Track Listing

1. Public Enemy No. 1
2. You're Gonna Get Yours
3. Rebel Without A Pause
4. Prophets Of Rage
5. Bring The Noise
6. Don't Believe The Hype
7. Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos
8. Fight The Power
9. Welcome To The Terrordome
10. 911 Is A Joke
11. Brothers Gonna Work It Out
12. Can't Do Nuttin' For Ya Man
13. Can't Truss It
14. Shut 'Em Down
15. By The Time I Get To Arizona
16. Hazy Shade Of Criminal
17. Give It Up
18. He Got Game

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3464 in Music
• Released on: 2005-08-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Explicit Lyrics, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 78 minutes

From the Label
Public Enemy are seen as one of the most important bands not just in hip-hop, but in music. They revolutionised the hip-hop sound in the late 1980s and brought music back from disposable, image-obsessed pop with a musical force designed to return meaning and politics to popular culture. With a tracklisting approved by Chuck D, this is the first album to collect together their fiercest lyrics, their huge "Bomb Squad" sounds, and their most powerful beats.

CD Description
'Power To The People And The Beats' is the sound of protestset to the hip-hop beats of Chuck D's Public Enemy. Always outspoken yet never short of tunes to back it up, Public Enemy changed the face of hip-hop, influencing artists such as NWA and Eminem in the process. Includes the hit singles 'Fight The Power' and 'He Got Game'.

Customer Reviews

Fighin' The Power
Public Enemy were the most revolutionary hip hop band ever. They were also the most rock'n'roll one.

The lyrics are astounding - intelligent, confrontational, impassioned, telling it like it is. There's rarely been such a coherent and heartfelt railing against the way things are, against poverty, against racism, against injustice. In Chuck D, Public Enemy had a writer of outstanding moral and intellectual quality.

But the music is also ground breaking, crammed with unexpected timbres, textures, samples and both melodic and lyrical catch phrases These were welded together by the aggressive production techniques of The Bomb Squad - the more you listen, the more you discover. And this all serves to complement the message, delivered in the unique rich rap of Chuck D and his foil, Flavor Flav with his poppier nagging hooks. Together these elements made a sound that would inspire a generation, and continues to inspire today, showing that 'black music' could move a white rock audience and that art can indeed influence the real world. The sleeve notes by Harry Allen talk of how many people's lives were changed forever by this band, both in terms of how they see the world and what they do in it.

And then there's the musical influence. Without Public Enemy, where would Eminem, 2Pac, Busta Rhymes, 50 Cent, Puff Daddy, The Chemical Brothers or indeed Manic Street Prachers be?

But despite their influence over the past decade, the tracks on this album still sound unlike anything else around. I defy you to listen to 'Rebel Without A Pause', 'Don't Believe The Hype', 'Fight The Power', or 'Shut It Down' without being overawed by its power, engaged by its beat and enraged by the injustice it talks of.

This is a great tribute to a truly great band. Buy it now, £8.99 for 18 statute toppling tracks! An even better tribute would be, of course, to continue to fight the power yourself and so help end the corruption and injustices Chuck D and the boys railed and rapped against with unique intelligence, eloquence and power.

Rosey, www.repeatfanzine.co.uk

Still fighting the power. We need them more than ever
If you don't own any Public Enemy albums then shame on you. ...Putting my petty predilections aside if you don't own any Public Enemy albums and you want a good representation of what they were about then this is an excellent place to start. I always say this when reviewing compilations but it's true so I'll say it again. You can argue about the track selection till the Police respond to a burglary call. It's all purely subjective of course. For instance why no "Shut Em Down" or "Night of the Living Bassheads"? , buts that just my opinion so overall I'd say a pretty good job has been done of selecting a salient representation of their body of work. That said I'd prefer a more ambitious project stretching to a double album so to be sure it captures all the highlights from their incredible body of work though there are 18 tracks here so at this price it does serve as good value.
Chuck D is blessed with a voice that booms like a thunderclap using a loudhailer. Never bettered as a rapper, he exerts an authority and simmering anger with an edge of righteous zeal and magnetism that places him on a very high pedestal with other great front men. (Plant, Lydon, Strummer, Mercury, Eitzel Coughlan spring to the front of my mind)Except of course he wasn't the only front man in Public Enemy as Flavour Flav , despite his rather more frivolous persona proves he can live with the mighty Chuck D on tracks like the brilliant "911 Is A Joke". On their first four albums they harnessed their fury at social and political injustice to such an extent they were far more powerful than many a punk or speed metal band. Plus they had an articulacy that demanded attention. Occasionally their affiliation to the Nation of Islam would lead to some less than perspicacious outbursts but when you're driven by the kind of fury that drove this band on then it's understandable.
The music incorporates, and I use that word advisably as they never rely on someone else's music to dominate a song, samples to brilliant effect. Horns swirls like stainless steel dragon flies, colossal beats pound like truncheons in The Land of the Giants. Shrapnel like shards of white hot guitars scythe around break beats that detonate like explosions in a quarry. More than many more acclaimed bands Public Enemy knew how to use the sonic potential of music to make their point. Which of course when talking about oppression, social injustice and racism was invariably a point worth making. These things haven't gone away. This is a timely release as maybe we need bands like Public Enemy now more than ever.

Base in your face!
An excellent compilation of PE's greatest tracks from each legendary album. The CD sleeve is a real collector's item; classic pictures and artwork of Chuck, Flav and co. with excellent contributions and commentary from Harry Allen (Hip Hop activist and media assassin) and MCA from the Beastie Boys.