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Album Review
by Stan Rappaton
14-1-2003
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| Public Enemy: 'Revolverlution' for sure |
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Public Enemy: 'Revolverlution'
((Edel))
Rewind #8: Public Enemy – remain top-loaders
The pioneering rap-meister crew Public Enemy continue to do it their own, specific way. The first, and honestly the only, Hip-Hopers to truly embrace Internet as a weapon in fighting the corporasation of music and mind, regularly serve goodies for mental surfing. The downloadable music finds its way onto a disc eventually and all the fans buy it because it is not only a product but also a timepost in life’s soundtrack.
‘Revolverlution’ is a collection of old, new and in-between material. It is a part of “A trilogy within a trilogy within a trilogy’, it states on the cover: “The three albums will have a combination of live songs, remix songs and new songs. I don’t plan to record any more than eight songs at a time. I’d rather make eight songs for an album and just release all the excess as MP3 singles. MP3 is the new 45 – back to the single,” Chuck D explained recently.
And, it works brilliantly because it allows one to glimpse into different periods without actually having to invest much into searching/loading/keying... It validates again the band’s consistency, its ideology, rather than recycled sounds. PE have never stagnated but always been very active, conscious and relevant. Many of their contemporaries have become victims of the loss of mass interest in gangsta-rap, others have drifted more toward R&B mainstreamism, but PE remain on track. Respected more than successful but a place in the Hall Of Rap Fame is guaranteed.
‘Gotta Give The Peeps What They Want’, kicks off the rap-dropping, with the title track following it with a blow for a parade of live material from over a decade ago (Switzerland, 1992) as well as some oddities, such as ‘Post Concert Arizona interview’, when PE were protesting at the U2 Zoo tour against Arizona States refusal to introduce Martin Luther King’s Holiday; or ‘Public Enemy Service Announcement #2’ from the early 1990s.
Chuck and PE are outspoken dissers of ‘G-Dub’ (President Bush) and here is a track, ‘Son Of A Bush’, as well as ‘What Good Is The Bomb’, to clarify their standpoint. And so on, 21 precious items to add to the rich aural legacy. PE are deadlier than many other male of the species and the much lauded ‘Brit-Em’, The Streets, is not even worth cleaning D’s footie-booties after a park game.
PE might not scale mountains anymore but they keep it high up to the summit.
8.9/10
Stan Rappaton
14-1-2003
Public Enemy’s ‘Revolverlution’ is available now on Edel
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