Reviews (page 5 of 8)
Didn't really love listening to this album. It had its moments, but it kinda just felt like a collection of songs that you would skip on a GTA radio. I ended up accidentally listening to some of his other music, and I actually enjoyed it a lot more than what was on this album. 2/5
Dang I really liked this, it was pretty zany but I felt like it was the clear precursor to Graceland (and just as exploitative of S. African musicians). Only song I didn't enjoy was the closer, that was a total miss and why we're now at a soft 4/5. Albums like this are why this project is still fun, never heard of this guy before
I am at an absolute loss. Some genuinely great African and South American inspired tracks and some of the clearest examples of the cultural crossover between New Wave and Hip Hop are buried on a quasi-piss-take album by an absolute goon. Am I supposed to take this seriously? The World's Famous Supreme Team do, when they espouse 5 Percent-er thought on World's Famous, but I'm not positive Malcolm McLaren does. Is he taking this album seriously? He capped it off with Duck for The Oyster, so I'm compelled to say he isn't but this album's produced by Trevor fucking Horn, it sounds incredible. Based purely on enjoyment of listening, I have to give it a 4, and if you ask me to rate it on anything else I will short-circuit and self-destruct.
sometimes annoying. sometimes not. makes me confused
Fun original hip hop album
I think Double Dutch is a great song but it never occurred to me in 1983 that it ripped off someone else's work without credits :( Anyway I like quite a lot of this, largely due to the infectious South African music. Would give an album of the originals 5 stars (I went and listened to the Mahotella Queens after this) this loses a couple of stars for the shamelessness of appropriating without credit.
Before reading the blurb about this album I’d no idea that it was largely responsible for introducing Hip Hop into the UK. Given my loathing of Hip Hop this did not bode well for my feelings towards it. Secondly, in my view Malcolm McLaren is a massive prick. I’m at ease saying this because John Lydon also endorses this and if he says it there is no doubt that he is one. However, I do actually own McLaren’s next album with all the Puccini stuff on it. I did like a lot of this at the time but can’t say I’ve had it out of its sleeve for over 30 years or more. But that it is not this album. Listening to this and putting to one side the Hip Hop crap I did find myself liking the African music. Must have been groundbreaking at the time as this album predates Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon getting their hands on African tunes. So for that reason I understand why it is on this list. Arriving at a final score for this album presents a bit of a dilemma. If it was an album of African music I would be scoring it 3 to 4 stars. But and this is a big but, I cannot forgive the inference that this album unleashed the horrors of hip hop onto the UK and me in particular. It might be hip hop you could play to your Granny because it goes on about fluffy ducks instead of the usual gangster violence, but I am not prepared to show any liking whatsoever to hip hop. 1.6/5 7/5/25
that was strange 3/5
Strong dislike
It didn't capture me
Onhan näissä tällaisissa tosi skittivoittoisissa sekoilulevyissä jotain tosi karnevalistisen hauskaa ja yllätyksellistä. Oikein pätevää matskua tekemisen taustalla. Pitäisinkö tätä nyt suurena taiteena? En. Mutta nautin kyllä. 3/5
Hauska afrikanmakuinen levy! 4/5
Maso
Buffalo gals has the Eminem sample but not my jams
Lol, what a weird album. Not the music itself, which ranged from okay to pretty good (except the for the last song, which was straight-up bad)- but I don’t understand its provenance or purpose. It’s not a bad collection of hip hop and world music, but something about the presentation feels off.
Meh and apparently they're thieves too?
Interesting album. I don't understand who Malcolm McLaren is and what made him create an album like this. Low 4.
4/10 - this was the most all over the place album I have ever heard. Every song was a different genre. Some of them were fine others were bad
What the fuck was this? Some really old hip hop, some world, some... country? Is that what that was? Idk. Strange but engaging listen
How much of this album is original and how much is plagiarism is an interesting question, because it's a strange mix of World Music (mainly African, but also some Latin American) and Hip-Hop (mainly in the form of faux radio broadcasts), with the odd Hoedown thrown in for good measure. On the whole I prefer the World Music parts of this album. I'm not sure if this album would have received as much attention if it wasn't made by Malcolm McLaren.
Nice
It’s like Graceland without the wit and charm. The rampant cultural (mis)appropriation here is breathtaking, trampling over huge amounts of African and Afro-American musical styles with little seeming acknowledgement, all over-ridden by (what I’m presuming to be, but I’m struggling for confirmation) Malcolm McLaren and a horrid cod-American accent. Having said all that, it’s not as horrible as it could be - whatever else you can say about McLaren he had an incredible ear for what people wanted to hear, and this is … ok. It’s not great at all, and the largely uncredited appropriation leaves a bad taste, but I didn’t hate it completely.
I never heard of this artist nor listened to any of this music. Simply refreshing and fully of rhythm, melody, and talent. It’s fun to hear the influence it’s had on other, more famous artists. Don’t know why he ended the album like a cartoon though.
WOOOOW Finally something I think i 'propah' like! "OMG"
Nope. Not good. Not quite a 1 star though.
Some consider this a unique mash of African music and hip hop. I consider it colonizing shite that co-opts Black music without the proper respect or credit. When I start to enjoy the music, there usually some bullshit talk vocals, radio interjections, or other useless crap that ruin it for me. Basically, what is true to the origins of the music is joyful and exciting. Unfortunately there’s too little of that and it’s too often interrupted. I really didn’t like this.
A surprising and fun album. Something I wasn’t expecting at all and want to read more about it.
Malcolm McLaren is a giant POS, but Buffalo Gals is a good song. 1.5/5, but I think I’ll round down anyways.
I have no idea what i just listened but hell yeah!
white people the more i read about this man the more i do not like this man fun album
Think the best part of this album was realizing this dude was the manager of the Sex Pistols and Bow Wow Wow. And now I know where Eminem got his "two trailer parks girls go round the outside" line. I also know he sampled UTFO's, Roxanne, Roxanne in the opening of El San Juanera. Btw, I love old San Juan, Puerto Rico. It sounds like he sampled a lot of some old rap some from the early 80's too. Back when rap was fun and enjoyable. Highly recommend checking out the Roxanne song by UTFO and some of the follow up Roxanne rap battle songs. Ha, the good ole days of rap music. Think I heard some old Run D.M.C. in there too. Liked Merengue. Reminded me of the Thursday night town dance party in Rincon Puerto Rico. This was ok, definitely different. A lot of interesting side notes about this album and some of his samples. Can't say I will return to this album, but there were some pretty cool moments and sounds. 2.5
3.5 I’m well familiar with Malcolm McLaren as a fashion designer and manager of the Sex Pistols, a group he assembled to help sell his clothing. However, I did not know that the guy had albums of his own to his name, but as I probably should have guessed, the name on the front is about the only connection he has with the actual music here. Once again, he commissioned other people to do the work for him, but in this instance, he just straight-up took all of the credit, leaving a majority of the African performers on this album completely uncredited. It’s a pretty bad look, and while it did largely help lead to the popularization of hip hop music in the UK, it also feels incredibly exploitative and left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Still, to the actual musicians’ credit (not Malcolm’s), a lot of the stuff here is really good. There’s something about 80s hip hop that’s so damn fun, and the first few tracks here are no exception - though, during my first listen of Buffalo Gals, all I kept thinking to myself was, “This can’t be what I think it is.” Sure enough, it is. Yes, Eminem sampled this specific song for Without Me. Considering the track involves Em acknowledging how his success is owed to black music, it makes you wonder if maybe there’s something there. I digress, the deeper you get into the album, the more it seems to transition into - for lack of a better word - world music, African-leaning especially, and, as someone who admittedly knows very little about the genres heard, I really liked most of it. Once again, everything had a fun energy to it - while the circumstances surrounding this album are unfortunate, I can’t deny that it sounds like the performers are really enjoying themselves, and that translates in the music. There’s definitely some stuff mixed in that feels a bit like filler, but nothing I found unenjoyable. I even kind of liked the radio DJ dude who popped in between songs, though it was a touch much by the end. All in all, solid, fun, album - just wish it was the product of actual artists and not a businessman.
One of the most unique listening experiences I’ve ever had. The amount of left turns this album took was insane. However, this does sound gimmicky at times, especially with the DJ interpolated throughout the album. Either way, I’d highly recommend just to listen to this just for the experience.
Un album rafraîchissant par sa variété, après tous les albums qui, par décennie, se ressemblent. J’ai aimé l’audace, la légèreté, l’originalité
'Impresario' of the punk movement, promotor/manager of bands like New York Dolls and Sex Pistols, and register of the 'hip new thing,' McLaren, I gotta give it to him, 'put together' a remarkable album of world music and Hip-hop. For me, 'Double Dutch,' 'Punk it Up,' and 'Jive My Baby' are the standouts. So from an aesthetic point of view, it triumphs. Historically, it's also fascinating to hear what was up in '83. The outtakes from The World's Famous Supreme Team, a Hip-hop radio show active from '79 to '91, are especially immersive. But morally, 'impresario' in my mind is no different from 'poacher' and 'opportunist.' As much as I enjoy a track like 'Soweto,' appropriation w/o credit spawns an ugly, colonial atmosphere. No good.
Some cool samples and music, but through research, questionable if McLaren did anything to be credited as an artist.
Pretty weird but good but also kinda not? Very mixed feelings here. Not all 3s are created equal.
confused how this is funk (but I know nothing about funk)
This album was so weird but it was fun
Culture vulture backstory aside it was weird but fun, I kind of liked it? Shoutout the interpolation of “buffalo girls” by Eminem Two trailer park girls go round the outside
Didn’t hit it much of a shot, but didn’t like what I heard.
What a rollercoaster of an album. But honestly is super fun and silly and just interesting to listen to. I didn't know I needed African mixed with South American mixed with dosido all tied together with a hip hop radio channel MC, but here we are, and I am happy about it. 8/10
You can either whine about some political correct bullshit or have fun listening to this amazing album.
Мне нравится нетрадиционная такая развлекательная музыка. Неожиданно Eminem в Without Me отсылал к песне из этого альбома Buffalo Gals. Незаезженно, оригинально.
This set of songs based on samples & others work, has no attributes and is just a mess, don't love it.
A record of shit samples. Just a white owner of a fashion store ripping off black folks. Cool.
Eclectically good.
Album was all over the place. Real eccentric. Some bangers some skippers. Averages out to an average album.
Groundbreaking in the 1980s Hip Hop scene, those tracks sound dated now. But the fusion of street party vibes with international music is fun and lively— precedes and paves the way for the 90’s world music craze. Need another listen (airplane), but this could be a 3 or a 4.
4/5.
3/5
I was not previously familiar with the artist or album. This is a very eclectic album, leaning heavily into completely unrelated genres like hip hop, world music, and square dance music. There are some catchy tunes as well. Overall I'm not sure I would come back and listen again but I'm glad to have heard it once.
Cultural appropriation is an anagram of "corrupt liar papulation". This album manages to be both. Fuck Malcolm McLaren!
Fun but super super weird haha. Sounds so modern?
Certainly, there are highlights here, like the classic, irresistible Buffalo Gals or Double Dutch, but some of this is not perfect. Consistently fun though!
Some bangers
The idea of styling it after a radio program was really good.
A lot of variety, some good, some bad. I generally don’t care for skits on albums and this was no exception. Such a wide range of styles and genres made this feel discordant and a bit like a compilation album.
Well this was a vibe. This had absolutely everything, all sorts of genres going on, which I appreciated. Probably unlucky to miss out on a 4. Simpsons: No
Too much is happening here for me. was grateful for the end
A hate the culture vulture vibes and I hate how much I liked it. Just credit the artists you steal from dude. White people, eh?
Hearing a white man “discover” Black music is not revolutionary, I’ll pass.
Malcom McLaren doesn’t make music here as much has he orchestrated a surreal collage that demands you just have an open mind (and hope you like South African & tropical & Caribbean music). Didn’t really go into this expecting anything specific, and was quickly hit with one of the nicest, sweetest, most calming song openers I’ve ever heard - right up my alley in how calming and almost ambient it is. Then “Buffalo Gals” comes on and the placid state Ive been lulled into is quickly shattered and I’m now expecting the unexpected. It’s the type of surreal sampling technique that really sends the listener into a feverish dream state. If you like this album but have never heard anything else like it, I IMPLORE you to listen to some newer surrealist stuff. Deaths Dynamic Shroud, Nmesh, or even some Oneohtrix Point Never kinda took this surreal formula and ran with it. I am also reminded of Apex Twin in the way this album also goes from the most frenetic mess of sounds to something twinkly and beautiful in the span of a few minutes. I’m such a sucker for albums with radio interludes and radio dj’s as pseudo narrators - especially here where it provides a little through-line in the otherwise nonsensical sound collage craziness. This is an incredibly demanding listen, and probably was even more hard to stomach for it’s time, before the advent of internet media overload made something so surreal kinda normal. If this wasn’t/isn’t for you, I completely understand. But a song like “Punk It Up” mashed into everything going on here, especially given the context of its creator? So, so cool. “Song For Chango” is another highlight for me, if there even a way to sort and organize my thoughts on the track sequencing. This album ending with some sort of reverb screaming sound is so perfect. I really thought about giving this a 5/5 stars. I can’t and won’t, it just isn’t quite there, but it’s damn close. I had SUCH a good time listening to this album, and probably won’t listen to it many more times. So frenetic and fun. The dancing monkey in my brain is activated and satisfied. Everybody should listen to this album just once. You can hate it, but you have to experience it!
Graceland for dickheads
Hip-Hop, 28eme album + World, 7eme album. J'étais prêt à mettre 1/5, je n'apprécie vraiment pas le hip-hop. En fait les morceaux sont plus world que hip-hop, donc avec du chant plutôt que du rap, voire des instrumentaux. Certains travers de ce style sont présents (répétitions, morceaux interminables), mais l'album est bien plus varié (+1). Je ne l'écouterais pas une seconde fois, mais ... je suis allé jusqu'au bout. =>2/5
Artifice. Pure and simple
"Stealing Music From Around The World - The Album" was the working title for this album but they went with Duck Rock at the last minute. Well that's what I heard. Almost all of the music here sounds well done and parts are genuinely good. Now how all this good music got on the album, who's to say? I'm sure everyone was properly credited and paid for their work. Hate McLaren or hate McLaren, this is an album that probably should be on the 1001 list in case it might spur some interest in the original artists. -1 for not having one duck on the entire album and for McLaren's legacy of screwing over the Sex Pistols and other artists.
british moment
Oh look, the guy who fleeced the Sex Pistols tried to claim he brought hip-hop to the UK. Look this isn’t as terrible as I expected but it’s also not good. Maybe it’s an inspiration, but for fuck’s sake Malcolm, you’re so white. The Avalanches did it way better and the beats actually worked.
gets a 1 on principle. who cares
Rubbish
This was more interesting than I expected it would be, and I enjoyed this quite a bit.
I don’t know what I just listened to, but I liked it. “Two Buffalo gals go around the outside around the outside around the outside.” Lots of experimentation but in good ways.
Surprisingly good. I enjoyed this
This is basically the textbook definition of cultural appropriation in music
One can only take so much cultural appropriation before it gets a little old. If nothing else, each sound was it's own unique adventure. Definitely one of the strangest albums I've ever heard. Favorite Track: "Buffalo Gals".
Fine music, feels predatory
I really love the instruments used in Obatala, a sort of neo-asia/reggae themed mix. The radio interludes sound like they could be straight from a Saint Pepsi album and the interpolation Eminem later used from Buffalo Gals shows Mclaren has an ear for the iconic. While this album wasn't at all the first to use samples heavily it uses them in a really tasteful way. I've heard Double Dutch before and I love the way the radio intro helps blend it into the previous song, I wish more albums would do that. It's just a really cute song, I was always infamously bad at school skipping and I never even understood how double dutch works but this song makes me feel like I could. I really like World's Famous, it works very well to end the album.
Successfully replicates that annoying feeling of driving somewhere confusing where you need to pay attention but the passenger keeps changing the radio station constantly except instead of pop country and car dealer ads it's South African choral pop, Cuban dance music, DJ blathering, and old school hip hop scratching, but they switch channel before you can get into it at all. Infuriating, fun, stressful, distracting, a waste of a great cover. Barely any ducks.
I don't trust Malcolm McLaren and ... this felt like if you invited a really great set of friends over for a potluck and then posted photos of it captioned "look at this great dinner i made." The potluck was good, the attribution, not so much. But now I get yet another Eminem reference i guess
not sure how to explain this album other than it sounds like kids music in everything but lyrical content (and sometimes also in lyrical content)
Hm. A lot of interesting bits but also a lot that didn't land for me, not a big skit/interstitial fan
A whole-ass culture I know nothing about. Sorta fun but what a weird clash in tones, especially that ending
Loved this, easy listening.
I'm not usually one to have a one or two sentence review for an album. I try to respect the creative process of most any artist, but this is mostly junk with little in the way of coherence to make it sound of a piece. Seems to simply exploit the fashion of the day (ie. the South African sounds that come toward the end). Given Malcolm McLaren built a career around exploiting the fashion of the day - maybe that's the point. I might rate it higher without the inane rambling of the DJ interspersed throughout the album. 2 stars
Did this guy just get a load of people into a room and claim the credit? Apart from that this album is just pretty ok
A couple of familiar pop songs on this
A little too all over the place for me
If you can’t decide if you’re in the mood for De La Soul or Ladysmith Black Mambazo, this would be a good album to reach for.
Strange, but mostly background music.
Enjoyed the variety on this album, even if it was a bit uneven in quality. Did not enjoy all the "filler" tracks, though. They make me less apt to go back and listen to it again. 3.5* rounding up.
So, the Sex Pistol's manager curated a bunch of samples from an East Coast hip-hop radio show and African music (without attribution), then put his own name on it... The end product isn't bad to listen to, but why is this essential? Shouldn't the source material (Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens) be on the list, instead?
Another sub-par effort here. Enjoyed the uncredited African music but the overall package was bleh.
The music is not particularly burdensome to the ear, and thanks for that. 5.5 out of 10.
I think this is the third time in recent times I've heard a song and been embarrassed to learn Eminem just sampled it and didn't actually write it
Really, really intriguing as a historical document. To think this was out in 1983, a really early and accurate representation of hip hop years before it reached the UK mainstream, and all fronted by the whiniest white English man. Also fascinating to hear a range of African sounds and samples which you still don't commonly hear in western music, and none-more-80s production from Trevor Horn. Admittedly, it's not really very *good*, but it IS fascinating.
Is this an album you must listen to before you die so you know what not to do if you make an album of your own? Yow.
Dogshit album, can’t even call it hip-hop when there is no lyrics💔
some of these songs were super fun but overall I felt like i was getting whiplash from this lol
Hmmm…interesting.
Nah, no good -- if you were also wondering what this this is and also only recognize Malcolm McLaren because he was the manager of the Sex Pistols, I guess it's a weird mix of early hip-hop with some turntablism and different music from Africa and the Caribbean. Could be really cool in theory. I don't like it because it's so corny and all over the place that it borders on novelty music, and I think that's kind of a disservice to all the different styles of music it pulls from. Feels less like it's trying to make something cool and more like it's presenting these things as weird and exotic and wacky. It just doesn't work in a way that is annoying to me.
I was not feeling this. 2.5/5
A couple of songs weren’t bad.
Yeah, just didn't do it for me. The album couldn't settle on a sound, and the songs that are meant to stand out just come off as experimental noise.
Maybe you don’t look at the artist’s name, you don’t look at the album title. Try to step into a windowless, contextless room in your mind. Close your eyes. Maybe it’s dark at first, but as the gentle instrumentation and hand drums of "Obatala" play, you sink into something else, letting your imagination loose. How long do you stay engaged with this slice of the ’80s? One song, two songs, three? When do you break? Me? I knew too much going in. It was difficult to resist immediately docking points for the artist’s reputation as a Punk “impresario” and reputed liar. Prone to packaging and exploitation only to call it art or resistance. I listened with an open mind but the deeper I got in the record, the more uneasy I felt. Was this simply another case of ’80s-style appropriation gone too far or was there a hint of mockery in it? Either way, what started as curiosity ended in cringe.
I think this isn't an album I personally would have thought would make this list. I'd love to know what real input McLaren had on this, alongside the credited and non-credited musicians and production. I don't think its style (and ultimately lack of substance) has stood the test of time. It's perhaps a bit more influential than it deserves.
Huh
Terrible. Painful to listen to! A lot of non musical crap worked into this album!
This is the most exhausting album I've every heard
white british guy in the 80s does proto hip hop that’s all stolen and is only really notable for the much better music it would inspire later on
A very UK-centric pick. Maybe the album was more important in the UK and I do believe that a case can be made for Double Dutch or/and Buffalo Gals being on a list of singles to hear before you die. They were "important" enough 12" singles that I remember selling them when I worked at a record store several years after they came out, but I don't recall ever carrying or special ordering the album. I do like the cover art, though.
Ugh. This was really painful to listen to (and watch, in the case of "Buffalo gals", and pretty much the definition of appropriated and mangled music under the horrible genre of world music. (And in the case of "Double Dutch", truly appropriated and stolen from South African musicians.) Unlike something like Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart album, which at least has original music compositions, this plays almost like the DJs who make up World's Famous are playing a radio station broadcast of "songs from around the world", with almost no coherence or thematic unity. I kind of get why this album is included in this collection, especially since it seems to have had a role in generating interest in early hip-hop and non-Western musical styles. But given how incredibly incompetent and laughable Malcolm McLaren was in the development of this album (at least based on what the Wikipedia and the "1001 Albums" entries had to say, adn those entries certainly seem in keeping with someone who was the Sex Pistols' manager), I'm not sure *any* of us should be giving the man or this album our time of day, frankly.
Never much cared for him, and this hasn't aged well.
Les petits bouts de hip-hop sont cools, mais le reste aïe aïe aïe quel enfer.
Some of it was good. Some was ok. The banter was annoying.
19/02/25 Having seen the album cover i was wondering what i was in for, this was a pleasant surprise.
Not great
I'd never even heard of this album before today. I understand the criticism of cultural appropriation, and that makes this album tricky. Having said that, it has some bangers on it and I'll be listening to this more.
Such an oddball record. Cool uses of 80’s hip hop beats, world music samples and generally unpredictable mixes.
Weirdest Sammelsurium an afrikanischen, karibischen Einflüssen, hip hop, country
Genres can be birthed from album titles, as can be seen with Black Metal by Venom. Somewhat naively, I expected that there was a genre called Duck Rock that had passed me by, as perhaps this was the origin. It isn’t rock music at all, which left me as sad as a sad duck. It’s hiphop, but with an unexpected tropicalia twist. In all seriousness, it was an interesting fusion of genres, but not really something I’d say I enjoyed. And for that reason, it is with regret, but Malcolm McLaren, you’re fired.
This was a poor imitation of Paul Simon's Graceland, but at least Simon gave his contributing musicians credit. One positive was that it was nice to hear the origins of The Art Of Noise. Like the cover, this was a jumbled mess.
A boring and messy record
Diferente pero sigue sin emocionarme
Cultural appropriation embodied in an album.
Interesting that Eminem sampled this. But otherwise it was just meh.
Guess I should know better than to believe the hype. Perhaps this was groundbreaking when it released but listening to it now i found it pretty underwhelming. Filled a journey to work but would've preferred listening to something else tbh.
Meh
Shite
Not what I was expecting at all from the sex pistols manager, random mix of genres with different world music and hip hop, felt quite messy but it was very unique especially with hip hop in 1983 in the UK.
Highlight: Obatala In a nutshell: the great hip hop and world music swindle. This album is influential and problematic. Influential because it introduced the UK to hip hop. Problematic because McLaren the directionless twat broke the Apartheid boycott AND did not credit all contributing artists. Not just performers from Africa - worldwide. Music critic Robert Christgau aptly pointed this out in his review for the Village Voice, adding “…Culture may be collective, but (in this culture) wealth ain't.” (August 30 1983). I personally didn't care for this album, but can see why it's in the book. Overall: 3/10
Hot garbage
The Good: terrible ‘80s pop-art over classic ‘70s pop-art? The Bad: that the music is worse than the pop-art… The Ugly: a boom-box with horns sticking out of it… I was unfamiliar this morning with this album, and I wish it had stayed that way… what utter crap. I know that there are people who can see the genius behind all this, even if half of the content is stolen—the amount of people screamin’ cultural misappropriation is enough to make me giggle! Anyway, for me, this is crap. Couldn’t enjoy it at all, so you know what that means… 1* for F
Arh. Emenim was here. (Buffalo Girls / without me) Ret hyggeligt med lidt World music. Ikke sådan vanvittigt godt men jeg var underhold.
Albummet med verdens højeste CO2 aftryk. Det flyver jo rundt mellem Bronx, Carribien, Afrika, Arkansas og har endda en afstikker til Frankfurt med et Kraftwerk agtigt nummer. Inter er godt i sig selv, sammen er det en katastrofe
Not for me, sorry... I wouldn't think of this as one album to listen before die, as a matter of fact :-/ Also, can't remember a thing from McLaren worth listening :-(
500 albums that are worth listening to … and a bunch of other British crap that you’d never care if you never heard it.
I liked it. It's an early dj-centric album in the vein of Wax Tailor or DJ Shadow.
Oh dear :(
Only ever heard Double-Dutch which is still a catchy tune, but not bothered with the rest of it.
Een lekker creatief en vrolijk zootje, en dat anno 1983! Het ideale tegenwicht tegen al die punkrommel, deze Manu Chao avant la lettre (of wat het ook mag wezen). Hiphop, latin en allerlei andere ongein door elkaar, ik kon dit goed hebben.
Met deze titel had ik veel verwacht, maar dit niet. Een mengeling van rustgevende en vrolijkmakende muziek. Van zuidelijke klanken tot jaren '80 hiphop. Is het het allerbeste? Nee. Maar dit zet je zo nog eens op!
Apart om iemand als Malcolm McLaren, die ons oa de Sex Pistols heeft gegeven, dit soort muziek uit te zien brengen. Buffalo Gals ken ik zowaar, misschien nog wel meer van de sample. Op wiki kan ik verder niet zo snel iets vinden over waar die nog meer in is gebruikt. Wel dat Trevor Horn, "the man who invented the sound of the 80s" en verantwoordelijk voor oa Frankie goes to Hollywood, de nummers grotendeels heeft gemaakt. Ik vind het ergens wel geinig. Wat blije caribbean en afrikaanse invloeden, wat early 80s hiphop, geinige beatjes, scratches en samples. Het is niet zo goed als het plaatje dat we hiervoor kregen, Bob Marley's Exodus, maar het gaat wel in 1 moeite door. Ik heb hier met plezier naar geluisterd en dat had ik vooraf niet verwacht.
I do think this is an interesting album, and it's nice to get some real variety - however I saw the comments about 'musical colonialism' and I'm inclined to agree that a bunch of white-British people getting together to 'bring international music to the masses' does whiff of privilege and virtue-signaling. It's either just above or just below a 3*, so I'll middle it out
Catchy. It is a very fun album and i especially dig the eclectic approach; however, not a fan how records of other artists are used without any credit given whatsoever.
Sorry, i don't get what anyone sees in that Album. Can't listen to it.
first listen loved the variety but didn't think any of the songs were a terribly strong composition
I love how this sounds and I think there are a lot of great ideas. However, learning a bit more about the album I feel less happy praising the credited artist. I enjoyed this record a lot, but it made me wish I was listening to the recorded artists instead. 3.5
Rating: 6/10 Decent combination of world music and hip-hop.
Interesting collection of songs, but none of it seems to be HIM!
Felt like an incoherent mish mash of songs just thrown onto a single album. The album didn't flow and most tracks felt like an intro that was building to something and just never went anywhere.
Don't know what this was but I enjoyed it
Don't really know how to review this. The front cover sums it up pretty well, it's cool in a way but also a total, confusing mess. The background story here is all a bit awkward with Malcolm McLaren essentially ripping off artists from Africa and the Caribbean and not giving them credit for it. So it becomes an exercise in separating the art from the artist and difficult to be truly objective. Thankfully, it's not actually good enough for that to muddy the waters for me. The great moments are immediately ruined by bizarre experiments and a total disregard for sequencing or flow. Every time I think 'yeah I might bookmark that track' it descends into nonsense. An interesting discovery, I guess, but also one I'm not too fussed to see the back of.
Wtf
I don’t know. Some of the music was good, but the man seems like a sleaze. Just go listen to the original artists.
# 400 : More style than substance, This album is just a jumbled mish-mash of musical concepts. Nothing really works and it never really comes together into anything worth listening to. I kind of liked - Duck For The Oyster
Pretty all over the place, fine though!
This album is insufferable for reasons Im not sure I completely understand. It feels like "world music" but done in a kind of white savior-ish way. But maybe I'm just primed to think things like this are problematic -- apparently it did bring hip-hop to new audiences in Britain, which is great
Is this a concept album?
Sparkling—I want to line dance to Double Dutch. Then I heard the Merengue/Punk It Up double play! It’s all foryoubaby, foryoubaby, foryoubaby … Though the last track was ????
Definitely hear the Paul Simon of it all and enjoyed aspects of this album a lot, but the last song really ruined it for me. Appreciated the ride, but hated the ending. Would give it a 2.5, but rounding up.
Nothing could have prepared me for this mix of old-school rap and Paul Simon-less Graceland. Weird, but inoffensive.
Delightful. Love hearing from all the females out there. Borderline 5.
Had a great time at this party.
woah. really wish he’d left that last song on the cutting room floor.
First track was ok, the rest was annoying and obnoxious. No thanks.
Not sure what that was all about. Not music. Just sounds.
worldy, hip-hoppy, interesting
A Keith Haring background with a heavily modified boombox with horns and feathers and a cheetah print handle adorns "Duck Rock." Malcolm McLaren the fashion designer and music manager who strategically aligned himself with the nascent UK punk scene, dubbing John Lydon "Johnny Rotten" and encouraging the Slits to wear nothing but mud on the cover of their Cut album. A sleazy misanthropic opportunist. Creates a sample based New Wave/hip-hop hybrid, global amalgam of spoken word Afro-pop ("Double Dutch") and Square dancing ("Buffalo Gals"). Hearing "When they do the Double Dutch, that's them dancing," and realize that Liz Phair was winkingly appropriating it for her, much better, song "Whip-Smart." The entire album is cultural appropriation by an cynical provocateur and may have influenced such post-colonial experiments by Lizzy Mercier Descloux and M.I.A. but at least those third-world rhythms felt honest and collaborative. "Punk It Up" and "Jive My Baby" sounds like the Indestructible Beat of Soweto, unsurprisingly McLaren did not credit any of the South African musicians on this record. If I hadn't grown up with the Talking Heads and Paul Simon's "Graceland" (which is not without controversy) and felt compelled to seek out original South African music, "Duck Rock" might have been a revolutionary exposure to global pop. Instead it just feels like exploitation from a misanthrope who courted controversy his entire life. "Song For Chango" in title has a smug condescension for the political conditions and revolutionary aspirations of African music. The Brit-centric slant of this list of essential records is quite obvious.
A pocketful of drugs. A circus on mars. Three monkeys singing opera. This is insane. If you didn't love this, delete my contact, delete your phone, delete yourself. We can't be friends. We shouldn't even be on the same planet. A delight. A masterpiece. I need a nap.
Weird. Ahead of it's time I'm sure.
This album is ace. Hopefully the impact it had to inspire others to delve deeper into what at the time were obscure music for western audiences countered some of the cultural appropriation issues.
eclectic interesting
This felt a little all over the place, but I dug some of it. Soweto sounds like a Dave Matthews Band song. The biggest wtf is the last track turning into a hoe down though.
I don't even know what to say about this. Not remotely what I expected. Liked it quite a bit, actually. Thought most of the music was really good. Points, as always, for being eclectic. The in-between dj stuff got a little old, though. 3.85
They dabbled in plenty of genres here, from Caribbean to both South African and America and while I did enjoy the majority of it, things did feel a little messy at times. The concept of the radio station sorta helped with the mix of genres I suppose. Oddly enough, the chill vibes of the opening instrumental track turned out to be my favourite. 3 stars
Song 1: quite weird, hippy, not bad but not something i'd listen to standalone Song 2: very hip hoppy, very good intro, producer tag/sample ive heard @ 48 seconds in ish?, too hip hoppy actually, repetitive, not for me, to many randmo sounds and record scratches song 3: funky i like it, but still bit weird for me
Glad this is on the list. One I don’t think too many people these days are throwing on as a favourite listen. But well worth it in hearing the arch of music history.
As a major MMcL skeptic, one was fully prepared to hate on this, but found rather found oneself enjoying it. There's some sense of joy in the songs plus some thoughtfulness in their selection. One could do without all the audio snippets from early hip-hop radio (which seems to predict the too-many skits to come on even quality hip-hip records). And the "launch of world music" seems like an overstatement, but still pretty enjoyable and an interesting artifact to listen to. Until the last song, where so much goodwill is lost.
Yet another attempt to create a “youth culture movement” out of a much community, this time with cultural appropriation! It’s not good…
Not enjoyable but admirable for being so Americansounding for a clothing retailier off the Kings Rd./
I can see this being influential for it's time but parts sound dated to my ears. McLaren is also insufferable. 2.5
Huh. Well, that was an album. After getting an album from M.I.A. yesterday, I wasn't exactly in the mood for a British album that combines world music and hip-hop, but here we are, I guess. I mean, I didn't hate the M.I.A. album. I quite liked it actually. I just didn't want two semi-similar albums in a row, you know? However, the two album couldn't be more different in the other ways. This album's weird. Would I call it bad? Not objectively. Would I say I liked it? I don't know. The style just isn't really my thing. None of the songs really interested me that much. I guess the most interesting thing that I gained from this album was learning that the opening lines of Eminem's "Without Me" were interpolated from something. That's neat. I guess this album does have influence. However, I'm not sure all of it is for the better. The "artist" credited for this album, Malcolm McLaren, apparently did not credit many of the musicians responsible for this album's existence. That sucks. The rapping is pretty rudimentary. Overall, Duck Rock is fine. I'm not entirely opposed to this album's inclusion on the list, but I'm also not exactly a fan of it. At least it's interesting! High 2/5.
Never heared of him before. Nice change from the recent albums but overall not exactly my jam.
I quite liked this one. i bet it was super unique for its time, good mix of music and other bits in the songs.
What the hell am I listening to?!
The DJ parts have not aged well but the South African tunes are great
yikes
Weird album, and at the same time really cool. Like hearing to a radio station. Cool concept. 3 stars
Spændende album. Og sikkert ret vild i '83. 1 ekstra point for det.
The musical equivalent of walking into the elevator of a 12-story building and pressing all the buttons while simultaneously blindly throwing a dart at a map of the world. From the relentless huckster that brought us The Sex Pistols, we get... whatever this is. This record never stops at any one thing long enough to offer much time for evaluation. As he was a purveyor of all things Fast Fashion, I imagine that was McLaren's point of this experiment.
I think this would be more well regarded if it was presented as a band as opposed to a solo album. If everyone who contributed was credited, most of the negative reviews would go away.
Feels like listening to "Radio Limbo" while waiting to be assigned a hell. You know that it could be worse, but can't help to feel relieve when the music finally stops.
That started out alright before descending into utter madness. Not for me. Best song: Obatala
Sampling in music has long been a controversial topic that many have very strong feelings towards. And often the practice can put people off to certain kinds of music entirely. I’ve always been an advocate for it, because I’ve heard more than enough music in my life, mainly in hip-hop, to know how powerful of a tool it can really be. Endtroducing is one of the most impressive records I’ve ever heard in my life. But in the wrong hands, it is very easy to mess up sampling. It’s not as simple as just ripping large pieces of music from other people and putting them over a different beat or instrumental. It’s more about your interpretation of where those pieces can be split up and fit in to complete the puzzle. It doesn’t seem Malcolm McLaren understood that before creating this album. I don’t necessarily blame him, because sampling was still very new when this released. Albums like Paul’s Boutique, 3 Feet High and Rising, or The Low End Theory wouldn’t come out for quite a few years, and I consider these the most important records in terms of the evolution of sampling. Malcolm himself is a pretty interesting character. Not only was he a fashion designer, but he was also a music manager. Specifically for punk bands, including the Sex Pistols. So to the dismay of many, including myself, he is partially responsible for punk’s presence in the mainstream, even if you don’t like that band. But this also makes it even weirder that he would create an album like this. And the only thing I can think is that all of this feels very disingenuous. If this was the only evidence that ever existed to support sampling in music, there would be basically no argument. Because this is not good. There are times where this doesn’t even feel like music. These pieces are so beyond disjointed that I can’t imagine what you could ever do to make them sound good together. At one moment you’re getting Latin music, then hip-hop, then new wave, and then West African music in the next. It’s just confusing, and not even remotely enjoyable. I think I have to score this as such just out of principle. I don’t really care how influential this was to bringing hip-hop to the mainstream in the UK. No one else should ever have to experience something as jarring and odd as this. Rating: 3/10
I’m going to be quite subjective with this note. This is not a good album; however, it documents a scene perfectly. It’s not about the songwriting or even the production, it’s about what was happening in the underground, its interests in world music and pushing boundaries. It’s about the character - Malcolm - bringing to his limited spotlight what he considered was cool. This album is a sonic DeLorean.
The fake radio show bit is incredibly annoying. The hip hop is so dated it's hard to take seriously - like the wholesome interstitial music of a nineties educational children's show. I don't understand why the last track was suddenly a hoe-down.
The diversity of this album alone gets like 3 stars but then you add, the extra bonus of realizing where Eminem stole that trailer park girls line from and that adds another star. 6 is cool reminds me of a track off the NBK soundtrack. But all the track thus far....track! lol that's punny. #8 also has that same sound. Song for Chango is cool! Sounds Brazilian. LOL that last track was a dosy do song! Good stuff man. 4 stars. 5 stars. I'm torn. I'll decide monday. And now for my Release Radar!!
What a hot jumbled mess
It's a mood, but the only memorable thing for me is the "coming-coming to you loud and clear" sample that went on to feature in Erykah Badu's The Healer. Duck Rock gets brownie points for that.
I’m a rhythm hound. I love all the variety of rhythms on this album. The more times I listen to this the more I enjoy it. I was always familiar with Malcolm McLaren because I owned the album after this one back in real time. So I knew it would be something original and somewhat challenging. I’m not disappointed! This is so ahead of its time, including the hilarious radio interstitials… including a shout out to city of my birth, Poughkeepsie!! Reading other reviews of this album, thinking about cultural appropriation: this album is clearly guilty of that. I’m appreciative of whoever named Mahalthini and the Mahotella Queens, who appear (uncredited!!) on this album. That review led me to their music… LOVE! They deserve to be on this list in their own right. I’m grateful for finding them, even in this roundabout way. They certainly deserve recognition. Their talent is a big part of the success of this album. I want to give this album five stars but perhaps won’t based on how the credit might not have been shared properly. Need to give it a think because I do love the cleverness of this album and the exposure it gave to different rhythms. My policy, with albums of other musicians whom I ethically disagree with, is to just rate on my experience of the album. know that I’m aware that this is problematic.
I can see where this album probably influenced the Beastie Boys, and the sample by Eminem is obvious. It's quite a strange and intriguing album.
Much better than 'Duck Stab' and not as difficult to sit thru as 'Howard the Duck' Duck Rock challenged my assumptions on anything duck-related and won me over. Well, as much as you can win someone over with dated synth, hi-trebble and strange radio samples paired with Paul Simon-esque Graceland tracks. Perhaps I'm in a more forgiving headspace today, but I didn't completely hate this ducking album. Similarly there is another movie almost equally as bad, released about the same time called Teen Wolf. Both of these movies included someone in a duck and wolf suit.
*uck Duck Rock. Ok, only the second and last songs deserve that response. It's not all intolerable. But it is all confusing. When the British producer who was influential in shaping early punk rock made a solo album, this is what came out? An early hip-hop/world music hybrid? Another point in favor of “Duck Rock” comes from my esteemed group member pretentious-ass, who remembered what I had blocked out - that “Duck Rock” is at least far better than “Duck Stab.”
There are moments that are good. But this may be the least cohesive album I have ever heard?
I don’t get the whole radio show interspersed with African beats motif. I also don’t think the music was terribly entertaining.
I went back and forth between love and hate on this one, so I’ll average it out to a 3. It had cool weird music and not cool weird music, but it was an adventure!
I like the music. Especially the weird and different styles and influences all mixed together. I hate the talky radio bits.
An impressively eclectic and creative mix of tunes. I didn't find it super enjoyable, but I appreciate it.
I actually do like the World Fusion aspect of this, it makes for some interesting listening. The radio-show framing device for it got old fast though.
Very unique! This was a pleasant surprise to me. The radio station concept was very cool and fun. The tracks are very diverse and break into a lot of world music.
Pretty awesome album. Tons of samples used by later rap groups from World's Famous Supreme Team. Pretty groundbreaking for 1983. Love the African music that Paul Simon came along and made super famous with "Graceland". Must hear tracks: Double Dutch Punk It Up Jive My Baby 3.5/5 which translates to a 4/5.
fun record, with influences from several genres around the world ... some say stolen/ripped-off !
..
I liked a few of the songs on here, double Dutch in particular was fun. But learning more about this album and where the music came from, I dunno dampens my.enthusiasm substantially. I'd like to go listen to some of the original recordings that were used here though.
this is such an interesting album - there's such a wide range of musical influences coming through, and it feels like it switches from sampled beats to live performances of world sounds that range from African to Gospel to boom bap. The motif that repeats is someone calling into a radio station which seems to fit the duck radio theme. I surprisingly loved this album.
Ništa mi nije jasno kod ovog albuma. Kao da se netko zajebava, evo. Zvuči kao skup rendom semplova i zvukova koje je dijete složilo u wannabe pjesme. Not today brudi. 1/5; 1.5/10
Čudno, drugačije, pomalo eksperimentalno, malo kao world music vibe, malo hip hopa, dobri synthevi, iako mi nekako ne prija baš Bit će neka solidna trojčica samo zato što se neću vraćati ovome albumu
8/10 Dosta zanimljivo. Pocetak hip hopa meets world music + nezaobilazno scratchanje karakteristicno za žanr u 80ima. Prva stvar, Obatama i Legba su mi "ambijentalni" favoriti i nesto sto bi si doma pustao nakon posla za opustanje, Soweto mi je bas odlicna u worldmusic kategoriji albuma, a World's Famous mi je primjer odlicnog hip hopa u počecima. Ma, i zadnja kaubojska stvar mi je baš zabavna i smiješna. Bas mi je sjeo ovaj album, jako šaroliko (i nenaporno) u konačnici. Može, volim ovakva iznenadjenja i definitivno istražujem dalje McLarena!
As one half of UK Duck Rock duo Houmous & Chutney, I know a thing or two about catchy, fun records. 3.4
Pretty interesting tbf. Not what I was expecting.
Not my thing at all but an extra star as it sounds brilliant for its age
Good quack 👍🏻
Sì dai
This is rap/afrobeat music for people who don't want black people living in their neighborhood. Malcolm McLaren sucks on multiple levels
Beautiful 2st track, glimpses of quality. Too many skits.
I get the importance, but screw this dude for taking all the credit.
Really fun listen like a trip back in time.
I have no clue what this is, it was all over the place. Crazy party hip-hop. I only liked one song. Stand-out: Punk It Up
Infuriating to listen to - especially the radio host / DJ segments which really ruined the flow again and again.
That one shit radio station in every GTA you scroll past every time.
The first song I was just waiting for something to happen. It never did, not for the whole album. The second seemed like it had promise, but it all promises of something exciting for the whole song without ever actually getting to the excitement. I knew what I was in for by the third. Boring, nothing new. I was also getting annoyed by how he kept calling women females. Not a phan. Great production, though. 2/5
Some really enjoyable parts of this album. Knew the music by Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens right away. Bummer they weren’t properly credited. 3.5/5 Probably will listen again
Full of fun, varied tracks with a consistent theme of “radio show” throughout that helps you get accustomed to the variations on display.
Like scanning the radio in a new town, you stumble through a restless collage of rhythms—fascinating in passing, forgotten on the next frequency.
Never heard of this but I'm all about finding weird random crazy shit like this! The instrumentals and various interludes were cool and it's ahead of its time being from the early 80s. The "World Music " vibes pretty good too.
So strange and such a pleasure to listen to. This album is why I like this project so much. Would never know this album if not for this list.
Somewhat uninpressed by this. I expected more from an album that helped spread hiphop to Britain.
Oh wow... what a ride, what just happened here? Starting off with 'Buffalo Girls', I thought we were off in some kind of early-hip-hop direction. But then we took a left turn onto "latin up-tempo music", which seems to make up the majority of this record. But before arriving in "weird american rodeo town" represented by 'Duck For The Oyster', we had to take a quick detour into an 80s synthpop-ville, with 'World's Famous' (which might have been my favourite song of this record). This album was really all over the place, and I mean that mostly in a good way. It is always fun to hear something that you don't expect! If he could have just managed to tone down the craziness a bit and keep it a bit more cohesive I think it could've gotten a higher rating easily! As it stands, the best songs were the ones that were not really representative of the album; 'World's Famous' and 'Buffalo Gals'. I enjoyed the mid-section to some degree, but that wasn't the best. Not everything is great on this record, but for once I actually think this might be an example of when it actually paid off to to just break all boundaries and go crazy. Interesting album that takes you on a weird journey, and rewards you with some cool songs and an overall nice feeling!
Really hard to define this one. Latin beats, African beats, 80s hip hop and some scratching. The album was really all over the place but at least it was a fun listen. It reminded me quite a bit of the soundtrack to the game "Jet Set Radio". The album didn't really leave me with any lasting impression though. 3 star.
What a strange album. I kinda liked it, all told!
Thoughts before listening: Is this the Sex Pistols manager guy? I guess he put out hir own music in the 80s? Anyway I've never heard of this, but I'm going to guess its some sort of over the top new wave. Review: So I guess this is like a hip hop/world music hybrid. I recognize "Buffalo Girls" which I am adding to my playlist. This album is all over the place and I'm not really sure if Malcolm McLaren is actually involved in the music here...maybe he is essentially a curator? There are some good tracks, but overall this is pretty uneven. 2-stars
This album is crazy. How have I never heard of this guy before?
Cultural Appropriation The Album! That is all this is. Malcolm McLaren steals a bunch of music from various cultures, sings poorly, and yes, even raps poorly. But he used artists from those cultures to help make this album you say??? I did a bit of research on this album to learn that even though he brought in artists from those cultures, he left out many of the black and brown musicians from the credits. He also didn't even understand how some of the genres work, including what a "bar" is in rapping. As someone who actually listens to a lot of the various music styles and genres he tries to reproduce here, I’ve heard much better from actual genuine artists. Fuck this dude and this album.
I’ve had a distaste for McLaren for so long I forgot why. Seems like maybe he’s surrounded by controversy, like stealing the limelight by being around much more talented people than himself? This album doesn’t convince me otherwise.
Duck Rock is like an odd mix tape - or a soundtrack - as an eclectic collection of songs of a range of styles. This was the debut album for Malcom McLaren, who achieved fame as the producer and manager for the New York Dolls, the Sex Pistols, Adam and the Ants, and Bow Wow Wow. McLaren's history as an impresario may have undermined the reception of his albums; his "adoption" of a number of styles, with a few legal battles over copyrighted material, has led to an impression that at least some of this material was appropriated. The songs are a combination of South African elements, hip hop rhythms, early scratching, and folk music from a range of traditions. The result is an interesting mix, but hard to discuss as the work of one band... and comes across as rather scattered.
How much of this album was actually by Malcolm McLaren and how much was just plagiarised or others' work that McLaren claimed is debateable. He always was a slimy shit of a man. That said, the actual music was enjoyable. A four star album by a one star human being.
not my thing
to anyone who’s reading the reviews and hasn’t listened to this album yet, this dude is a culture vulture who stole from black artists and exploited drug addicts. beyond that, the album is okay at best and maybe out of every album ive heard so far on here the least necessary to be put on this list. whoever made this list grew up in the UK during the 80s and 90s cause there’s a lot of absolute bullshit on here that no one else would tell you you need to hear before you die. “oh yeah you really need to check out this brit pop band the cheeky chimneys” no the fuck you don't. these artists were important to no one with proper dental care. get different people making this list. please.
You old faker Malcom. Again, plastic pop has been good pop ever since, well at least The Archies. Here the rascal rips off whole genres of black music from hip-hop to S Africa and sells it right back to us.
A pretty gross album that just samples a load of South African and Caribbean musicians without credit (and inexplicably combines them with playground chants). And not samples in a real hip-hop producer kind of way, where they’re flipped and combined and used to create the backbone of a different piece of music - they’re regularly just played in full while a load of random sound effects shoot off in the background. Some of the rhythms work together really well and the chaotic nature of it was quite fun - it’s l almost like channel-hopping through different stations on three different radios at once - but the fact that the most interesting musical ideas are stolen really takes the fun out of it. Also the album cover sucks
I am not a fan but it was certainly something different.
Don't understand all the hate for this album on here. What a great exploration of different genres from the Americas. And I mean, for all the hate over the appropriation of hip-hop by a British white dude, Eminem went and created one of his catchiest songs from one of said gringe hip-hop songs. Solid 3* from me, interesting listen.
This felt kinda like a fever dream. Like someone was stuck in a radio room in a time machine
So McLaren stole pre-existing music from black artists, claimed it as his own, then spoiled it with his annoying bleating and making it sound like parody. I'm sorry that this is how Brits were introduced to 'hip hop' - but that doesn't make this a must listen for anyone.
OK.
7.5/10
Fav: Obatala Least Fav: El San Juanera
2-3
A bit quirky, but it was fun. I really liked Buffalo Gals.
I can get down with this
Wow, what an album! Of course I'd heard of Malcolm McLaren before (who hasn't), but I didn't think I'd heard any of this. As it turned out, so much was recognisable. How much of this is due to McLaren's ripping off of other artists I couldn't say, but to rate this album poorly based on McLaren as an individual (as so many other reviewers have done) does a grave disservice to the musicians that created and performed this wonderful music. I will be separating the art from the (alleged?) artist and voting 5 stars and then will be looking into more music of this style, in particular the uncredited artists listed in this section of McLaren's Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_McLaren#Royalty_payment_controversies
McLaren is such a weird person in terms of pop culture. I guess the closest modern comparison is Simon Cowell. He's a great bellwether, though. You know a scene is just about to get lame once he shows up. And this album is... yeah, pretty lame. I'll give it credit for playing with multiple different genres and sounds, but it's incredibly cynical about it. It just takes the broad sounds of a few genres and mashes them together. It's a giant pool that's an inch deep. I'm finding it hard to give it a number, because I tend to save 1's for music that I just find deeply unpleasant. This isn't that, it's too tame to really sink its teeth into the suck like some McLaren proxies can. Still, I don't want to give it even that much credit. At least it gave us one of the weirder Shady samples, which, by the way, is also a pretty lame song, but Eminem is great at being simultaneously lame and cool.
Why does this album have radio announcer excerpts throughout. Fuck I hate skits. All it does is detract from the flow of the rest of the album. Favourite songs: Double Dutch, Buffalo Gals, Merengue, World Famous Least favourite songs: El San Juanera (fuck skits), Obatala 2/5
Three years before Graceland, Malcolm McLaren would take credit for the work of South African musicians for his benefit. Buffalo Gals is a jam though.
If I were an old school DJ i'd definitely used this record. Too scattered to be a really good listening experience, but some of these guitar licks would still sound good on a Vampire Weekend record in 2024.
Very original, opened my eyes to how he exploited other musicians without giving them credits. The 4 stars are for those who actually wrote the music.
Now that's what I was talking about when I said something about stealing from artists who are actually good
weird I must've zoned out because of the nice first song because the first sentence I actually heard was about high school girls
This is by Malcolm McLaren? I guess I expected a punk album, but I actually enjoyed the world music beats quite a lot. The last track is rubbish, though.
Local man gets keyboard. No one stopped him, why?
Yes
what is this
ew. this guy really just plagiarized a bunch of south African music. bro you could've just sampled it wtf. no royalties or credit given to the original musicians too. knowing the context behind this album is making it hard for me to enjoy. Ignoring it the music is alright i guess. (source: https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/lifestyle/2021-03-28-criminal-record-how-malcolm-mcclaren-ripped-off-sa-musicians/ )
I haven't really listened to anything like this album before but that doesn't make it worth listening to. Anything interesting the album presents is overshadowed by its unevenness and inability to not be all over the damn place.
3.75
Loved the conceit of the latenight radio show, fits the absolute incredibe variety of the album well. Truly marvelous sound.
Pretty sauceless.
This was quite an interesting listen. Blends of rock, jazz, world music, hip-hop, punk… it’s quite the melting pot of influences, and created by the manager of the Sex Pistols. To be honest, I like it more than anything by the Sex Pistols. I debated between 3 and 4 stars, but it has enough interesting moments to justify 4. It was also interesting to hear the genesis of Eminem’s “trailer park girls” verse from Without Me in McLaren’s song Buffalo Girls. I didn’t know who McLaren was as I was listening to it, and thought for sure he was an obscure New York City artist. I was shocked when I read he was British and managed the Sex Pistols before his solo career. Interesting!
Better than I expected!!
Didn’t really listen to it properly but was just a bit odd for me.
Super different from anything I've heard before, I can see how this precedes hip hop in some markets. I didn't love every track, but a lot I really enjoyed, good discovery. Maybe it's white people appropriating black music again (what isn't in the 20th century), but it is catchy. 4*
Weird but catchy
forgettable
Malcolm might be the lamest person of all time and l will never understand why people don't hate on the sex pistols for that very reason.
Scratch Nummer zu Begin der 80er. Das Album hat keine Seele und keine musikalisch anschaulichen Element. Während die ersten Song als Laune der Popgeschichte zu verzeichnen waren, wird es am Ende fast schmerzhaft. Der “Song for Congo” war nach fast 300 gehörten Album - mit einer der schlechtesten Sound überhaupt.
Horrid Henry wouldn’t make people listen to this
You can tell the bits they stole because they are the good bits and not Horn and Dudley doodling in the studio. I've never liked Malcolm McLaren but I never had much of an opinion on Trevor Horn until this month when I have learned he was party to this act of larceny and just how badly he ripped off Frankie Goes to Hollywood on their deal with ZTT. The idea that this introduced the UK to hiphop sounds like McLarenesque self aggrandising bullshit. The Message was a hit the year before and White Lines the same year. Even Blondie's Rapture was a big hit in 1980. But no it was the intrepid English white explorer charting the dangerous realms of New York city. Your arse!
McLaren managed to create something worse than the sex pistols
Exotic, fun.
2.5/5. Not bad, but I don't see the significance of this. Some of the songs are weird - is that the point of this?
Still no Bob seger
Well, whatever I was expecting when Malcolm McLaren popped up on my album list today, it wasn't this. Nevermind, this is exactly what I was expecting. It's a deeply cynical series of half-baked musical ideas that only manage to sound okay because Malcolm surrounded himself with talented artists. I guess I just thought it would be more of a punk album. The hip-hop DJ interstitials are a huge waste of time. 3/5 There were certainly parts of this album that I enjoyed, but this album is also really incoherent and feels like Malcolm got a bunch of artists to do his homework for him
There’s a lot of good stuff here. McClaren has an ear for talent and he’s very good at promoting different ideas. I think the issue is with McClaren himself, whose vocals feel more like PT Barnum hosting a circus. When it’s just music, it’s actually very good. He’s just a super weird man. 4/5
Nope Started off fine with 1st song... than crashed.
This album is surprisingly musical for a hip-hop album. Many of the songs don't include lyrics and are purely instrumental. It's a nice mix actually, and this is from someone who doesn't normally listen to hip-hop. I really appreciate the African and Latin influences with the drums and melodies. They give it a very unique kind of sound, especially for the time. Sometimes it sounds like it's from the 90's instead of the early 80's. Favorite song: "Legba" Best representation of the album: "Buffalo Gals"
Não entendi o que estava tocando, pareceu-me apenas um programa de rádio mal feito.
There's nothing here for me and based on the total listens on streaming, I can't imagine why this record is on this list.
This felt like a barely-connected string of hip hop ramblings, world music, and a radio show? Not even sure I'd call it eclectic, just confusing and honestly pretty bad.
Due to how absolutely wild this album is, I’m giving it the crown. It Is just SO interesting, so fun, an absolute joy.