Customer Reviews

Yo Bum Rush the Show

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is one of the most underrated ground-breaking rap albums of all time. These guys came out with this album, with a sound so unheard of and unique at the time. I can still remember blasting these classics out of my car with my buddies as we smoothly cruised down the street. Any true rap fan must own this album. This is a true classic. Listen to it several times and you won't stop playing it.

Yo! Bum Rush the show is one of the very best rap CDs that I have purchased during my lifetime. This album would easily rank within the 10 or 15 best rap albums ever made. I am a big fan of Public Enemy, and I think that the lyrics on this CD are brilliant and thought provoking. On Yo! Bum Rush the Show, the best song is clearly Public Enemy No. 1, but all of the other songs are almost as good. The sound of this album is very similar to that on Nation of Millions, and , thus, if you liked that CD, you will probably like this one too.

While It Takes A Nation of Millions was catapulted into the upper eschelon of hip-hop, Yo! Bum Rush the Show remains widely unrecognized by the general public. Why it is largely ignored remains a mystery to this reviewer. In some aspects, Bum Rush is superior to Nation of Millions.

For example, Bum Rush is a straight up hip-hop record peppered with a message here and there. The rage which is so often the focus of Nation of Millions is present but with a little more diversity in subject matter that creates a more well rounded listen. What do I mean? Take the first track "You're Gonna Get Yours" which is Chuck D's ode to both his crew and his vehicle of choice. The significance of this record is that Chuck, believe it or not, had been rhyming since 77 and this style more exemplified his history. Unless you are really up on your hip-hop or were lucky enough to catch PE in it's earliest incarnations, this example may be hard to follow.

This track, however, is not an isolated incident. "Sophisticated B*tch" represents a misogynistic side to Chuck D where he attacks females that are of an uppity nature, (a side never visited by PE again due to it's negativity). "Public Enemy #1" also represents a time before Public Enemy were even called Public Enemy as the song was a favorite on Hank Shocklee's college radio show and this track is actually the birth of the name. Bum Rush represents a fusion of the old and the new PE.

The new PE would be the politically aware side. Tracks like "Myuziweighsaton" (my personal favorite), "MPE", and "Rightstarter" represent the side of PE that would become their focus on the following albums. My Uzi shows the "quite hostile" style that Chuck would embody perhaps more vehemently and threateningly than in later releases. The title track also shows Chuck's disgust with, this time, club promoters that have invoked his ire. This disgust would appear again toward radio programmers, record label execs, and major corporations like Nike.

We also see an unusual side to fan favorite Flavor Flav. "Too Much Posse" is not only Flav's solo cut, it shows a side to Flav not to be seen since except in public appearances. Flav is almost a thug by starndards of that time. No joke. Flav smacks up a girl who doesn't recognize his clout, threatens rival crews, and is all out rowdy and foulmouthed. None of the humor found in later cuts like "911 Is a Joke" is here. This moment is Flav at his most street. If he had stayed in this realm, PE would be looked at differently than it was the following year where Flav played joker to Chuck's straight man.

Finally, the evidence of the Bomb Squad's genius is here. While Rick Rubin's influence is more prevalent, (as it was with most releases in 87), "The Noize" that PE is so famous for is still intact. Excellent production ideas like loops from the JB's were pioneered here. And I, for one, enjoy the crisp 808 taps that represent so much of the bass on this album.

Overall, Bum Rush is highly enjoyable and points a clear finger at both PE's past and future. This album was a success in Europe, but somehow managed to slip through most peoples fingers in the States. Maybe it was a little too advanced for it's time? Maybe there was just too much strong competition in 87. The lines in the sand for positivity in hip-hop were yet to be drawn as deeply as they were in the years to follow. For whatever reason, Bum Rush remains a worthy addition to any quality hip-hop collection.

1987's "Yo! Bum Rush The Show" is probably one of the more underrated hip-hop debuts of the 80's. Most people tend to compare it to the three classic albums that P.E. would release after this, which is a big mistake. If you're looking for another "It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back" or "Fear of a Black Planet", you'll be disappointed. Simply put, "Yo! Bum Rush The Show" is in a league of it's own. Chuck D.'s flow, along with P.E.'s overall sound on "Yo!..." is reminiscent of other old-school rap groups, most notably Run-D.M.C. Like Run-D.M.C., a lot of the songs are dominated by an impressive display of turntablism, but what really made Public Enemy stand out was Chuck D.'s revolutionary lyrics and Flava Flav's outbursts. Overall, "Yo! Bum Rush the Show" is a good representation of the golden age of rap, although it doesn't compare to the next three albums the group would release. Still, this is a fantastic debut from one of hip-hop's greatest groups.

This CD was released when hip hop really mattered, and is one of the most vital releases of the genre. Chuck D's flow is bursting with urgency, and the beats are slammin'. "My Uzi Weighs a Ton," "You're Gonna get Yours," and "Time Bomb" are off the chain! PE would release 2 more classics before they faded out of the spotlight, but their influence on hip hop is incalculable. Maybe if some of these modern artists stopped talking about gettin' paid and follow PE's example, the state of modern hip hop wouldn't be in the sorry state it's in.

The first and the best from PE. Anyone who is anyone already has it. Rough, raw beats with slick lyrics from Chuck thrown in with Flav's crazy style gave PE the originality which has seen them survive nearly 14 years in hip-hop. If you don't have it...get it. If you do, stop playing on your computer and go and listen to it!

Yo! Bum Rush the Show-
Formerly a loose congregate of college-radio DJs and party promoters in the Long Island area, `Spectrum City' became Public Enemy when Def Jam exec Rick Rubin allegedly badgered Chuck D into accepting a record deal; Chuck insisted that Flav come along, and hip-hop history was begun. Along with producers Bill Stephney and Hank Shocklee, Chuck and company considered themselves hip-hop's answer to the Clash: The first album as almost a punk effort, more about rhythm & noise rather than rhythm & blues. The LP opens with "You're Gonna Get Yours", Chuck and Flav's ode to the Oldsmobile 98: "Smoke is coming, when I burn/ rubber when my wheels turn; tinted windows so super-bad; looking like the car the Green Hornet had." The riskiest cut may have been "Sophisticated Bi*ch": hardcore metal guitar (courtesy of Vernon Reid) and hip-hop bassline make for a powerful punch. The lyrics rail against a loose woman, though later statements by Chuck assert that this was an allegorical rant against the policies of urban radio stations at the time. Other standout joints include "Public Enemy #1" (covered years later by Puff Daddy), "Miuzi Weighs a Ton", "Timebomb" ("They go `ooh!' and `ah!' when I jump in my car, people treat me like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.."), and the anti-crack-cocaine diatribe "Megablast". This is the true beginning of the PE dynasty, even before "Nation of Millions". Not to be missed.

Public Enemy definitely cemented their position in hip hop history as one of the greatest groups of all time. This album, their first, is one HELL of an introduction to the hip hop world, and they did so with style. This is the first album in a THREE STRAIGHT series of classic albums. Here's the review:

Album Highlights: The entire album.

Production: Thumbs up, listen to the some of the very first of the classic beats from The Bomb Squad.

Lyrics and Subject Matter: Thumbs up.

Originality: Thumbs Up.

The Last Word: This album truly shows us that PE had MORE in store, and boy did they ever. This is Chuck D in his prime, as he only got BETTER as they years went on. A strong recommendation for this album. Buy this a listen to Public Enemy speak the truth on the debut.

Maybe its just me but when you say an album is a classic, it should get 5 stars. There are reviewers on Amazon that call this album a classic and give it four stars. Hmmmmmmm, interesting. At any rate..

I fell in love with this album when I first heard it. Chuck D has a fantastic flow and a voice that commands authority. Flava Flav was wild and Terminator X comes through with the scratches. Chuck D also had something to say and that a definite plus. He helped open up the doors for social awareness in Hip Hop and still doesnt get enough credit for it.

In closing Public Enemy's Yo! Bum Rush The Show is a classic that should be a part of any hip hop heads collection. The rhymes were excellent and the production is superb. Two thumbs up from me.

Standouts: YOU'RE GONNA GET YOURS, SOPHISTICATED B***H, PUBLIC ENEMY NO.1, RIGHTSTARTER, MEGABLAST, TIMEBOMB, MIUZI WEIGHS A TON and the rest of this album!

I don't want to sound like a negative nancy, but I'm not actually a huge fan of most of Public Enemy's more famous records. IT TAKES A NATION OF MILLIONS TO HOLD US BACK and FEAR OF A BLACK PLANET are the albums where PE built their legend, but I find it tough to get into them. This debut album, however: it sends chills down my spine when I hear it. It's clear that the group wouldn't have achieved their place in history without moving away from this sound, but I still love it way more than everything else they've ever done.

Unlike all the rest of their work, Yo! Bum Rush the Show is a true Def Jam album that sounds very much of its time. Produced by Rick Rubin, it's part of his trilogy of truly great hip hop records from the 80's (the other two being the Beastie Boys' LICENSED TO ILL and Run-D.M.C.'s RAISING HELL), and all three of them share a similar aesthetic: production that mimics the hard-hitting feel of heavy rock, with occasional guitars woven into the sound, and drums mixed more for rocking out than dancing. Of the three, Public Enemy seem to be straining against this sound the most, since at the time both the Beastie Boys and Run-D.M.C. were in the heyday of their "rap rock" period, and PE are hip hop through and through. So the group and the producer are working slightly at cross-purposes, but the tension results in some true classics, like "Miuzi Weighs a Ton", where it's difficult to tell which is more aggressive: the percussion, the furious scratching, or Chuck D's strident raps. Then there's "Too Much Posse", where Flavor Flav demonstrates that he's always been the comic relief of the group, but he wasn't always a joke. "Raise the Roof", the title track, the would-be theme song "Public Enemy No. 1" and just about everything else on the record sounds like the best block party you never got to attend.

Certainly, there are some aspects to the classic Public Enemy sound that aren't quite there yet on this album. The ultra-dense soundscapes of the Bomb Squad, which would change the way hip hop production worked in just a few short years, only shows up in bits and pieces on this record, and more often than not cedes control to Rick Rubin's rocker leanings. More significantly, Public Enemy aren't rapping about national or global concerns the way they soon would be. There are a few traces of PE's future revolutionary spirit, like "Rightstarter", but they're still a long way from being "the black CNN". But as I mentioned earlier, I don't really care about that stage of their career, famous though it may be. Anyway, this record is a lot like the self-titled Deep Purple album from back in 1969: almost completely removed from what we normally think of that makes the group great, but completely great in its own right. I feel terrible for anyone that doesn't own this album.