Weekly > Reviews
Public Enemy - New Whirl Odor
Oh it’s great to have Chuck D and the boys back again, a first album since Revolverlution in 2002, but the first album proper since 1999’s There’s A Poison Goin’ On. New Whirl Odor is named after what Chuck calls “today’s ball of confusion”.
So why is it good to have Public Enemy back? Well back in the day when I was just a wee boy I wasn’t particularly into Hip Hop or Rap, in fact I’ll go as far as to say it scared me, the lyrics all came at you too fast and there wasn’t a guitar in sight most of the time, all very confusing. The only people I made an effort to listen to during that period were the anything but safe Public Enemy, not sure if it was the big clocks or the fact that I could at least sing along to bits of their songs, either way they introduced me to this form of music.
Now obviously it’s great to have fond memories of a group, but ultimately when you are reviewing an album you have to look at the here and now. Not sure why but I had a feeling that they might have lost their bite, or their appetite for the fight. I needn’t have worried as this album does nothing to harm their reputation and may even open them up to some new fans thanks to the variety on offer here.
After the spoken intro (it’s the law on Rap albums didn’t you know!) you get the title track, which quickly picks up the theme of speaking up for the common man, not something they’ve ever flinched away from. Bring That Beat Back is equally confrontational as the lyrics in the chorus suggest “the government ain’t got me yet, so you ain’t got me”, don’t worry I know the government is an easy target, they also take it out on judges and large corporations just to show they aren’t going just for the easy ones.
- Public Enemy
- New Whirl Odor (2005)
- Category: Album
- Label: Slamjamz
- Reviewed by: Kev
- Published on: 28 Dec 2005
- Comments: 0
- Beat Surrender Rating:
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Add to favourites66.6 Strikes Again and MKLVFKWR are up next and things get even more interesting, the first one features more of a funk rhythm, while the latter opts for a dance style beat to underpin the song. It’s this variety that really make it for me, they rock out on What A Fool Believes, then it’s into a more soulful sound on the backing of Makes You Blind.
I could go on and talk about every track on this album, however I’ll save the final words for the two stand out tracks on New Whirl Odor. Check What Your Listening To is an emotional tribute to Jam Master Jay of Run DMC fame, but the best is the eleven minute epic Superman’s Back In The Building which closes the album it’s got everything going on throughout it, from a great breakdown to it finally closing with soul jazz style licks.
If you are a fan then you need to add this to your collection (but you probably don’t need me to tell you that), if you aren’t give it a listen and see what you think, it might just help to convert you.
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We waffle on enough without letting you lot do it too. Comments are limited to 300 characters.
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