Public Enemy is the only rap act that I can truly appreciate from a musical perspective. Unlike lesser talented rap acts that just "talk" over some generic drum beat, Chuck D & Co. create more of a "sonic landscape", which does include occasional samples, but mostly mixes funk & other types of music. One thing that stands out is a certain tone that plays through each and every P.E. song -- I've heard that Chuck D did that deliberately, so whenever he heard a rap song bumpin' on someone's car radio, he could tell if it was his or not. :)

"It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back"

1. "Countdown to Armageddon" (1:40)
2. "Bring the Noise" (3:45)
3. "Don't Believe the Hype" (5:19)
4. "Cold Lampin with Flavor" (4:17)
5. "Terminator X to the Edge of Panic" (4:31)
6. "Mind Terrorist" (1:20)
7. "Louder Than a Bomb" (3:38)
8. "Caught, Can We Get a Witness?" (4:53)
9. "Show Em Whatcha Got" (1:56)
10. "She Watch Channel Zero?!" (3:49)
11. "Night of the Living Baseheads" (3:14)
12. "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" (6:23)
13. "Security of the First World"--instrumental (1:20)
14. "Rebel Without a Pause" (5:02)
15. "Prophets of Rage" (3:18)
16. "Party for Your Right to Fight" (3:25)

"BASS!! HOW LOW CAN YOU GO? DEATH ROW, WHAT A BROTHER KNOW? ONCE AGAIN BACK IT'S THE INCREDIBLE THE RHYME ANIMAL--" oh sorry, every time I think of "Bring the Noise" I can't help myself. :) One of the greatest rap songs ever, so cool in fact that it was covered by Anthrax (with Chuck D & Flavor Flav on guest vox) which wound up inspiring countless trashy generic rap-metal bands...but enough of that rant. This is certainly the most "metal" of all P.E. albums, and even features a wicked sample of Slayer's "Angel of Death" in the song "She Watch Channel Zero" (plus a much less inspired sampling of Queen's "Flash" in "Terminator X to the Edge of Panic"...bleh.) Oh, did I ever mention how rare it is to find Public Enemy CDs used? So far, this is the only one I've seen...and while I did find their debut Yo! Bum Rush the Show alongside it, the disc itself was missing. Go figure.

"Fear of a Black Planet" (CDR + bonus tracks)

1. "Contract on the World Jam" (1:49)
2. "Brothers Gonna Work it Out" (5:03)
3. "911 is a Joke" (3:17)
4. "Incident at 66.6 FM" (1:37)
5. "Welcome to the Terrordome" (5:25)
6. "Meet the G That Killed Me" (0:44)
7. "Pollywannacraka" (4:13)
8. "Anti-Nigger Machine" (2:39)
9. "Burn Hollywood Burn" (3:04)
10. "Power to the People" (3:48)
11. "Who Stole the Soul?" (3:52)
12. "Fear of a Black Planet" (3:42)
13. "Revolutionary Generation" (5:43)
14. "Can't Do Nuttin' for Ya Man" (2:46)
15. "Reggie Jax" (1:35)
16. "Leave This Thing Off Your Fu*kin Charts" (2:31)
17. "B Side Wins Again" (3:45)
18. "War at 33 1/3" (2:07)
19. "Final Count of the Collusion Between Us and the Damned"--instrumental (0:48)
20. "Fight the Power" (4:42)
    bonus tracks:
21. "The 13th Message/Livin' in a Zoo" (7:24)
22. "How to Survive in South Central"--Ice Cube (3:41)
23. "Colors"--Ice-T (4:29)

While I certainly wouldn't mind owning a "real" copy of this CD someday, it probably won't happen for a long time, since I've never seen it turn up used, and heck, Chuck D has been very much on the "pro" side of file-sharing and whatnot from the beginning. (Plus, I'd have to find another place to put the three "bonus" tracks, which were also copied from my brother's collection.) In any case...this is THE rap album to own. If for no other reason than the song "Fight the Power", which is not only the most "important" song in the history of gangsta rap, but also in the history of music itself!! The boys in the band also tackle other issues of free-speech and popular entertainment, such as "Burn Hollywood Burn" which totally trashes the movie industry, and "911 is a Joke" which I think speaks for itself. :) (Referring to the emergency phone number and NOT the calendar date, I hope that's clear to everyone!!!!)

"Apocalypse '91...The Enemy Strikes Black" (CDR; "clean" version)

1. "Lost at Birth" (3:49)
2. "Rebirth" (0:59)
3. "Nighttrain" (3:27)
4. "Can't Truss It" (5:21)
5. "I Don't Wanna Be Called Yo Nigga" (4:23)
6. "How to Kill a Radio Consultant" (3:09)
7. "By the Time I Get to Arizona" (4:48)
8. "Move!"--featuring Sister Souljah (4:59)
9. "1 Million Bottlebags" (4:06)
10. "More News at 11" (2:40)
11. "Shut 'Em Down" (5:04)
12. "A Letter to the New York Post" (2:45)
13. "Get the F*** Outta Dodge" (2:37)
14. "Bring the Noise"--with Anthrax (3:47)

As I said on my N.W.A. page, my brother's rap CD were all stolen by his crooked roommate, but this one got skipped over...most likely because it's the "clean" version. (Which isn't THAT big an issue, except for "Get the Fuck Out of Dodge", obviously.) I don't even know why I copied it and I didn't even bother to scan the artwork for it...if I ever get around to fleshing out my Public Enemy collection, I'll probably replace it with a legit version someday. But for now, it's just a space-filler.

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