Public Enemy – It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back

Fun fact: my copy was saved from a dumpster. A friend of my dad was dumpster diving in Nashville back in the 90’s and found some LPs thrown out behind a record shop (all of them had “not for sale” promo stickers on them).

I owned this and sold it. Flat and kind of muffled sound. Dont know if thats true of all copies. Sounds good if you crank it though because the vinyl is quiet. Seems like my CD was more dynamic back in the day.

In case anyone is wondering (I couldn't track down the info anywhere online and finally bought a copy to find out) the DVD is likely region free. I can't confirm other regions but it works in my NTSC DVD player in the US.

Despite multiple spin clean cleanings I got some bad pops and skipping on the final track of side b. The track sounds horribly compressed too (like a bad cassette dub). Other than that a decent pressing.

Compressed and my copy was flat but dirty. A nice cleaning helped but have to really crank it to really hear it this really needs a 2 disc pressing

The success was not immediate for Public Enemy, who especially impressed on stage during the Def Jam Tour thanks to the paramilitary choreography of the S1W (Security Of The First World) and the two front men : the massive Chuck D which has one of the most beautiful voices of black music, and the clownesque Flavor Flav with his inimitable teenager voice.

Accelerating the tempo and abandoning any effect on the vocals, the Bomb Squad propels Public Enemy into a new noisy universe ("Bring The Noise") with sort of high-pitched drill sounds that are particularly used in "Don't Believe The Hype", and that will later be found in video games. "Jump Around" by House of Pain has the same arrangements.
The instrumentals also feature metal guitars in "She Watch Channel Zero" and saxophones in an avant-garde RnB like in "Night Of The Living Baseheads". Therefore there's an important diversity of instrumentals.
By reinforcing its radical discourse by abandoning all affordable musicality, Public Enemy is one of the founding fathers of modern noise and put a seminal album on the map.

I particularly like the skits "Mind Terrorist" and "Security Of The World" as such beats will be heard in lots of productions in the following decade, especially in electronic music. Also "Caught, Can We Get A Witness" is personally nostalgic for me as two of my favorite tunes are sampled from there : "Electro Cali" by Pretty Lights and "Freestyle Noize" by Freestylers.
This LP has been sampled as much as the AC Cobra has been replicated, and that's one of the numerous reasons "It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back" is worth the try, made by one of only 4 hip-hop groups that made the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

For me it is simply the best rap album ever, amazing use of sampling, great creativity and raping, conscious lyrics and delivery from Chuck D. glad I bought the first original LP version when it came out. The tune "Night of the Living Baseheads" is just a KILLER!

Lot of calls for this to be a double. Can any owners comment on recording quality? Is none for sale a sign? Thanks!

HMV exclusive, how did I buy it from Amazon then?

Agree with the comment that this would be better served by a double LP but for an affordable opportunity to pick up a bona fide classic this is a good place to start - the sound is clean and full and the yellow vinyl very pleasing to the eye.