Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black

More East Coast Rap (not only do I know what this means I actually like rap now) its so raw and has an unabashed social conscious which hits hard.

Always great. This would be a 5 if not for the outstanding Fear Of A Black Planet.

I totally love the 1st 3 PE albums, so why do I never appear to have listened to this before? An absolute barnstormer of a record! A very different (More conventional) style of production (born out of necessity, apparently) does nothing to dilute from the power of Chuck and a more militant Flavor. Hard, funky, and still thought-provoking.

How the heck haven't I heard this before

It's been 24 hours since I've generated it and I only just now realized that it's "strikes BLACK" and not "strikes back". I may be a professional idiot.

Another impossible, radical release from PE #1, Apocalypse 91...The Enemy Strikes Black will probably never have the same cultural significance as It Takes a Million or Fear of a Black Planet, but it's absolutely on their level & may just be more perfected than those two prior classics. Chuck D never had any want of confidence, but this sounds like a group that knew exactly what they could do & did it grandly, savvily, elegantly. That's right, this is a gracious ride, & The Bomb Squad, being so good at what they produce, are masters of noise, craft, & majesty. +, Chuck learns to lighten up just a bit, a welcome maturation: 'The ass is connected to the brain stem / Ah so I sing a simple song, so you can see the sucker in 'em.' In short, that's 4/4 in '91.

It’s alright. Very deep.

Solid hip hop. Not my favorite Public Enemy album, but a good one. I’d go 3.5 if I could.

Wow this makes #3 from Public Enemy for me. I thought two seemed like too much.
Damn there's a lot of words on this record. I mean this has to be the record on the list with the most words, so far at least. That's impressive to some degree I guess. I still hate this kind of music though. Maybe not as bad as pretty much all of the hip hop that has come more recently. There's a groove to some of this and a little funk mixed in. But it's still bordering on intolerable although I did actually like Bring Tha Noize. 2/5

I still struggle with a lot of 80s hip-hop, as much of it feels quite dated to my ears now, but Public Enemy have always been one of the exceptions. This is now the third of their albums I’ve reviewed during this challenge, and I gave the previous two a very respectable 4/5, so I went into Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black with fairly high expectations.

Unfortunately, this one didn’t quite hit the same heights for me. The beats are still strong and there’s plenty of energy throughout, but they become repetitive after a while and the album lacks some of the freshness and urgency I found in their earlier work. The lyrics also felt more dated than on the previous albums, and some of the themes and references don't land in quite the same way today.

That said, it’s still an easy enough listen and there are moments where you’re reminded why Public Enemy were so influential and important. Even when the material isn’t at its strongest, there’s an intensity and confidence to their music that keeps it engaging.

Overall, this is definitely the weakest of the three Public Enemy albums I’ve heard so far, but it’s still a perfectly enjoyable listen.

Favourite track: “Bring the Noise” is an entertaining track and the clear standout for me
Least favourite track: “Lost at Birth” isn’t the strongest opener and I found myself waiting for it to end
Album artwork: Standard hip-hop album cover

Chuck D and Flavor Flav continue to be some of the most entertaining emcees ever on here. Lots of politically charged lyrics and great flows. I don’t think the beats are quite as good as their last two albums but they still are great. Favorites were Nighttrain, Can’t Truss It, I Don’t Wanna Be Called Yo Niga, By The Time I Get To Arizona, Bring Tha Noize.

The album absolutely fucks.

Always good lyrics. The beats didn’t always excite me. Started out really disliking the droning effect in the first song. Still among the great artists, I’m just comparing this album against their others on this list. 3.5 stars…

patchy, especially considering the highs they were achieving around this time, but does have it's moments

It's been nearly a year and a half since I listened to Fear of a Black Planet, and my feelings on Public Enemy's follow-up record, Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Back, are more or less the same, albeit with some noticeable differences.

For one thing, the production is notably leaner, with a greater mixture of live instrumentation alongside the sampling. This was done out of necessity, as The Bomb Squad and other personnel rushed to recreate the music that was stolen from them. If anything, the backing instrumentation did surprisingly well in providing that necessary oomph to the backdrops, especially the hard-hitting percussion and blaring horns on tracks like "Can't Truss It" and "How to Kill a Radio Consultant". Of course, Terminator X still busts out on the turntables, while Chuck D and Flavor Flav continue to spit bars in addressing the prevailing issues with systemic racism in the United States. Probably the most striking of these songs are "Nighttrain" in calling out those within the black community who harm each other, "I Don't Wanna Be Called Yo N---" in addressing the pervasiveness of the derogatory word, "How to Kill a Radio Consultant" regarding the ownership and dissemination of black music on radio stations, and "By the Time I Get to Arizona" in highlighting how some people refused to recognize Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday as a national holiday. The fact that a lot of what they addressed then is still relevant today in this country is both poignant and depressing. Though that said, I did also appreciate when they reaffirmed their talent on the hard-hitting "Shut 'Em Down".

Yet, it's also apparent in places where this album was rushed, again likely due to the stolen material. Not only are there two different introduction tracks toward the beginning when they didn't need to have them, but they also tacked on at the end Anthrax's rendition of "Bring The Noise" from It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Now, as someone who does enjoy Anthrax, I dug the crossover thrash remix they did alongside Public Enemy, but it is vastly different from the preceding material on this record.

I also have to acknowledge that some lyrics did not age well, mainly with "A Letter to the New York Post". Now, I get the general conceit of that song was to address how disenfranchised black lives can be through salacious, negatively spun stories that certain media outlets would partake in. The problem is with Flavor Flav's opening verse, which not only puts a lampshade on how he was arrested for assaulting his then-girlfriend Karen Ross and losing custody of his kids, but instead of owning up to that mistake, he doubles down, making a baseless claim about actor James Cagney beating up a gay guy. Not only is this the wrong way to address one's personal problems, but it also makes Flavor Flav's homophobia apparent on record, leaving me with a sour taste.

Overall, I still consider Apocalypse 91 to be a solid golden-age hip hop record, despite some obvious shortcomings. There are a track or two I'd skip on repeat listens, but a lot of the songs on here ended up good and relevant.

repniški repnige nanovo repniški repniguju, a pritom ne bi da ih se tako naziva (5. pjesma). eh

4
Pretty cool for the most part. Could have done with that one song where he's trying to defend his right to beat his wife and hate the gays

I get it, but find a whole album really hard work!! Glad it's here though

Drago mi je što završavam s njima bukvalno 10 dana nakon što sam vidjela da imam i treći album, nisu mi ništa posebno upečatljivi ni zanimljivi. Ovo mi je najdraži album zbog Bring Tha Noize.

It is a good hip-hop album, very politically charged and with some iconic moments. However, I do still prefer their two other albums in here.

7/10 [DROP]