LyricisT LOUNGE 2 Rawkus

A bangin' album through and through, Lyricist Lounge delivers lyrically endowed joints with phat beasts to boot. The Lyricist Lounge had originally been a studio apart- ment in NYC but got shut down by the boys in blue. They then went mobile and have since become a

dont

featuring PA

dale |gcier> Nani

sg are eles $15 dog

it's wet, so leave your kig

of the Art.’ The few prob- lems I have with this album

; next record. The produc- problem with Neutrinos, as I see it (I ; have never produced or | made a record) is that the ; band’s flavor live, that of a

quasi-lounge act rock party band, is lost in the muddy layers of production. Principally Dennis Ellsworth’s fine voice sounds a lit- tle muted. But again these are only small ticks on what is, in the end, a good dog.

-KJB

CAPONE-N-NOREAGA ge Reunion my Boy

gll a solid effort by the Queens eam that are back together. uted because Capone had to to jail to serve time (ironi- t was there that the duo met med up) C-N-N are both pn wax again. One of the _jurprises of this album was my of the beats, half of omes courtesy of the st, DJ Premier and Mobb avoc. Some of the guests

a Reunion are none other ketown homeboys Mobb

Nas with Foxy Brown on t. Capone and Nore do

b eh yo ur ticke be same old bullshit that

ts talk about nowadays So manage to talk about eartfelt issues that put above the average thug

-JMAMA

The Cadre

RAGE AGAINST THE ‘MACHINE

Renegades EPIC

I have thought for a long

time that Rage Against the Machine were the best and most important band (if a band can be important) we had in our time. That band is no more, and the above is only mentioned because, well, I am biassed in favour of liking this record. However, that has nothing to do with the record company.

In fact, I recommend, as the band does, you skip buying the CD and head to Napster or some other free music outlet and download this,their co da cover album, right away.

Napster users who down- loaded copies were kicked off by the service only to have the band champion their reinstatement. The band does not want money going to their label if it is not necessary.

Say what you will of them, and their appearances on network television and their videos made by Michael Moore, who is an impor- tant voice on the left (is there a left anymore by the way?) but also a shameless fame whore (The Cadre will be in Adbusters sometime in the future by the way), but they have at least the appearance of

higher intentions than making it big as rock stars. ge Zack De La Rocha, the lead singer leaving the band after this their final album in their current incarna- tion, spends a great deal, of time in _Chiapas,., with,,. the indigenous. farmer and the Zapatista army, and though you might question his 7 politics, or his com- rades, you cannot doubt he is the finest of the rock/rap front men, and clearly has the most to say.

On Renegades the |_| band embraces 12 of J their favorite songs. The album kicks off with Eric B. and Rakim’s “ Microphone Fiend,” which is also free on Napster, and, in its original form may be the best rap song of all time, which they do properly, although it is no where near the quality of the original. “E- F-F-E-C-T. Smooth operators oper-

ating correctly” (Eric B. and Rakim

may be the most underrated hip hop act of all time, by the way, just for superlative sake).

It gets better from _ there, Bob Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm” gets new. life, as does’ Bruce Springsteen’s “The Ghost of Tom Joad.” Cypress Hill’s “How I Could Just Kill a Man” and the Rolling Stones’s “Street Fighting Man” are admittedly just Rage versions of the originals, but then what else would they be. Stupid. —

So, in closing I want to restate, clearly, that I would avoid buying this album, mostly because that is what the band suggests and | would download the files on Napster. Then, it is my further advice that you go buy their back catalogue used at an independent

record store. -KJB

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