Planet Rock: The Album

It was technically alright, but not to my tastes.

First listen around I wasn't impressed, but this time around I really enjoyed it more by taking it for what it is. It's rough and the beats are comparatively basic to what we have now, but once you get past that it's a really fun album. Equal parts Parliament and Run-DMC, I really dig the Afrofuturism vibe going on here. Dope album cover and some simple and hard beats here. Other artists took this style and massively improved it, but this isn't a bad album by any means. Point extra to compensate for it's low rating here.

Oldest of old school back when it was all peace and good vibes. A bit tedious after awhile but I enjoyed it pretty much all the way through.

or a record that basically helped redraw the map for hip-hop, electro, and club music, Planet Rock: The Album is a weird listen in 2025. You can hear the seismic impact in the DNA of everything that came after it, yet the album itself doesn’t quite land as a timeless experience. The innovations are obvious; the staying power is… patchier.

The production feels tethered to its era in a way other pioneering albums somehow escape. The synthetic textures that once sounded like transmissions from the future now feel more like artifacts from a very specific, neon-lit past. And that mix? There are stretches where the vocals feel tucked so far back they might as well be calling from the next galaxy over. It’s tough to connect emotionally when the record keeps hiding the storytellers behind the circuitry.

Still, credit where it’s due: this thing changed the landscape. You don’t have to love every minute of it to acknowledge you’re listening to a cornerstone. But historical importance and personal enjoyment are different scorecards, and this one just doesn’t hit with the same inevitability as the true heavyweights on this list.

Verdict: A respectful nod, a solid listen once, but not remotely a timeless classic for your own rotation. Probably a 3-ish—impact: huge, replay value: limited.

I was aware of this as a classic album, but had never spent time listening to it.

This is really great, from both an early hip-hop and electronic music standpoint. The biggest problem here is that you need to separate the art from the artist.

This sounds incredibly dated. In no way is the sample (actually interpolation) of Kraftwerk better than just listening to Kraftwerk in the first place. This is a low 2; pretty close to a 1, TBH.

More like Planet Funk: Amirite?

I found this to be pretty mediocre and boring.

low 2/5.

This guy’s a monster so not listening

It was ok. Nothing awful and some fun moments.

More a collection of early singles than a true album, 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘵 𝘙𝘰𝘤𝘬: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮 still captures the sound of a pivotal moment in music history. Tracks like 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘵 𝘙𝘰𝘤𝘬 and 𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘵 remain essential — futuristic, beat-driven and wildly influential. But as a whole, the record lacks cohesion, and the remaining material doesn’t always maintain the same energy. An important listen, but more archival than immersive.

Old school hip hop with bits of electro, just not my style, these songs are too long

This is #day332 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… looking for the perfect beat? Look no further! This feels like a hip-hop version of Kraftwerk, and that's exactly what makes it so fascinating. It's interesting to observe how early hip-hop pulled from the electronic music of the time (Kraftwerk, Gary Numan, and others), just as synths were coming into their own (still in their infancy, but already everywhere). Then you've got the early fusion of hip-hop and rock, which makes the whole affair even more exciting. It's fun, experimental, and cutting-edge, definitely one of the cornerstone albums of the genre. Also, I bet it sounds terrific on vinyl. I felt uneasy reading about the accusations, though. This is a 4 out of 5. Looking forward to #day333.

Old Skool hip-hop. Heavily influential and heavily sampled by others. It’s a fun listen, but not something I’d have in constant rotation.

Sometimes, with material that has been very influential on subsequent music... I'd rather just listen to the subsequent music, as it feels more refined. Like this was the raw sonic ore that was melted down to form the much sturdier hip-hop of later musicians.

Also it's very, VERY difficult to force myself to consume the artistic output of any individual who seemingly spent decades repeatedly committing one of the most heinous crimes imaginable. Yikes.

Pretty cool sounds. Pretty lame accusations.

This is hilariously terrible music, and it turns out the artist is a seriously terrible person, too.

0.5/5.0: Unlistenable

this was a tough listen. a few cool beats that drag on way too long. i spent some of that extra time reading about the artist which further soured my thoughts on the album

Ik haalde dit toevallig kort geleden al aan. Omdat dit mij heel erg vrolijk maakt. De elektrogeluiden achter de raps zijn ontzettend gedateerd natuurlijk. Jaren '80 full frontal. Maar ook dat kan je prima uitvoeren. Het maakt de raps ontzettend catchy, dansbaar en speels. Bij Run DMC noemde ik het onmerkbaar afwisselen van rappers. Deze rappers laten het duidelijker merken, maar dat werkt bij een nummer als Planet rock toch goed. Eentonig worden de raps het daardoor niet. Looking for the perfect beat heeft een melodielijntje dat nooit meer uit je hoofd gaat. Normaal is dat mega irritant. Maar deze keer kan ik dat prima hebben.

Heb album start met twee mega-hits en een klein hitje als nummer 3. Daarmee zitten we al bijna op de helft en eigenlijk is dan het oordeel al geveld. Wellicht heeft de rest iets minder waarde, maar het haalt mij zeker niet uit de vrolijke bui die de eerste helft mij heeft geleverd.

I’m a big fan of rap and hip-hop so I am fully aware of Bambaataa, (the good stuff and the bad) his impact on hip-hop and I’ve even seen him DJ live. I’ve never however, been a massive fan of Electro. Sure of course I know Planet Rock, Renegades and Perfect beat but I wasn’t excited to listen to this LP, but I must say I enjoyed it more than I expected.