Revolverlution [Explicit Lyrics]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
If rap music is still CNN for African Americans, then Chuck D is still the lead anchor. While most rabid rap fans abandoned PE's revolution in the mid-1990s--once the group stopped utilizing the noisy, Bomb Squad-style of production--hip-hop is now in a clear state of emergency. The return of Chuck D is warranted. On this 15th-anniversary CD, he wastes no time launching into anti-jiggy tirades on "Put It Up," where he skewers today's emcees: "Tycoons, damn I'm tired of these coons / Rappin' in circles, words can either help you or hurt you." In fact, some of the new material on the album is as thought-provoking as any of PE's older material. "Son of a Bush," produced by Professor Griff, dissects two generations of flawed Bush presidencies. However, the willingness to take creative risks can also have its downside. Contest-winning fans got to remix four Public Enemy hits, including "Shut 'Em Down" (Austria's DJ Functionist) and "Public Enemy No. 1" (Jeronimo Punx). While the interactive nature of the project is admirable, DJ Functionist is no Pete Rock and Jeronimo Punx's postmodern twist on "Public Enemy No. 1" only makes you crave to hear the original version again. In the end, the live cuts (such as "Welcome to the Terrordome") and the so-so remixes bog down what would have otherwise been a tighter project. The often eloquent Revolverlution is no It Takes a Nation of Millions, but then again, what is? --Dalton Higgins

Revolverlution,Public Enemy,Koch Records,East Coast Rap,Golden Age,Hardcore Rap,Hip-Hop,Political Rap,Pop,Rap,Rap & Hip-Hop

Revolverlution [Explicit Lyrics]

Tracks:

Give The Peeps What They Need
Revolverlution
Uzi
Put It Up
Can A Woman Make A Man Lose His Mind
Pesa #1
Fight The Power - Live
Arizona - Remix
Concert Interview
Son Of A Bush
Get Your Shit Together
Welcome To The Terrordome
B Side Wins Again - Remix
54321 Boom
Pesa #2
Shut Em Down
Now A Daze
Public Enemy #1
The Making Of Burn Hollywood Burn
Give The Peeps What They Need - Clean

Amazon.com

If rap music is still CNN for African Americans, then Chuck D is still the lead anchor. While most rabid rap fans abandoned PE's revolution in the mid-1990s--once the group stopped utilizing the noisy, Bomb Squad-style of production--hip-hop is now in a clear state of emergency. The return of Chuck D is warranted. On this 15th-anniversary CD, he wastes no time launching into anti-jiggy tirades on "Put It Up," where he skewers today's emcees: "Tycoons, damn I'm tired of these coons / Rappin' in circles, words can either help you or hurt you." In fact, some of the new material on the album is as thought-provoking as any of PE's older material. "Son of a Bush," produced by Professor Griff, dissects two generations of flawed Bush presidencies. However, the willingness to take creative risks can also have its downside. Contest-winning fans got to remix four Public Enemy hits, including "Shut 'Em Down" (Austria's DJ Functionist) and "Public Enemy No. 1" (Jeronimo Punx). While the interactive nature of the project is admirable, DJ Functionist is no Pete Rock and Jeronimo Punx's postmodern twist on "Public Enemy No. 1" only makes you crave to hear the original version again. In the end, the live cuts (such as "Welcome to the Terrordome") and the so-so remixes bog down what would have otherwise been a tighter project. The often eloquent Revolverlution is no It Takes a Nation of Millions, but then again, what is? --Dalton Higgins

Customer Reviews:

54321 BOOM!!!! And then the rest sux!.......2007-03-31

Ok, at long last Public Enemy has finally let me down by allowing a bunch of sub-par average, non-innovative, non-avent guard, DJ's mix there stuff up. Even DJ Spookie's mix was not that grand. Everything sounds like beats that I discovered in the early 90's.

On the other hand, this album is only a couple bucks used, so I would HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY suggest buying it if only for 54321 BOOM which is perhaps one of the best PE tracks ever to come out! Not only are the beats right on, but the lyrics are some of the hardest I've heard yet!

And for the note, my review has nothing to do with me not being flexable to change of sound. Infact I LOVE the new PE (Whirl Odor) even though it has club friendly sounds, mainly for the fact that they are not your mere average club beats (they are very multi-layered) and of course the lyrics once again only get harder and harder and harder, and more direct and to the point as we aproach the last times of this world(lyness).

Five stars for the new .......2005-05-17

First of all, I love Public Enemy; everything about them, from their old-school "throw your hands up in the air" verse styles to their often "so silly it's cool" verbalisms involving Flava Flav. I like how they consistently prove (and "Revolverlution" is no exception) that hip-hop is no top-40 radio gimmick -- that it can and indeed should have a message about the Black community that doesn't involve "pimpin" and driving fancy cars or selling drugs and pseudo (we hear that "pseudo" prefix a lot!) gangsterisms.

This album proves that P.E. still are relevant even though many of the trends in rap (and rap should have never become a suburban trend to begin with) have left them behind in favor of all that G-unit/cash money crud we hear on the radio now.

Honestly, I never believed that any of the members Public Enemy were especially talented lyricists, where you'll hear a verse and think "oh, dayummm..." but their lyrics are always meaningful and insightful and they make the listener think, as opposed to, say, the lyrics of Nelly where you just interpret them and think "boy, this guy is pretty dumb."

If this album were just a five song EP or a relatively short LP weighing in at 7-9 tracks or so, it would join the admittedly small pantheon of other relevant rap albums to come out within the last decade (the decade of frivolous "bling"), but it is needlessly weighed down by inferior remixes of older songs that are better presented elsewhere. I am reminded of that Oingo Boingo "greatest hits" album (Oingo Boingo are that new-wave pop act who wrote "Dead Man's Party") where instead of including all the studio versions of their hits, they decided to re-record everything and the whole album was just crummy. P.E. shouldn't have included "Fight the Power" (live) among others in this album because it just doesn't sound as good as the album version that came out several years earlier. I woould buy a live P.E. album but when I get the studio albums I'd prefer all-new material. It's their choice what to include in their albums, of course, but it just didn't go over well with me.

I say, get this album for "Son of a Bush," which, although it has some things I disagree with a little bit, it's still tremendously entertaining. Plus, the way Flava Flav says "he's the son of'a baaaad man!" over and over again is as cool as it is ironically adorable.

Four and a half: a couple of bricks shy of a load.......2003-03-06

If you're going on original material, this is five stars without a question, a no-doubter that PE is in still in full effect. Obviously true from the opening track, "Give the Peeps What They Need," with Chuck's no-nonsense statement on the place we're in right now. The rest of the new stuff is equally good, from the timely "Son of a Bush" to the powerful "Now a Daze," and "Pesa #1" to the "ghetto metal" of "What Good Is a Bomb."

Drawbacks? Flavor Flav could have a stronger presence on the album, but that's a minor quibble. The bigger one is the heavy presence of remixes and live performances. We want all the new PE material we can get! Come on, Chuck. One original from you is worth three remixes. Besides, the live "Fight the Power" and "By the Time I Get to Arizona" are not upgrades over what we already have on CD. And do we need the four-way babble of "Burn Hollywood Burn"? Nope. I'll just go to "Fear of a Black Planet."

Still, this is far better than most stuff out there, and anything from PE is worth listening to. A good addition to the PE list.

Solid Album.......2003-02-08

I like this album. Its got a nice mix of old and new material. Along with some live material. Great to see PE still at it in this ever changing rap game.

PE 2K2.......2002-11-13

I'll be the first to admit that I really wasn't looking forward to this record at all. Their last few albums were some of the most boring hiphop I had heard in a long, long time and it appears that the glory days of records like "It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back" and "Fear Of A Black Planet" were entirely over. I also wasn't to big on the idea of PE allowing unknown producers to remix some of their classics tracks, but I did think the idea could work.

At first listen I really didn't dig "Revolverlution" as it really didn't seem to have a place within the group's amazing discogrpahy, however upon second listen I began to get it. This isn't supposed to be a continuation of the PE mentality, but rather a rewriting of it for all those who live under the current Bush administration. Harking back to the days of Reagan you could understand where something like "It Takes A Nation Of Million..." would come from, the same with "Fear Of A Black Planet" ...

... In 2002, PE remains as important as they did in 1988.