Category: (Music)
29 new, starting at $5.93
20 used, starting at $4.25
Japanese only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) pressing. Universal. 2008.
It Takes a Nation of Millions was the sign that hip-hop had exploded like a grenade. A rap record as abrasive, hardcore, and eloquent as a JFK speech, the 1988 disc is one classic track after another: tense, multilayered, harmonically wild music. Chuck D. declaims like a master preacher with foil Flavor Flav's voice darting around his. They've got the desperate energy of people fighting for their lives, and everything from their pumped-up rhetoric ("Prophets of Rage") to the group's quasi-paramilitary organization to the sirens and sax squeals in nearly every track declares how urgent their mission is. It's a hugely influential album, and it still sounds fresh and frightening after all these years. --Douglas Wolk
Haters Please Don't Comment....Reviewed by X Man, 2010-01-20
This is for all the misinformed, insane, idiotic, out of touch, wanna be music lovers who claim they know what hip hop is & simply just don't. For anyone to rate "It Takes A Nation..." with anything under 4 stars is down right criminal. PE has always struck a nerve with folks who desire to keep things at the status quo but it's cool! Haters please don't comment on subjects you have no knowledge of.
This record changed the game forever...Reviewed by Berk, 2009-05-04
This is one of the TWO most influential hip-hop recordings EVER.
It's difficult if you weren't around when this record was new to
understand the impact that this record had on the landscape of
hip-hop and music in general (I was in 10th grade at the time). The
same could be said about the other influential record which was
NWA's Straight Outta Compton but that's another review. Public
Enemy was ushering in a new era in rap; the post Run DMC era, the
New School era. The era with EPMD, BDP, The Jungle Brothers, Jazzy
Jeff and the Fresh Prince, De La Soul, Stetsasonic, and the list
goes on and on. There were many groups to choose from and they all
sounded completely different.
Musically the sample arrangements created by the legendary
Bomb-Squad were unique and multi layered. The various noises and
sounds put together to make funky beats was a concept not quite
heard before. Rebel Without a Pause with it's funky drummer loop
and horn sample repeating 96 times brought a rawness to beat making
that was infectious and forced you to listen. The imagery of the
conscientious objector on Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos puts you
right in the middle of a prison break. Chuck D while, not
necessarily a Rakim, forcefully made you see his point of view
whether you agreed with it or not. Flavor Flav was just fun pure
and simple. Just listen to Cold Lampin' With Flavor for the comic
relief with no message. Don't Believe the Hype was about media
manipulation, Night of the Living Baseheads about the burgeoning
crack epidemic. Caught, Can I Get a Witness? about sampling... this
record had everything. I played it for over a year straight.
This was a record that came at the right time and can never be
repeated, no matter how hard you try to recreate the context. It
Takes a Nation of Millions... will stand the test of time as THE
greatest hip-hop album of all time. Public Enemy themselves, while
able to put together many more classic songs, were never able to
recapture the phenomena that was this album. This was the crown
jewel of "The Golden Era". You must own this on some tangible
format i.e. vinyl, cassette, or CD to possess a piece of music
history.
THE GREATEST HIP-HOP ALBUM EVER RECORDEDReviewed by D. Powell, 2009-02-19
I figured what the heck, I'm going to finally write a review for my
favorite hip-hop album of all-time today...released in 1988 during
the height of extremely creative and great hip-hop music, in my
opinion this album stood above them all, even now 22 years after
it's release it still stands above them all, WHY?? Chuck D's voice
and messages are just powerful, Da Bomb Squad's production with
it's multi-layered samples is just revolutionary and timeless,
Flavor Flav's outbursts are just right on point and in sync with
Chuck, I mean this album represents PERFECTION...in life there
supposedly is no such thing as perfection, but this album achieved
that and much more...this album is like a beautiful painting, or an
incredible vacation, just something that you will never forget,
it's completely TIMELESS...22 years from now these topics will
still need to be covered and the production will still be
revolutionary and different...I'm not sure what Chuck and Da Bomb
Squad were thinking about when they went into the studio to create
this masterpiece but we're all better for what they gave us, I want
to personally thank them for this gift that keeps on giving even 22
years after they originally gave it to me..If your a young hip-hop
fan looking for some VINTAGE hip-hop or an older hip-hop head who
may have been among the few that actually missed this over the past
22 years then add this one to your collection ASAP...you'll find
bliss in every track and lyric...my top five songs-(if that is
possible here) are:
Bring The Noise
Rebel Without A Pause
Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos
Prophets Of Rage
Don't Believe The Hype
but basically the WHOLE project is just memorable and the greatest
artistic effort released in hip-hop history, this MUST be in your
collection!
Their absolute best...Why can't music be this good anymore?Reviewed by PensForever, 2009-01-16
This album is by far their best. So innovative for the time. "Louder Than A Bomb" is such a killer track, and "She Watch Channel Zero" is the only hip hop song I can think of that actually samples Slayer! Unbelievable. Chuck D is an immortal, and this album stands the test of time. Highly recommended.
what can I say, this album is a must have for black music loversReviewed by Hfa Van De Pas, 2009-01-07
what can I say, this album is a must have for black music lovers. It's a milestone.
