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Public EnemyPower To The People And The Beats: Public Enemy's Greatest Hits Def Jam/UMA In keeping with the spate of unnecessary pre-Christmas Greatest Hits releases comes a collection of Public Enemy's "greatest hits" together on the one disc. It's an odd concept, considering that P.E. never really produced any "hits" as such, just tracks which proved more effective either lyrically or musically than others. Indeed, the very idea that a group as politically aggressive as Public Enemy should be reduced to releasing a greatest hits album is quite strange: these are usually the fare of white-bread sops like John Farnham and suggests a shoulder-shrugging concession to assimilation on Public Enemy's (or, at least, their record company's) part. If nothing else these greatest hits show how, over time, Public Enemy slowly lost the barb in their delivery and the once acerbic nature of the music became diluted. Beginning with You're Gonna Get Yours and proceeding chronologically through the first four albums (the brilliance of Rebel Without A Pause, Don't Believe The Hype, Fight The Power, Brothers Gonna Work It Out) and the 'Greatest Misses' release, before ending with the depressingly by-the-numbers Give It Up and the title track to the Spike Lee film 'He Got Game', 'Public Enemy's Greatest Hits' does nothing more than highlight how a once great hip-hop group has evolved into a lukewarm hip-hop group, though their legacy to the genre will always hold them far above contemporary "talents" like 50 Cent and that horrible honky Eminem. If you are already a fan there is absolutely no reason to add this little nugget to your collection; however, if you are unfamiliar with the band then (barring the final two tracks) this is an excellent overview of some of their most powerful work.  |
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