Product Description

If Public Enemy's two previous albums had ruffled feathers,Fear Of A Black Planet set out its stall to exploit mainstream fears. Again, the title spoke volumes. This time they raged just as hard, but their political consciousness had grown. Professor Griff had been ejected from the band for his anti-Semitic stance, and much of the album's atmosphere is created by the bunker mentality of resultant clashes with the press. The siege mentality only underscores the group's hard-nosed, cut-and-paste sample technique and the eloquence of Chuck D. 'Fight The Power' still bites harder than just aboutany other track in rap's history.

Track Listing

1. Contract On The World Love Jam
2. Brothers Gonna Work It Out
3. 911 Is A Joke
4. Incident At 66.6 FM
5. Welcome To The Terrordome
6. Meet The G That Killed Me
7. Pollywanacraka
8. Anti-Nigger Machine
9. Burn Hollywood Burn - Ice Cube, Public Enemy
10. Power To The People
11. Who Stole The Sole?
12. Fear Of A Black Planet
13. Revolutionary Generation
14. Can't Do Nuttin' For Ya Man
15. Reggie Jax
16. Leave This Off Your Fu*Kin Charts
17. B Side Wins Again
18. War At 33 1/3
19. Final Count Of The Collision Between Us And The Damned
20. Fight The Power

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11044 in Music
• Released on: 1995-07-13
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Running time: 65 minutes

Customer Reviews

RAP'S ANSWER TO LED ZEPPELIN AND QUEEN!
Public Enemy's other Classic album after 1988's It Takes..., an album that transcends it's genre & one of the soundtracks to urban life of the early '90s - Rap fans, Metal fans, all different walks embraced this music, recognising it's aggression & lyrical intensity as a common denominator. A sheer wall of sound, with layers & depths unseen before in the Hip Hop world.
It follows the same blueprint as it's predecessor, but with more of a nod to the 'old' black music; Soul, Blues, Motown in it's rhythms and samples.
It feels like a concept album as the songs & lyrics mesh so well together.
STILL VERY AGGRESSIVE - but not in the oafish style of the 50 Cent's of the world. Lyrics with meaning - before the guns and bling took over.
1990-1992: Metallica, Guns N Roses & Public Enemy ruled, Terminator 2 was THE action movie, and music was exciting again!

This sets the standard in rap music
From the recognisable opening bars of 'Contract On The World Love Jam', it is instantly clear that this album is going to play out like a modern rap classic. The sample-led style of 'Contract...' dominates this entire album to fantastic effect. It is political, pop-culture referencing, middle-America baiting rap genius, fiercely political and always aggressive.

Call to arms 'Brothers gonna work it out' is an instantly rousing and anthemic P.E. classic, leading into '911 Is A Joke', easily another classic.

'Incident At 66.6FM' is yet more sampling of soundbites; a P.E. trademark, as a radio show takes various calls from serious and mock callers regarding P.E. The result is attention-grabbing and amusing.

Chuck D's quickfire rap delivery is never more evident than on 'Welcome To The Terrordome', alongside frequent interjections from resident P.E. 'joker', Flava Flav.

Amidst various other soundbites, highlights include 'Burn Hollywood Burn', which discusses the lack of roles for black actors in Hollywood, and 'Power To The People', a surefire hit on dancefloors, if ever I heard one. 'Fear Of A Black Planet' is also profound and powerful.

The album closes with 'Fight The Power', easily the best song on the album, and probably the Public Enemy piece de resistance. It is a stream of powerful, angry invective. It is also anthemic. 'Fight The Power': simple statement, profound meaning.

Suffice to say, there is little to no mainstream rap which can compare with this. But then, Public Enemy were never mainstream, rather, they were always the most boundary-pushing, intelligent and articulate group in the history of rap music. This is an absolute Grade A classic.

Best rap album of the last twenty years
"Fear Of A Black Planet" is defintely one of Public Enemy's best albums and the best rap album of 1990. Urgent, defiant,and damn funky, PE continued to revel in their ... anti-comformist, proudly political spotlight. The Bomb Squad's beats are some of the best ever assembled. A sax squeal here, a siren there, a thumping keyboard throb here, and a upright bass riff there. It's just genius.
"Brothers Gonna Work It Out" is as heavy and hard hitting as a late '90s punk/techno track but even funkier with Chuck D's VERY urgent, politician-like trademark voice ripping through the track. "911 Is Joke", "Welcome To The Terrordome", "Who Stole The Soul?", "Burn Hollywood Burn", "Anti-Nigger Machine"...I'm telling you this is a classic! It gets no better. The interlude "Incident at 66.6 FM" is genius as a parody of Middle America's fear of Public Enemy over a tight, springy beat. Funnily enough, two years after bore the prophecy of many Public enemy's song with the LA riots of 1992.