Customer Reviews

The Best of Public Enemy: 20th Century Masters: Millennium Collection

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Releasing an album like this does more disservice to P.E. than it helps. And for true hardcore fans, this isn't an album worth even looking at.

Where are the real Public Enemy tracks on here that really symbolized what the group was all about. How in the hell do you even think of leaving off "Black Steel In The Hour of Chaos" which by far is the bangin-est track P.E. ever produced, followed by leaving off "Rebel Without A Pause". Who are these idiots who create these compilations? Not to mention "Burn Hollywood Burn" w/Ice Cube, "MIUZI WEIGHS A TON", Pete Rock's version of "Shut Em Down", Brother's Gonna Work it Out, the single inspired by the VA BEACH riots over a decade ago, "Public Enemy Number 1", and of course one of the most sampled drum tracks in hip hop, "B-Side Wins Again". I rate this a big fat ZERO. I couldn't get zero on Amazon so I'll give it a Zero in my review. A Group like P.E. deserved at least a double CD if not a 3 Disc Set. Don't waste your money. You'll come out better just buying all their albums.

This is a poorly structured greatest hits collection, and it is not endorsed by PE. It completely disregards great songs from "Yo! Bum Rush the Show" as well as PE's later (and granted weaker) albums like "Muse Sick..." Even if the later albums are not quite as strong, there are gems on those albums that are ignored here. Wait for a collection that is blessed by Chuck, Flav, Terminator, and the S1W's.

For those who care about such things you might be interested to know that (according to www.publicenemy.com) the band is not behind this CD. Apparently they also have a proper three disc set coming out soon.

It'd be hard to make a bad PE compilation (because they made such good songs) but this CD is lacking.

The tracks on this album are great of course because it's Public Enemy. I just want to know why there where so many omissions. I could name you 15 but let's just say that in order to really get the Public Enemy experience you have to listen to all their work.

Public Enemy is a legendary rap group that produced many great songs, definitely more than the 11 that are chosen for this 20th Century Masters Collection disc. All of the songs that are included are great, however I would have added a few more and I would have included album versions, not radio edits. Where are songs like "Public Enemy Number 1", "He Got Game", "Rebel Without A Pause", "Black Steel", "Burn Hollywood Burn", and "Can't Trust It"? Without those you only have a small portion of what Public Enemy has to offer. Hopefully someday Def Jam will release a true greatest hits package.

An excellent selection of the best of PE, rap's (and rock's) most political hitmakers. I might have added a track or two ("Public Enemy No. 1", "Pollywannacraka"), and the context and programming of the original albums are lost, of course, but this is a killer collection that rocks hard from start to finish and a sonic assault that cuts most of today's players.

Other than NWA, Public Enemy is the best hardcore/gangsta' rap band EVER. This is when controversy was an understatement! This collection is hated by cops everwhere and is more controversial than most rap songs today. These are the days of Ice-T, 2LiveCrew, and NWA being banned from performing for lyrics that are still unacceptable. Most modern rap artists won't get this gangsta' even these days! NOT FOR CHILDREN! Listen nowhere near a police station! I MEAN IT!

i ordered this cd for my friend and he loves it.

he ranks it 4 outta 5.


i thank you

The only problem that I have with this "20th Century Masters: Best Of Public Enemy" collection, is that it could be a little bit fuller (1 to 3 more tracks, perhaps), but being in acceptance for what this compilation is (11 of P.E.'s most significant tracks), I think that this is a more than average single disc anthology of one of the most prolific groups in the Hip-Hop genre. "Fight The Power", "911 Is A Joke", "By The Time I Get To Arizona", "Don't Believe The Hype" and "Bring Tha Noize" are included as well as "Shut 'Em Down", "Night Of The Living Baseheads", "Welcome To The Terror Dome" and...Oh what the hell, everything on this CD is slammin'. At this point, I'm really beginning to wonder if the reviews for this CD would be less negative, if it were not in the 20th Century Masters: Millenium Collection series...could this be the reason for such harsh ratings?

I have read many complaints about Public Enemy's installment in UMG's '20th Century Masters' series here on Amazon. And I definitely understand why people are complaining. There are tons of missing tracks, most notably 'Rebel Without A Pause.'

But if you buy it with 'Power To The People And The Beats,' you have a great PE collection of all their hits. Each collection features songs the other one omits. This one has their duet with speed metal legends Anthrax ('Bring Tha Noize') while the other one has 'He Got Game.' This one has classic hip hop radio staple 'Night Of The Living Baseheads' and the other one has 'Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos,' just to give an example.

Overall, I wouldn't buy this without 'Power To The People And The Beats.' If you buy both, you have a great collection of Public Enemy. Recommended. ENJOY!!!