Day 0914 - Welcome to the Afterfuture

Mike Ladd “Welcome to the Afterfuture” (2000)

I had mixed feelings reading about this one in the book.  Another hip-hop album in a section of the list that has a few overlong albums in that genre.  On the other hand, reading of Ladd having lived in France, India and the US, it seemed like that could add some point of difference to his music.

Definitely loved this one!  Opening track "5000 Miles West of the Future" is all skittish beats and bass from outer space.  “Airwave Hysteria” gives a musical nod to Ladd’s Indian connection and features a clever little modernised Elton John reference “Don’t shoot me, I’m just the piano programmer”.

The rest of the album is a whirling dervish of space-aged hip-hop.  Interesting beats meeting layers of strings and samples and big squelchy bass.  “Bladerunners” sounds like it’s sampling some old Bernard Hermann film score.  Basically it’s a lot of good stuff.

The cherry on the top of this is that Ladd is a great lyricist.   I usually don’t pay much attention to lyrics, but he kept dropping great lines that were clever, funny and with references pulled in from all over the map.  As it was I found myself taking it all in and walking around with a grin on my face from listening.

Day 0635 - It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back

Public Enemy "It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back" (1988)

I love so many of these early rap records.   Intelligent, socially conscious lyrics, and a magpie-like approach to assembling their sounds.  The tracks feature everything from James Brown to Slayer.  As well as the music, spoken word and 'found-sound' samples are used.   There's an odd high-pitched noise that runs throughout the different tracks that would have seemed odd at the time, but came to be used by a few 90s rap artists.  Chuck D proclaimed that if Phil Spector invented the 'wall of sound' production approach, Public Enemy's Hank Shockley invented the 'Wall of Noise'.

It's a sign of how influential the album has been that other artists have likewise pilfered sounds and lines from this record, with artists ranging from Jurassic 5 to Weezer taking bits and pieces from them. The track "Prophets of Rage" would go on to give the name to the group that Chuck D would form with ex-members of Rage Against the Machine.  That collaboration also prompted by the influence this group had on that band.

There's hardcore rap, rock/metal-rap and the brilliant subversion of the Beastie Boys hit with "Party for your right to fight".   The mix of MCs works too, with Flava Flav adding a touch of levity to the otherwise intense verbal onslaught.  

Day 0589 - Hysteria

Def Leppard "Hysteria" (1987)

An interesting one... I mean the music itself is just catchy, bombastic, glammy rock with a touch of studio sheen to it, but there's a bit of a story to the album's creation.

The album was originally to be produced by Mutt Lange (he's produced everything from AC/DC and Foreigner through to Maroon 5 and Britney Spears) who had produced their previous album 'Pyromania', but Lange bowed out due to exhaustion.  The band tried to make things happen with Jim Steinman (of Meatloaf fame), but he wanted to make a raw, stripped-down rock record, clashing with Leppard who wanted to go with a more glossy and pop-metal sound.  Eventually Steinman departed and the band tried to produce themselves.  These sessions were eventually scrapped when Lange came back into the fold.

Of course, as is well known, Leppard's drummer lost his arm in a car accident.  The band stood by him and his decision to keep drumming, using a mix of traditional drums and some automation tricks to fill in the gaps left by his missing arm.

The long wait, the time put in, and all the studio work paid off.   At its peak, the album was moving around a million copies a week.