Since back in the '80s, when rap and heavy metal both got really big, people have tried to meld the two different genres together somehow. I mean, hey, both tend to be about rebellion and youth, right?
Logically, the combo should work. This idea has inspired numerous groups to try the mix with varying degrees of success, from Anthrax, Public Enemy, Aerosmith and Run DMC to newer artists like Rage Against the Machine, Faith No More, and 24-7 Spyz.
Some real crap has been produced as a result of the metal/rap crossover (i.e., Body Count, but I don't count that as rap anyway), but it's also given us some real gems, like this album. Actually, to be honest, this isn't a metal-rap album. I can imagine the choking expressions on fans' faces if I called Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., or Teenage Fanclub "metal." Let's call it "alternative," instead (that's what the album's been billed as, anyway).
But don't be fooled by that label: this album is not an "alternative" album, either. It's solid rap, with the sole exceptions being the Slayer/Ice-T speed metal shredfest and the Mudhoney/Sir Mix-A-Lot track.
For the most part, the rap artists do the vocals and beats, and the alternative bands do the backup music. The bands play off one another very well, in most cases, though the way they do varies from track to track.
"Just Another Victim" -- Helmet & House of Pain: This song kicks off the album, but ends up being not one but two separate songs. Helmet starts "Just Another Victim" with typically brutal force. It's strongly reminiscent of just about anything off their debut major-label album "Meantime," with jagged, slashing guitar by Page Hamilton and Peter Mengede and Hamilton's curt, hostile lyrics.
At about 2 minutes 15 seconds, though, House of Pain takes over, sampling Helmet guitar bits and turning the tune into hardcore rap. I'm no House of Pain fan, but I have to say that this is easily the best tune I've heard from 'em -- the lyrics actually sound kind of intelligent for once. Both parts put together, this track starts off the CD with a heavy punch.
"Fallin'" -- Teenage Fanclub & De La Soul: A sharp contrast to a lot of the other stuff on here, "Fallin'" is a sunny, mellow groove, backed by sparse, wavery shoegazer guitars. A lot more integrated than "Just Another Victim," Teenage Fanclub only appear vocally at the intro, but are goofing and playing in the background all the way through. This is a good one to crank when you're in a good mood. And don't worry, the only Tom Petty connection is a sample of him singing "Fallin'..."
"Me, Myself & My Microphone" -- Living Colour & Run DMC: I hate to say this about any band, but Run DMC sounds seriously dated. Their style hasn't changed much in the past decade, and while "party rap" was cool back then, times have changed. I have to hand it to Living Colour, though, for damn good melodic metal backups. It actually doesn't sound much like L.C., but instead reminds me of the later 24-7 Spyz' brand of metal-rap (probably because Corey Glover doesn't sing on any part of this). Not bad.
"Judgment Night" -- Biohazard & Onyx: Onyx has a talent for knocking out heavy-as-hell shout-alongs. This is typical Onyx more than anything else, just with guitars in the background -- the slamming beats and psycho, yelping lyrics go well with the sinister-sounding guitar wailing. You've heard "Slam?" Well, then you've heard this, too. Okay, so it's impossible to take Onyx seriously. It's still fun to yell along with.
"Disorder" -- Slayer & Ice-T: Oh, please. This is the one non-rap track on here: not a sample or beat in sight. Speed metal, through and through, without anything new thrown in for variety. Bo-ring. Oh, and Ice? Yeah, thanks for yelling "L.A. '92" over and over again, 'cause I'd completely blanked out my memory of the event. Why is it that anything he does he somehow links to the riots? I don't even see what the song's lyrics have to do with anything that happened then.
Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, this is on permanent skip for me. The most generic speed-metal around and the worst rap around, paired up to make us all ill. Hooray.
"Another Body Murdered" -- Faith No More & Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E.: I'm glad this track is here, so I can wash the taste of Slayer and Ice-T out of my ears. This is probably the best track, overall, on the whole album, and the best real meshing of the two featured bands. The Boo-Yaas (a family of big fucking Samoan brothers) have made forays into this area before with stuff like the ever-hard "Pickin' Up Metal," and the experience shows in the skill they rip lyrics over FNM's musical pounding.
For their part, Faith No More throws in some great idiosyncratic touches, like Mike Patton's operatic bellowing and distorted screaming and Roddy Bottum's stately piano lines. Bill Gould's live bass thunders and gallops beneath, and guitarist Jim Martin chugs along right beside. I would welcome a whole album like this with open arms.
"I Love You Mary Jane" -- Sonic Youth & Cypress Hill: This is strange. Maybe I should've expected it, considering the bands paired up here, but this still weirds me out and grates on my nerves -- in a good way. One of the few tunes featuring real vocals from both bands, "Mary Jane" has Kim Gordon singing nursery rhyme-type stuff in a breathy voice mixed in with Cypress Hill's pot-heavy, slippery nasal lyrics.
The rest of Sonic Youth really doesn't come in until the end, staying sparse and trippy through most of the song, meandering in with a bit of noise every once in awhile. They finally nose in around with some noise-guitar and eerie, echoey feedback. The whole is dizzy, swaying drug-rap, a lot like Cypress Hill's latest album.
"Freak Momma" -- Mudhoney & Sir Mix-A-Lot: The reigning Clown Prince of Rap and the sloppiest band ever to come out of Seattle, together at last. This one isn't rap but a blast-from-the-past surf-rock tune with Mix-A-Lot's silly sex lyrics rapped over the top. The music is pure Mudhoney, and the song is nowhere near serious. "Just lost my street credibility, y'all!" Oh, and you had so much to begin with, right?
"Missing Link" - Dinosaur Jr. & Del the Funky Homosapien: Another seemingly perfect match-up, with one-man-band J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr and Del himself. Unfortunately, while both are good, they just don't mix really well. J's guitar is catchy and rockish (I actually thought this was the Pearl Jam track before I checked the liner notes), but Del's lyrics are just too damn quick to fit in. He really needs some heavy bass and psychedelic, wacked guitars to back him up, not Dinosaur Jr. That said, this track isn't that bad -- I'm just disappointed that it's not as good as I think it could be.
"Come and Die" -- Therapy? & Fatal: Ouch...this hits hard. Another well-meshed track, this one is so blended I can't tell where Fatal ends and Therapy? starts. Therapy? is definitely behind the music, making industrial metal that's darker than most of its usual stuff, but I honestly can't tell who's doing the yelling.
This song is frightening, from the distorted samples of "die" in the background to the "come and die with me" chorus. Maybe "Come and Die" isn't as inherently fucked-up as stuff by Foetus or Cop Shoot Cop, but when the song ends with psychotic laughter and a gunshot, I feel a chill run down my spine.
"Real Thing" -- Pearl Jam & Cypress Hill: The boys from Pearl Jam contribute the music and Cypress Hill makes it their own. The chorus still sounds like Pearl Jam, even when sung by Cypress Hill, but there's no Eddie Vedder here, except maybe in the wispy background vocals. The music is strangely appropriate, for some reason, sounding a good bit harder than most of "Ten." Not the best track, by far, but a decent collaboration.
Well, there you have it. Despite the fact that this has got to be some record exec's sales brainstorm ("hmm...alternative's selling big, and so's this 'rap' thing, so why not combine 'em? The MTV crowd'll love it."), this is a very strong album with some impressive tunes. Check it.
(The Rice Thresher, Volume ??? No. ???, October 22, 1993)