Definitive Groove

Grandmaster Flash | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 8, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino
• ASIN: B000GGSM2G
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #95,308 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Freedom

2. The Birthday Party

3. The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel

4. Showdown

5. It's Nasty (Genius of Love)

6. Flash to the Beat, Pt. 1

7. The Message

8. Scorpio

9. Message II (Survival)

10. New York New York

See all 11 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)

2. Beat Street

3. Internationally Known

4. We Don't Work for Free

5. Step Off

6. Pump Me Up

7. World War II

8. Girls Love the Way He Spins

9. Vice [From Miami Vice]

10. Style [Extended Remixed Verion]

See all 11 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best compilation available for the rap/hip-hop pioneers, August 2, 2009

By 

Kevin H. Dudley (Roanoke, VA (USA)) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Definitive Groove (Audio CD)

This 2 disc compilation from Rhino (part of their Definitive Collections) is the best compilation available for the rap/hip-hop pioneers Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel & the Furious Five.

It features 23 tracks and what's nice is that they put the album versions of all of the songs on here instead of any single mixes which in turn almost maxes out each disc.

Disc one with 11 tracks covers from 1980 to 1984 and clocks out at 74:48 in length.

Disc two which has 12 tracks and clocks out at 73:38. It starts out with a track from 1983 and then covers from 1984 to 1987. The last 2 tracks on disc 2 are listed as "extended scratch mixes" and are better than the original versions in my opinion.

All of the tracks have been brilliantly remastered and sound like they could have been released yesterday.

Like the rest of the entries in Rhino's Definitive Collection, each track is listed with complete source information along with all chart annotations. There's also a great mini-bio of the group that follows their journey throughout the 80's.

One thing that I particularly liked is that they included their track from the Miami Vice show called simply "Vice". So you get all the hits on here along with other tracks that you might have never heard before.

I would recommend this set over the single disc greatest hits from 1994 due to the much improved sound and the deeper selection of material.

Highly recommended for people wanting to see where rap/hip-hop came from.