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The old sound is hard in new ways.
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As usual, Public Enemy's lyrics are relevant, intelligent, unyielding, and punctuated with skillfully crafted accompaniment.
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Spending the last decade releasing mediocre discs with great tracks surrounded by filler, Public Enemy returns with an album reminiscent of Fear of a Black Planet.
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This album's triumph is to simultaneously place PE in their colossal historical lineage and reinstate their utter relevance.
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MojoPublic Enemy are still making music of great substance and potency. [Dec 2002, p.122]
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Despite these moments when PE shows their age, they have largely prevailed with Revolverlution by revamping the very structure of how we digest music.
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Revolverlution illustrates that they can adapt to varying song forms, that they are open to technology and that they are still able to craft gripping hip-hop. Unfortunately, they have also kept up with the hip-hop nation by making an album that doesn’t contain enough decent material to justify its near-ridiculous length.
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The resulting aural rummage sale brings some timely noise while proving D can still deliver lyrical knocks to the deserving.
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Q MagazineNot, perhaps, the best overview of their work, but bound to satisfy loyal fans. [Jan 2003, p.123]
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They might not be hip, they're not as innovative as they used to be, but they still make very good, even great music, and that's evident on Revolverlution. If only it were presented better.
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UncutRevolverlution is part-skewed retrospective and part-flawed experiment. [Jan 2003, p.126]
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Alternative PressAn album that hangs together surprisingly well. [Oct 2002, p.90]
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The grooves here prove Chuck D and Flavor Flav can bring the noise of old.
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Not surprisingly, Revolverlution is all over the place, but for much of its first half, the album sounds vital, impassioned, and kinetic, if not overly cohesive.
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"Revolverlution" may be little more than a curious career capper, but at least the never risk-averse Public Enemy seems to understand that even failure can be your friend if it ultimately helps you move forward and stay fresh.
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VibeA decidedly mixed blessing. [Sep 2002, p.250]
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BlenderThis is simply a useful rampage through the best and worst impulses of the most important group in hip-hop history. [#9, p.153]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 4 out of 4
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Mixed: 0 out of 4
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Negative: 0 out of 4
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WilsonEOct 21, 2005This album is still pretty good.
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JulianM.Sep 9, 2002F**k everybody else, Public Enemy is still al the rage!