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Yo! Bum Rush the Show

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Yo! Bum Rush the Show is the debut album of American hip hop group Public Enemy, released January 26, 1987 on Def Jam Recordings in the United States. The group's logo, a silhouette of a black man in a rifle's crosshairs, is debuted on the album's cover.[1] Yo! Bum Rush the Show features a sample-heavy sound by production team The Bomb Squad.

The album peaked at number 125 on the U.S. Billboard Top LPs chart and at number 28 on the Top Black Albums chart.[2] NME magazine named it the best album of the year in its 1987 critics poll.[3] Along with the Beastie Boys Licensed to Ill (1986) and LL Cool J's Radio (1985), music writer Cheo H. Coker has cited Yo! Bum Rush the Show as one of three of the most influential albums in hip hop history.[4] In 1998, it was selected as one of The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums. In 2003, the album was ranked number 497 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[5]

Music

According to Jon Pareles of The New York Times, "From its first album, Yo! Bum Rush the Show in 1987, the group marketed itself as a distillation of black anger and resistance. It set out to be the voice of a community, not just one more posse of boasters".[1] Yo! Bum Rush the Show debuts The Bomb Squad's sample-heavy production style, which is prominent on the group's following work.[6] Joe Brown of The Washington Post described the album's music as "a more serious brand of inner-city aggression", in comparison to Licensed to Ill (1986) by Def Jam label-mates the Beastie Boys.[7] On its musical style, Brown wrote "Public Enemy's mean and minimalist rap is marked by an absolute absence of melody - the scary sound is just a throbbing pulse, hard drums and a designed-to-irritate electronic whine, like a dentist's drill or a persistent mosquito".[7] The album's sound is accented by the scratching of DJ Terminator X.[8] Chicago Tribune writer Daniel Brogan described Public Enemy's style on the album as "raw and confrontational", writing that the group "doesn't aim to -- or have a chance at -- crossing over".[9]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[10]
Robert Christgau(B+)[11]
The New York Times(favorable)[12]
NME(9/10)[13]
Q[14]
Rolling Stone[15]
Sputnikmusic[16]
Trouser Press(favorable)[17]
Virgin Encyclopedia[18]
The Washington Post(favorable)[8]
  • Q magazine (9/95, p.132) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...a stunning opening...just the first, in retrospect almost shy, step on a remarkable journey...a hard, droning extension of the basic drum`n'scratch Def Jam template that had served LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys so well."
  • Melody Maker (7/22/95, p.35) - Recommended - "It wasn't just a new sound, a discovery. It was like being struck by a meteor."
  • NME (9/25/93, p.19) - Ranked #49 in NME's list of The 50 Greatest Albums Of The '80s.
  • NME (7/15/95, p.47) - 9 (out of 10) - "Yo! Bum Rush The Show announced a hip-hop group who smouldered beneath dark, sparse beats like no other, introduced us to the coolest vocal double act ever...and featured as striking a statement of intent as you could wish for in `Public Enemy Number 1'....brilliant."

Track listing

  1. "You're Gonna Get Yours" (Chuck D, Hank Shocklee) - 4:04
  2. "Sophisticated Bitch" featuring Vernon Reid of Living Colour (Chuck D, William Drayton, Flavor Flav, Shocklee) - 4:30
  3. "Miuzi Weighs a Ton" (Chuck D, Shocklee) - 5:44
  4. "Timebomb" (Chuck D, Shocklee) - 2:54
  5. "Too Much Posse" (Chuck D, Drayton, Flav, Shocklee) - 2:25
  6. "Rightstarter (Message to a Black Man)" (Chuck D, Shocklee) - 3:48
  7. "Public Enemy No. 1" (Chuck D, Shocklee) - 4:41
  8. "M.P.E." (Chuck D, Drayton, Flav, Shocklee) - 3:44
  9. "Yo! Bum Rush the Show" (Chuck D, Drayton, Shocklee) - 4:25
  10. "Raise the Roof" (Chuck D, Eric Sadler, Shocklee) - 5:18
  11. "Megablast" (Chuck D, Drayton, Flav, Shocklee) 2:51
  12. "Terminator X Speaks With His Hands" (Chuck D, Drayton, Sadler, Shocklee) - 2:13

Personnel

Sample credits

The following lists some of the songs and sounds sampled on Yo! Bum Rush the Show.

Chart history

Chart (1987–1988) Peak
position[2]
U.S. Billboard Top LPs 125
U.S. Billboard Top Black Albums 28

Notes

  1. ^ a b Pareles, Jon. Review: Apocalypse 91... the Enemy Strikes Black. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2009-12-06.
  2. ^ a b Billboard Albums: Revolverlution. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-01-08.
  3. ^ Staff. Albums of the Year Critic Poll. NME. Retrieved on 2009-12-06.
  4. ^ Coker, Cheo H. "What a Rush". Vibe: 86–90. December 1995.
  5. ^ Staff. RS500: 497) Yo! Bum Rush the Show. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2009-12-06.
  6. ^ Columnist. Hip-Hop's Greatest Year: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2009-12-06.
  7. ^ a b Brown, Joe. "A Bestiary of Beastly Boys". The Washington Post: n.15. April 3, 1987.
  8. ^ a b Jenkins, Mark. "Review: Yo! Bum Rush the Show". The Washington Post: d.07. July 1, 1987.
  9. ^ Brogan, Daniel. "Review: Yo! Bum Rush the Show". Chicago Tribune: 48. April 3, 1987.
  10. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Review: Yo! Bum Rush the Show. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2009-12-06.
  11. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide: Yo! Bum Rush the Show". The Village Voice: June 30, 1987. Archived from the original on 2009-12-06.
  12. ^ Pareles, Jon. Review: Yo! Bum Rush the Show. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2009-12-06.
  13. ^ Columnist. "Review: Yo! Bum Rush the Show". NME: 47. July 15, 1995.
  14. ^ Columnist. "Review: Yo! Bum Rush the Show". Q: 132. September 1995.
  15. ^ Hoard, Christian. "Review: Yo! Bum Rush the Show". Rolling Stone: 661–662. November 2, 2004.
  16. ^ Hartwig, Andrew. Review: Yo! Bum Rush the Show. Sputnikmusic. Retrieved on 2009-12-06.
  17. ^ Sheridan, David. Review: Yo! Bum Rush the Show. Trouser Press. Retrieved on 2009-12-06.
  18. ^ Larkin, Colin. "Review: Yo! Bum Rush the Show". Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music: March 1, 2002.

References

  • Nathan Brackett, Christian Hoard (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Completely Revised and Updated 4th Edition. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
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