Music hitting your heart 'cause I know you got soul

Continuing my trip up Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time...

#176 : Fear Of A Black Planet - Public Enemy (1990)

Public Enemy derived the title of their pyrophoric third album from the writing of Dr. Frances Cress Welsing, a professor who theorized that the purpose of racism was to assure “white genetic survival.” (That’s her speaking in the first few bars of “Meet the G That Killed Me.”) The lyrical flap surrounding “Welcome to the Terrordome” couldn’t overwhelm Public Enemy’s widescreen vision of hip-hop, which included the righteous noise of “Fight the Power,” the uplifting sentiment of “Brothers Gonna Work It Out,” and the agit-funk of “911 Is a Joke."

I'm aware of Public Enemy as a group as opposed to being aware of their music - I was pretty much expecting some generic shouty angriness.  And yes, it is shouty and angry, but not as shouty as I feared and it's obvious they've have a lot to be angry about - and they get their points across with more intelligence and thought involved than I was expecting.   

It feels very old school with lots of samples, scratching and the like - but it is 31 years old now, so I guess we can forgive them.  However, as the protests last years showed, it's unfortunately still as relevant as ever - as I've said plenty of times, this isn't my area of expertise but I can quite believe this was a very influential and much loved album.  It's a bit long (63 minutes) but nothing like some of the abominations I've had to suffer and the better tracks (in my opinion) are scattered throughout the album - you have to wait until the last track in order to "Fight The Power", which is arguably one of the strongest tracks on the album.

The Wikipedia entry for the album is very lengthy, but a worthwhile read - it certainly doesn't underplay the social and political impact of the album.  It makes the point that it gave hip-hop a credibility which it had lacked up until that point, which again I can't state an expert opinion on but I can quite believe.  It also makes the point that such excessive use of samples feels old school because this album was so successful that the copyright lawyers got involved and such things weren't really possible again - sometimes, success isn't always a great thing, kids.  The group's Wikipedia entry is surprisingly short and, in my opinion, overly focusses on the various controversies around the group - the album's entry is a much more worthwhile read.

"Customers also listened to" a load of other rappy types that I'm unable to offer any opinions on.  Given my upbringing, I don't feel I can claim to overly relate to this album - but I enjoyed it a lot more than I was expecting to and am somewhat depressed it's still so relevant to a lot of people.

#175 : DAMN. - Kendrick Lamar (2017)

After the sprawl of To Pimp a Butterfly, Lamar tightened up, going for the jugular in the most aggressive, banger-based album of his career. He dissects his own “DNA,” as well as America’s, raving about “the feelin’ of an apocalypse happenin’.” He delves into his family history in “Duckworth” and scored his first Number One hit with “Humble.” It’s an album where both Bono and Rihanna sound right at home — but it all sounds like Lamar. “It came out exactly how I heard it in my head,” he explained at the time. “It’s all pieces of me.” Grammy-haters were vindicated when DAMN. lost out to Bruno Mars for Album of the Year, but DAMN. did end up pulling a Pulitzer Prize for Music, a first for a rap album.

I've dipped my toe into a couple of Kendrick albums (but not this one) and found them to be things to be admired rather than enjoyed, at first listen at least - and there's been nothing that's drawn me back to them.  I am well aware that many view such an opinion as heresy and I do apologise for it, but it's just been how it is - so let's see if this album can do more to draw me in. 

Not really unfortunately - I didn't hate it and obviously a lot of work has gone into it, but I just don't seem to get it. I can quite believe you could dive deeper and deeper into it and find new things every time you do but it just doesn't feel accessible enough to my uncultured ear - I'm entirely happy to accept this is my fault and I apologise for my shortcomings.  Either that, or maybe it actually is just average?!?  I'm sure Wikipedia will tell me it's a masterpiece though...

...oh, yes.  And then some.  It also contains this interesting nugget - "Lamar has said in interviews that the ability to play the album in reverse tracklist order was premeditated".  Further Googling suggests this was a fan theory soon after release which he later confirmed, resulting in much internet based joy.  Part of me is like "props to the lad if he did put thought into it", whereas part of me is more "hmmm" - personally, I struggled to identify a conceptual flow for the tracks, so I suspect I'd get just as much out of it played on random.  But I think we've already proven that I "just don't get it".  His Wikipedia entry is massive, but for some unclear reason over half of it is the 291 very detailed references - which feels like someone has gone out of their way to ensure that the article is accurate.  There's actually surprisingly little of interest in there - yes, he's successful, yes, he likes a feud or two, but I'm afraid that's nothing I didn't already know.

"Customers also listened to" again, a load of other rappy types that I'm unable to offer any opinions on.  And, as with other Kendrick albums (which I suspect I'm going to get a chance to revisit) I don't hate this, but just feel I don't get it.  And weirdly, that full stop is still annoying me - I really need to get over these things.

#174 : The Harder They Come : Original Soundtrack - Jimmy Cliff And Various Artists (1972)

This was the album that took reggae worldwide. The movie was a Jamaican stew of Robin Hood, High Sierra, and Easy Rider — reggae singer turns outlaw hero, goes on the run with guns blazing — with patois dialogue so thick that U.S. audiences needed subtitles. But the soundtrack needed no translation, introducing Babylon to the new beat. The film’s star, Jimmy Cliff, sings six songs, including the hymn “Many Rivers to Cross.” There are glorious one-shots (especially Scotty’s demented “Draw Your Brakes”), as well as artists such as Desmond Dekker (“Shanty Town”), the Melodians (“Rivers of Babylon), and Toots and the Maytals (“Pressure Drop”).

I was aware of the well known tracks but had never heard the full album (or was aware it was a film soundtrack).  I would have been amazed if the other tracks had sounded massively different though - and it's safe to say my amazement levels were not troubled.  It's an infectiously happy album with "You Can Get It If You Really Want", "The Harder They Come" and "Pressure Drop" being the highlights for me, but the quality levels never really drop.  It does feel like it would be better suited to a summer bbq than a cold day in March, but you can only work with the weather you're given.

The Wikipedia entry for the album is criminally short, despite including the statement "The soundtrack album played a major part in popularizing reggae in the United States and the world beyond" - it does feel like someone could have put a bit more effort in.  Jimmy Cliff's entry is also not the longest ever, but does tell me that "He is the only living musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievements in the arts and sciences" - I'd have to say that whenever I've seen him (mostly on Jools) I've always been uplifted by his bouncy personality, so I'd give him an award for that!

"Customers also listened to" a load of other reggae types that I'm unable to offer any opinion on.  But, whilst it's not an area I know a lot about (or often particularly enjoy) I liked this album and it definitely has some classic tracks on it.

A tricky one - I feel that all these albums fit the brief of "great" so much more than many others I have experienced/endured so far.  I can't give it to Kendrick based upon my current blindspot regarding his talents and whilst I think I probably preferred the tracks by Jimmy and his mates, it feels like a film soundtrack strays perilously close to "greatest hits" territory, so I'm giving it to Public Enemy for what really seems to be a "great" album.

#179-177 - An "OK, I guess" selection
#173-171 - A rose between two thorns