buffyleigh
3
It Takes a Nation... was a great album and is often praised as their most notable record, but Fear of a Black Planet is very strong too, perhaps even stronger. The political message is really strong, it has a more experimental music background, guitar parts that are great, and it does not suffer from the unnerving gimmicks from It Takes a Nation. This is the golden age of hip hop at its apex.
This is Public Enemy’s third album and it maintains the furious intensity of their previous release. The samples are even more on the nose in this one, and are self referential in places, talking about the furore that surrounded It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Essential listening but you will feel drained by the non stop sonic assault by the end.
I gave "It Takes A Nation..." 4 stars, and this is better across the board, so it's gotta be a 5.