable beats. Not for me bit I understand its position.

Rating: 5/10 The more farther I got into this album, the more I disliked it. It starts off pretty strong with the first few songs but continues to drop in quality as it progresses. I dislike a lot of the production, the deliveries and flows are outdated, and Flavor Flav can be very annoying. Ultimately, this was album that was groundbreaking for the time but today sounds clumsy and dated.

Great for its time, not something i will revisit often

Not bad for a rap album.

Pretty good album with some great sample based production.

cool

Yeah, this is pretty good shit.

Some of this was more listenable than other parts. Favorite songs: "Revolutionary Generation" goes hard, "Pollywanacraka" is catchy and also reminds me of the Jackal from the West Wing (:

More of a unit and more a sense of dread? than their others. I was not really aware of the hot streak these boys had. Lotsa flava, and Terminator x goes easy on the horns. Ice Cube! Eddie Murphy! All their albums serve as a historic document to count the late era fat republican talking point (something along the lines of race relations were getting better until obama and wokeness and identity politics created BLM and CRT just to mess with the nation). Of course nothing new under the sun, but the fats don't have the processing power - maybe if they listen to enough Chuck D they'll catch the woke? 5 for fight the power and 911 is a joke. Muthafuck Elvis and John Wayne!

Good shit

Can't get enough of this shit that makes me feel like a misunderstood black youth (am middle aged white) but also kind of like I am in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live action movie circa 1990. Chuck D for president.

Yes, that was nice, certainly in this time where here in Netherlands soon a new team of Ministers will rise to Power who are not only Afraid of A Black Planet. But also of a Left Wing Planet. Or a transsexual Planet. Actually of any planet that is not as it was in the 50s when everyone was White and Cute and Sweet and nice to their neighbours as long as they were not Gay or in another way different. The album was different than (but as brilliant and addictive as) the preceding one, Takes a Nation of Million album, music less aggressive, funkier and sometimes even funny. Musical Youth, some Sly&Family Stone, one long 63 minutes trip to Wonderland ending (was this in original release too???) with Fight the Power, bless Spike Lee too. Pollywanacraka is my favorite song, but whole album one great experience.

Hay pocos discos de hip/hop que me gustan, pero este está muy bueno

the production on this is chaotic, overwhelming, and unrelenting. this is a memorable listen, every track has a distinct feel. love the sample heavy feel you can really feel the groups anger and indignation through each and every song. fight the power is such an incredible closer, really sums the album up well.

Hip hop not my thing

Another classic from the golden era of hip hop. Just flows and never really drags for the better part of an hour, then you get ‘Fight the Power’! Great stuff

Just chock full of classic lines and hooks. Fantastic album.

Most people have probably heard, or know of, Fight The Power which closes out this album. However, I have not sat and listened to this album all the way through until now. The songs contain an interesting reflection on the institutionalized racism of the era (and even to this day) and other social commentary pieces. Each song blended a bit into the next with some exceptions that utilized a hard break between the end of one and the start of the next. I don't find myself being drawn into the world of hip-hop often, but enjoyed this album as a change of pace to what I'm normally listening to and expanding my horizons.

De locos la portada. Is dis a cosa de gente de color (negro) reference? Espero escoltar rap de lo mas profundo del barrio mas chungo de Detroit al donarli al play. Y no he sido decepcionado. 5/5

A lot of people like this stuff ... I'm not one of them. Made it about half-way through.

The Best!

Cool protest album. It had a lot of serious points but it made them with a kind of humor that was fun to listen to. Musically a lot different than most hip hop that I'm familiar with. Some metal style guitar

Really enjoyed this one. There's a balance of very insightful and pointed comments on race and politics while still having an album that can invoke both anger and amusement in the listener. I was also really impressed by the sound. 90's hip hop was still discovering and exploring the genre and, therefore, sometimes fell victim to redundant beats, but this album was musically interesting and ahead of its time.

Totally fine. Not my thing

These beats were insane and never let up. I normally don’t enjoy the whole “movie dialogue sliced into the track” thing but this DJ excels at at. This has to be an unexpected 5

I knew most of this album already but had never listened to the whole thing before - so good.

la cosa più importante di questo album è innegabilmente il tema della rivendicazione sociale, e su questo non si può dire niente. per il resto, dopo un po' ho perso la carica delle prime canzoni.

Ammetto che non è esattamente il mio genere, e dubito lo riascolterò presto. Però ci sono diversi elementi che ho apprezzato: l’energia, l’ironia e la rivendicazione sociale.

Quello che ha scritto Martina

Angry, poorly produced and too long.

Not bad, was expecting a bit better, the album consists of lots of random noise and samples. Would prefer a rap album with consistent beats.

Ok

Não gosto

Classic Public Enemy. That goes back a ways. Still not a bad listen after all these years.

Public Enemy just rocks. This is the third album I’ve gotten from them on this generator for me and it did not disappoint. I think I like Apocalypse 91 a bit more than this, but I don’t think I could give this a four with a good conscience.

I found that I prefer Chuck D's raps to Flavor Flav's. Somehow Chuck D seemed to be the more serious of the two.

Gear: Focal Clear Mix: Stereo-Späße Galore. Beats ballern. Vocals hochwertig roh. Musik: Lyrics und Samples kulturell leider immer noch hoch-relevant. Musik zwar auch entsprechend aggressiv und groovy - aber so gar nicht würdevoll gealtert. Wertung: ⚫⚫⚫(⚫)/5

A very good album. It's definitely old school, but it somehow doesn't sound as dated as Ice Cube's Amerikkka's Most Wanted, which was released the same year. Flavor Flav is better as a hype man than the main vocalist, so the songs that he features on are just a little weaker than the songs fronted by Chuck D, though 911 is a Joke is a classic. Like the Ice Cube album, I'd give this a 3.5 if I could, but in this format, I think the fact that it still sounds fresh, plus the fact that the lyrics and ideas on this album still hold up, pushes this to 4 stars.

FANTASTISKE beats, Chuck D er en af de bedste rappere nogensinde, selv Flava Flavs nummer fungerer ret godt. Fight the Power er for vildt et nummer at lukke med. Klassiker alert!! It Takes a Nation of Millions... - Fear of a Black Planet - Apocalypse 91 er et hattrick man sjældent ser mage!!

Sindssyge beats, virkelig god plade! Synes Nation of Millions er en bedre plade på ca alle parametre, men mest af alt synes jeg at den her er lidt for rodet i sidste ende. For mange ideer som ikke helt bliver fulgt til dørs.

Det er lidt sjovt, for jeg er allerede blevet mere glad for rap (i sær fra 80-90'erne) men lige den her stil var ikke super meget mig.

Well.....I liked this more than I thought I would.

Flavor Flav is not good on the mic. This has some really cool concepts that have been done much better after this tried to.

First off, this album has great production, one of the best sounding hip hop albums. I also think that the interludes do a lot to add to my overall enjoyment of this project. The first half of this album is really solid, a lot of really good beats, samples, and rapping. The second half of this album isn't as good (besides Fight The Power of course) and holds me back from giving this a 5. I think the ideal version of this album would cut 5 or 6 songs from the second half.

Never got into this back in the days. The production, musicality, track flow, noise, samples are all fantastic. Sorry I missed out the first time. Need more angry music today.

1990 and they already perfected the art of flow. I think stylistically this is about as good as it gets for me in this age / style of the genre. Love production, especially on the vocal end.

Amazing

I’m glad this was before my time

Same beat for 3/4 of the songs.

Crazy how much of a message these guys had and how powerful their music was and then flavor flave went on reality tv to do flavor of love lol

Good album with great instrumentals. First half could do with a bit more rapping though

Raw, Energetic, Ferocious, everything a rap record should be

There’s a reason this era of hip-hop is called ‘the golden age’ when you had groups like PE putting out albums like this. They took the samples and intensity of It Takes a Nation Of Millions to Hold Us Back’ and came back with a more focused and sharp record. It’s just a great listen from front to back, Chuck D has a great presence, alongside Flava Flav and Terminator X who once again delivers colourful and crazy beats (remember this was done before digital tech) The message was relevant then and it’s just as relevant. FIGHT THE POWER

Some cracking tracks but more misses than hits on this album

It's fine, kind of all sounds the same at this point

Been Public Enemy since you thought PE was gym.

Te lang, maar wel een paar echt lekkere nummers, en een vette sound

Chuck D goes insane

Hip-Hop

A landmark album that doesn’t hit quite as hard today — not because the societal issues being skewered have been solved — but because rap has been influenced so pervasively by Public Enemy’s brash style. Production also lacks the tonal variety to hold up for a full hour when pair with underwhelming vocal performances. Favorite tracks: Fight the Power, Fear of a Black Planet

This, PE’s third studio album, really brings the fire - as strident as ever but the music is really, really good, full of sound and fury and energy, marching the darts Chuck D spits. Could be their best album. And might be my last chance on this project to say I met Chuck D and shook his hand. Icon.

я в детстве смотрел по муз ТВ "вкус любви" - и когда говорили что безумец с часами на шее это известный рэпер, я конечно верил на слово)) и только спустя миллион лет я все таки узнал что это за ФЛЕЙВОР ФЛАААААВ такой

4/1/24. Can't deny Chuck D and Flava Flav. Powerful songs and great samples in the beats.

I just don't like this. Like, there's nothing enjoyable about this to me.

Solid early 90s rap

Naw, not really.

7.5/10 Angry, urgent, propulsive, still sounding relevant today A lot of excellent verses & rapping Production is dense, intense. Maybe a little much, overwhelming, and doesn’t move much outside the rails Love Chuck D voice, Flava Flav not so much Best: Fight the Power

I like this album, and maybe on a hip hop day this would have pushed my buttons a bit more. I was going to give it a 4, but I think for me it just lacks a certain lyricism and groove that would elevate it to a 4 or 5.

One of the most culturally important albums ever created. Sadly as relevant today as 1990. It’s raw and power, musically heavily still in the 80s. As usual with hip-hop. It’s a bit too long but impressively does keep the energy up 8.0/10

I think this is the third album from PE on the list so far, and I think I'd place this one 3rd. I think it's just too long, there's too much bits of like DJ interstitials that don't really add anything to the album, just increase the length. Maybe I just wasnt in the mood for it, but when you think that it's close to being over, then you look and there is 9 songs left. I like a lot of what is on the record, but with an edit it could be much better, 45 mins would make this a great record.

Very funky, very nice stuff. What a good ol groove. I dunno lol I enjoyed it

Powerful even after all these years

90s rap has such an awesome beat and a real message. Too many samples and extra noises that dilute how good this album could have been. “911 is a Joke,” “Welcome to the Terrordome, annd “Burn Hollywood” are top songs.

No music, just noise!

emmm, black music

Great lyrics and beats but the constant barrage of sound becomes taxing after both discs.

I appreciate what Public Enemy was going for here but barely any of this connected with me.

The OGs.

I liked it! Enjoyable

quite thoro

It took me multiple days to get through this album. I wanted to give it a fair shake because Public Enemy is such an influential group, and I try to really do an active listen with hip hop albums because the lyrics are so central. It's just so long, with so many tracks. I'll never understand the hip hop/R&B obsession with interludes and skits. A couple of them on here were funny/interesting, but for the most part I wish they just weren't a thing. Lyrically, it's crazy how many of these songs are still relevant today. The more things change the more they stay the same, I guess. I liked how socially conscious the album was. A few of the tracks haven't aged super well, and the Ice Cube feature wasn't my favorite thing (though "Burn Hollywood Burn" is otherwise a great track, and still relevant). But for the most part it holds up. It's a little heavy on the DJing and sampling for my tastes, but overall I prefer that kind of hip hop to the more modern styles. Chuck D and Flavor Flav are such an interesting combination haha. Chuck D raps like a preacher giving a sermon (if that's not obvious by the inclusion of the MLK Jr samples). He's powerful and convincing, and he's usually rapping about the bigger social/political themes on the album. Flavor Flav, who's already more of a meme to Millennials, just comes off sounding so much less serious next to Chuck D's gravitas — and sometimes that's needed to bring some levity to a fairly heavy album. But his lightweight, mumbly style often makes it seem (at least to me) that he's not in the same league as his partner. The major exception to that is on "911 is a Joke" — a song that, as someone from Philly, only gets truer with every passing year. This wasn't a perfect album for me, mostly because of the length. I'd probably put it at more of a 3.5, but I'll give it a 4/5 for its influence.

Love it. A true highlight for me. Variety in sound and style. Still as timeless as it ever was.

Loved it!

Chuck D makes me wanna join a revolution.

10/10 no notes

Not my style but well done

Exactly a week after I heard their breakthrough sophomore album, I get the chance to hear the follow up. And I’m sure for Chuck and Flav, following up the impact that record had couldn’t have been easy. But I think what they did with this is exactly the direction they needed to move in. This album has made me realize something about hip hop that I think I always knew but was never 100% sure on. Which is how much my enjoyment of an album really relies on the drums. An artist once said to never mess up the drums, but I can’t remember who it was. Either way, they were totally right. This takes the already chaotic collages of different samples, and cranks it up to 11. There is such a huge variety of sounds going on at one time. It really is a marvelously produced record. And the beats are just all so killer. It’s the kind of aggression that I was looking for to really match the duo’s delivery. And said delivery is just as strong as it was on the last album. Plus, all of the controversy that was backing this album up only led to an even more intense theming. Even the name Fear of a Black Planet alone really sets the stage. It really feels like they just said “Fuck it, we don’t care if you don’t like us, we are gonna stick our dirty boots in your mouth, spit on you, and then use your complaints as a sample on the record”. It’s honestly the ultimate power move. I don’t know how I predicted it, but I had this gut feeling I was going to like this album a lot more than It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, and I was dead on. But I’m glad I heard the latter first, because this would have that seem even worse in comparison if the order was switched. Rating: 9/10

I have long been a fan of the interplay between Chuck D and Flavor Flav. Flavor actually gets somewhat serious here. As a white guy I can't fully appreciate the impact of Public Enemy's message, but I can certainly feel the power when Chuck starts spitting rhymes. I'm not sure I really have favorite PE albums but this one definitely has its share of bangers. Some great guest appearances on this album too, especially Ice Cube and Big Daddy Kane on Burn Hollywood Burn. This is a 4.5 for me.

Great album - classic!

pretty good

Excellent slice of history. I really enjoy Public Enemy's use of sampling. Definitely a power duo.

3.5

Still incredibly relevant, and for classic hip hop has a pretty low level of misogyny and homophobia. Loved it.

Heavy duty in your face political rap. Touches on the heavy shit with killer production. Flava flav is a goat hypeman

A classic of the genre. PE has been a favorite for a long time.

When I bought this the week it came out, the cashier at Sam Goody said it was “the ‘Sgt. Pepper’s’ of rap albums.” That made no sense to me then or now, but it is fantastic.

Classic

Not my genre, but an excellent album

I know this is a seminal hip hop album, but it gets pretty annoying after a while. The songs really start blending together and I feel like I'm getting yelled at. Not for me. 4/10 (2/5)

I’m sure this was super controversial at the time but interestingly I think mainstream culture has mostly caught up with the themes. wth do you mean flava flav is in this group

Pretty sick

Phat

Good vibes & important message. Rap music not hugely my vibe but definitely a great album 4/5

This album rocks. Was even better all these years later. 911 is a Joke, Welcome to the Terrordome, Burn Hollywood Burn, Fight the Power....and 16 other tracks....so good.

ultimate classic hip hop album. one of the first (if not the first) group to be political with their lyrics.

This was a non stop intensity from beginning to end. My first time listening to them and I definitely get the hype

classic rap from flavor flav and Chuck D

Enjoyed it, bit long but I intently listened to each track which can’t say I do for many albums. I get what the ‘wika-wika’ is now on turntables.

This is an album I already own and have listened to hundred, if not thousands, of times. It brings back so many vivid memories. Smoking weed round the back of Chessington Industrial Estate in my mates XR3i Cabriolet, more mates sat in an 205 GTI (1.9 of course) next to us. Thinking we were the busines, probably looking like a right bunch of numpties. Happy days. Can't believe it was almost 35 years ago.

bad

- Anti what machine - Too long and not really my thing but it was kinda groovy

- early 90s hip hop has never really been for me - decent

Powerful and influential, this album flows like an album should. Whether or not you agree with his politics, Chuck D is a brilliant writer and Terminator X mixed like few others ever would.

Fight the Power. Fight the Powers that be

Goddamn

I loved it. Just learning I really like early rap.

One of the most important sociopolitical albums ever made. Embrace the rage.

Beautifully defiant and rebellious, Public Enemy doubles down on its political themes, unfortunately the production fails evolve enough to interest me for more then a single listen. Best Song: Incident at 66.6 FM, Fight The Power Worst Song: N/A

It hits me differently now that I've watched "Do the Right Thing."

There’s an argument to be made that this is the greatest hip-hop album ever made. In a way, it’s the culmination of everything hip-hop aimed to encapsulate since its inception, and it helps that this then shaped the sound of the genre to come while still being in a league of its own because it's so detailed, which meant that almost no one would ever be able to redo this style. This is an example of art that may not be made for me, but I can still enjoy it and give it its flowers. It deserves all its praise as a pinnacle of culture. It is what music is meant to be in my opinion – expansive, confrontational, researched, reactionary, yet still ultimately enjoyable despite all that. But then again, PE was always for the punks. Easily my favorite PE album, because it expands their sound so much, but it feels like it's done purposefully as a way to target their message. Maybe not as important to Music History ™ as its predecessor, but I believe you can hear its impact more. And while it's not my favorite hip-hop album ever, it's solidly in my personal Top 100.

Not as bad as I was expecting.

power, fought

Not their best album but possibly the one that imprinted the group on a wider consciousness.

Classic!

Moments of mania. But worthy listen

drømme

I bought this album back when it was new. I must have listened to it a lot back then as it was very familiar and I hadn’t listened to it in at least 25 years. Despite some questionable lyrics and some tracks that are too noisy with a lot going, it’s still pretty good.

I liked it, sometimes would be properly enjoying it, other times just not getting it. For example there’s some great use of samples especially from news clips and speeches. But then there’s some bits where it’s straight up over excessive with no pay off. Also found myself checking how many songs were left which is never a good sign. This was a good album though, but just good Stand out songs: Burn Hollywood burn Power to the people Fight the power

It was good and I love this genre but I think it could have been better. The beats are great and they are passionate I just don't think enough songs really hit. Still fun but other then the message and time period I don't feel it is special. Solid 3/5. Stand out songs: Welcome to the Terrordome Burn Hollywood Burn War at 33 1/3

Holds up fully, especially the beats and overall consciousness. One wishes one heard more hip-hop of this orientation (and less silliness) today. Terminator X and the Bomb Squad were legit in industrializing a certain style of rigorous beats and beds.

I really liked this. I forgot how much I liked Chuck D's voice as a rapper. Not only is it a great album, but I'm still amazed at Rick Rubin for hearing these guys, signing and producing.

Еле дослушала