Public Enemy - Revolverlution

There’s no denying the impact PE has had on hip-hop and pop culture in general. Their incendiary rhymes and innovative “Bomb Squad” production broke through the musical scene like a mic-wielding sledgehammer. It’s no surprise that everyone from MTV News to CNN regularly asks frontman Chuck D for his opinion on musical and political issues; he’s universally regarded as an elder statesman of rap. However, there lies the problem. Public Enemy has been trying, on and off for the past decade or so, to transcend their legacy and create new music that’s on par with the vitality of past efforts. It’s been a struggle, partially because their old albums have been so groundbreaking – and just plain DOPE – but mostly due to the fact that the newer songs simply didn’t connect with listeners like “Bring The Noise” did. But you had to at least give them credit for refusing to rest on their laurels. Revolverlution tries to split the difference between old and new PE, interspersing recent tracks like “Gotta Give The Peeps What They Need” inbetween a greatest hits collection of sorts, recorded live during the group's early 90s heyday. The gamble does not pay off, unfortunately. The old stuff is great, as expected, but it can’t help but highlight the faults of mediocre new tracks like “Son of A Bush” and the lightweight “Now A’ Daze.” Like fellow hip-hop godfather KRS-One, Chuck D and Co simply have not kept up with the times, beat-wise, to keep up with their contemporaries. Even more obtrusively, the music can’t match the bluster in Chuck’s lyrics – as a result, he shows his age with every rant, making “Fight The Power” sound more like “Get Off My Lawn.” The latest efforts from The Roots and Talib Kwali are able to give social consciousness a dope beat, your money’s far better spent with them - or better yet, with a copy of PE’s own It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back. I’ll take nostalgia over this stuff any day. [www.slamjamz.com]