Apocalypse 91. . . The Enemy Strikes
Back
I remember waiting for this album at our
university's "Midnight Madness" sales. It went on sale the same
day as Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion. Looking at
the line snaking around the student center, it wasn't immediately
evident who was there for what album. It seemed PE had been
adopted by white kids galore, and in a lot of cases those same
students who were there for GnR were there for the PE album
also. It's ironic then that this is he most political album
these guys had put out; the most whitey hating. So goes music.
For me this album was a bit of a letdown. Gone was the sonic
attack of "Terrordome" and in its place, a bit of a throwback
to Yo! Bumrush the Show and It Takes a Nation of
Millions and its bombast. |
Fear of a Black Planet
What a way to usher in the 90s. These were
the days of anger and genuine concern. Bloods and Crips were
still in the news every day. We were only a couple years from
the height of that violence, the LA Riots, and things seemed
in flux. It's not only because I was myself in flux, graduating
high school and packing for the East Coast and college that
this album managed to capture a lot of the turmoil around me
and the world at large. I believe I almost spit out my drink
the first time I heard "Welcome to the Terrordome." It's just
a swirl of craziness and aggression and to this day makes the
hair on the back of my neck stand up. Even with its blatant
anti-Semitism, I can't fault the thing, as it's just a stream
of consciousness rant against everything. These are people who
have the audacity to sample themselves, for Christ's sake. It's
a bouillabaisse of hate spewed at everyone, even blacks themselves.
Wow. Whereas It Takes a Nation of Millions still looked
inward somewhat--often talking about themselves in context--this
album is outward facing, looking at society at large. "Burn
Hollywood Burn" is an indictment on the film business and its
subjugation of blacks, "911 is a Joke" about the differential
treatment of poor people when it came to public services and
"Fight the Power" just sums up everything this album is about.
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Greatest Misses |
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold
Us Back
One of the best and most important albums
of all time. This thing is just so fierce and relentless in
its assault on the senses that you can't help but sit up and
take notice. Anything that could unite groups of white teens
behind a message of black power and make them memorize entire
songs filled with complicated lyrics filled with attacks on
the white establishment has to be something special. I speak
not only about myself, of course, but friends and foes alike.
Yeah, I was the douchebag white kid with a P.E. t-shirt my freshman
year of college. I used to wear it to my private all-boys high
school my senior year, so what could the harm be in wearing
it to college? Man, that lasted about one week. I realized there
are people that had more than the amazing music in mind when
listening to this stuff. To me, the message was clear (but not
applicable), but it was the sheer power of Chuck D's voice and
Terminator X's driving rhythms and samples that just drew me
in. I can still recite "Don't Believe the Hype" and "Night of
the Living Baseheads" by heart and still love the hell out of
those songs. The first time I heard this it blew my mind. Thinking
of it today in the context of what existed back then I still
can't believe it exists. And, in parting, I will leave you with
the most oft written letter of my college career:
Dear Mr. D -
We're suckers. We want you for our Army--or whatever.
Regards,
The Government |
Muse Sick-n-Our Mess Age |
Revolverlution |
There's a Poison Going On |
Yo! Bum Rush the Show
Amazon
Like the Beastie
Boys' Licensed to Ill, Yo! Bumrush the Show
is a debut that is great in its own right, but doesn't necessarily
represent what the artist is or would eventually become. That
may have to do with Rick Rubin being at the controls, or it
may just have to do with a group trying to find its bearings.
Whatever the case, this is a much more stripped down Public
Enemy, all boom and bass and bragging about how "bad" they are.
The thing is here, that with Chuck D. pushed way up front, the
album has some immediacy and strength that a lot of other rap
albums at the time didn't. After all Chuck is the power behind
the group, his voice the siren call. This is best shown on "Miuzi
Weighs a Ton" and "Timebomb." He's the scary black man who just
needs to mention his uzi and not necessarily brandish it to
scare the crap out of white America. There's an intelligence
(if such a thing can be said) behind the swagger. The production
has a funny echo about it, and I don't recall hearing another
album in my many years of listening that sounded quite like
it. It's as if the group is in a large industrial space or something,
but I'm sure is just a recording trick where there's a lag between
left and right and whatever. Anyway, it sounds pretty awesome. |
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