Customer Reviews

Behind the Front

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was first exposed to Black Eyed Peas from their newest effort, 2003's "Elephunk". I dug on it quite a bit, enough to explore their earlier records. "Behind the Front," to my surprise, is much better than I expected. "Elephunk" pales in comparison to their debut in many ways. The beats are solid, funky and fresh, topped with well-timed samples. The biggest difference is in the lyrical content. The socially conscious lyrics on this album are positive, fun and laid back. It's uniquely funky, and keeps you coming back for more.

The first track on the album "Fallin' Up" starts it off right, representing what Black Eyed Peas is all about. Especially with the lyric: "I see you try to dis our function by stating that we can't rap - Is it cuz we don't wear Tommy Hilfiger or baseball caps? - We don't use dollars to represent - We just use our innocence and talent." Other standouts include "Clap Your Hands," their old-school-influenced first single, "Joints and Jam," "The Way U Make Me Feel," "Karma," "Love Won't Wait," and "Positivity".

All and all, The Black Eyed Peas shine here, really showing their old-school hip influenced talent. They change it up nicely with a fun and positive feel and attitude. I would recommend this one above "Elephunk" for sure.

The first time I ever saw The Black Eyed Peas incredible
live show was in the summer of 1998 in NYC, and the
next day I was at the Virgin Megastore buying this album.."Behind The Front"!!
I was hooked and turned everyone I knew on to them!
This was (to me) when "Da' Peas" were at their best...
before the addition of Fergie and that sing-songy
commercial BS that they do now!
I love everything on this CD, including the little
game-show-like snipets which link the songs together.
It was funky, funny, trippy, hip-hop and even though
alot of people say they had too much "Tribe Called Quest"
in their sound at the time, if you had seen them live back
then you would've known that "Da' Peas" had their own
thing brewin' in a big way!
I would take this one and their follow-up
"Bridging The Gap" over their new stuff any
day of the week!
Okay--"Elephunk" was cool for the most part,
but they were already diluting their funk by then
and were actively seeking a pop audience.
From the new set, aptly named "Monkey Business",
the only one that really moves me is "Don't Lie"
but the rest puts me to sleep!
4-Real!--If you want to feel what BEP was about,
then "Behind The Front" and "Bridging The Gap"
are the ones baby!
Incidentally, there were some hot videos from those
two CD's which got little airplay on MTV, BET or VH-1.
Why do you have to sell your artistic soul and dull
your creativity these days to get acceptance in the pop world?

I don't know if I own a more original sounding album, can you even compare these guys to anyone? The originality that is produced on this album is just amazing, each song is fresh and has a unique sound. The hooks are catchy, and the lyrics positive. Positive? Lyrics? Yes, positive. The music in the album is also positive and up-beat, no hardcore beats or rap here, which most of you true heads will respect, that alone is something on its own. Only seen on occasion in bands such as de la, mos def, tribe etc. Most of the tracks developed in this album contain live instruments with the big exception of "Be Free", a unique electronicaly developed song expressing BEP's desire to Be Free in their music and record what they feel, present the image they want to present with no pressures of "mainstream" hip-hop. If I was to compare this group to anybody it would have to be Jurassic 5, but thats like comparing apples to oranges, sure they are both fruit, but then these groups are both amazing!

Think of Digable Planets, early Roots with a lighter message, A Tribe Called Quest, the first two De La albums...The Black Eyed Peas created vibes that filled in a lot of what was missing from this type of hiphop formula. It is true what the Amazon review said, not a whole lotta sampling, but when they do, it's classic (Laid Back's White Horse - what a great loop that is). It is just too bad Behind The Front was somewhat overlooked - another album like this would have been better than Bridging The Gap.

The Black Eyed Peas (before they became huge) used to be good. Really good. 'Behind the Front' is quite simply one of the best pure hip-hop albums I've heard in my lifetime. The beats are incredibly catchy, yet they're not the typical kind of recycled beat garbage you hear on their Elephunk and Monkey Business albums. These beats are fresh, lively. I would heartily recommend this album to ANYONE. Not just lovers of hip hop. Anyone who enjoys really groovy beats and adequate lyrics will love this album.

I suppose I can't blame BEP for selling out. Their first two albums were great, but they were getting no exposure, so they did what needed to be done (added Fergie and started putting out garbage) in order to make money. I'll just always wonder what might have been....

I was first addicted to the Peas after buying Elephunk, their third studio album, and since then have bought both this album and their second release, "Bridging the Gap." All three of the Peas' albums are amazing though... true hip hop, with a positive message. Whether or not you are a fan of hip hop, you should give this group a try. I am so glad I did.

This IS what Hip Hop really is! Many people confuse Hip Hop with RAP and this is Hip Hop! I was really getting worried for the future of Hip Hop. Back in the day the leaders of Hip Hop where pretty much De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest and others... BEP falls into this category. I have no problem putting these guys on the same level of excellence. Great linguistics and a good sense of humor. Hip Hop has a future and these guys are keeping that alive!

After dropping numerous underground tracks, Black Eyed Peas finally get their big break and get to express their feelings about hip-hop to the world in this debut album (at least a debut album on a record label - they have albums and EP's in the underground scene). Black Eyed Peas comes correct and shows up all of those CASH MONEY phonies. Even though the whole album is fresh, the smoothest joints that stood out were "Duet," "Communication," and of course, "Joints and Jams." BEP has definitely left a mark in the world of hip-hop as they shove an album of reason, quality, knowledge, and truth between albums of non-sense and boring misogyny. It's like sticking an encyclopedia between a stack of Playboy Magazines.

For anyone to comapre BEP to the Roots is like comparing Grant Hill to Jordan. Great in its own right, but not dominating. If you look at it like that, this is great album from the Peas. The whole disc might not bump in your stereo forever, but some of the songs will. The first four songs on the disc are tight and on point, highlighted by the best song on the album, The Way You Make Me Feel. The next song is okay, followed up by Karma (solid), and the Peas only mistake on the album: Be Free. The Peas just aren't strong enough lyrically to hold up a song wihtout their dazzling instrumentals and oragnic sound. the rest of the album featuring Duet. Love won't Wait, and Positivity. The puzzling thing was that the Peas inject in so much pesonality inot this record, with so little lyrical power. That's when it dawned that they were talking about positive things, a surpise nowdays. The Peas might not ever be Tribe, or the Fugees, the Roots, or Common. But they will never be the Peas. And with more spunky, ultra-creative releases like the Behind the front, the Peas will definatley carve their own niche in the world of "alternative" rap and hopfully in rap as a whole.

How can I put this, hiphop has been on a decline since 96, but this album is one of the ones that is worth hearing, it introduced us to Macy Gray, and it proved hiphop can be played live and on an L.P, yes the Roots did it first, but give BEP credit, they did a great job on ths album, there are so many influences on this album, it was pure live sampling, but instead of MPC's or Dr.Sampler's, they used Rhodes,Guitars, Pianos, and all kinds of instruments to bring a sound which was necessary for people to see that hiphop music is an artform, and BEP definitly proved that with this classic, peace.