A rather underwhelming double album. The most notable attribute here are four lengthy jams which are laidback, and the material peppered in between straddles the line between rock and adult contemporary. Too much filler to justify aborsing this in one sitting.

I'm conflicted about this album, because there are some arguably great moments contained within, and equally amateur ones as well, and that's not a compliment. My best guess is overall they have pulled together a roughshod update of the classic formula which brought them success at the turn of the 90's. Even Professor Griff returns to the fold for a couple of tracks. It's easy to dismiss this as just another awful rehash attempt, but they are trying different things with varying results, and one thing that could always be said about Public Enemy is they were never afraid of change. Case in point - the epic, 12 minute "Superman's Black In The Building", which features a Dylan-like twangy guitar riff, booming beats straight out of the 80's, and Chuck D proselytizing like old times. Like the album overall, despite the ups and downs it's unexpected, a bit head-scratching, and ultimately you're better for the experience.

By 1994 the rap landscape had changed and Public Enemy's politically-charged style was seen as cumbersome compared to the fast glamor of gangsta rap, modern R&B, and the East/West feud. This did not stop them from pushing the envelope; to the contrary, this is their most progressive record post-Black Planet, featuring live drumming, chant vocals and field-type noises to replace the layers of sampling, with Flav and Chuck rapping at apoplectic levels. Admittedly, there is filler, as the group still has it in their heads to make these conceptual records with regular tracks surrounded by lots of interludes, but more than ever before the line between the two are blurred - a good example of this is the first half of the second side of the album. Additionally, they re-imagine a couple of older songs - The Chambers Brothers "Time Has Come Today" ("Race Against Time") and The Last Poets "White Man's Got A God Complex" ("Godd Complexx") - but make them sound like stone-cold P.E. originals. I completely recommend this to any listener and arguably, this is the last classic record the group released.

The previous album was a tough act to follow; even tougher considering the upheaval the group went through during the lead-up to Apocalypse 91's release. Long story short, the final product suffered from an influx of sheer filler and the simple fact that the backing tracks were not nearly as formidable as before. Still, there were plenty of strongholds to be encountered, such as "Can't Truss It", "Shut'em Down", and the massive "By The Time I Get To Arizona" which protested New Hampshire and Arizona being the only states to not declare Martin Luther King Day as a national holiday. This, along with the infamous rap/rock remake of "Bring The Noise" with Anthrax, exposed the group to a wider audience, and made Apocalypse '91 their biggest selling record, but not their best. Not even close.

This seemingly motley crew were actually an offshoot of a long running cover band in Baton Rouge, Louisiana called The Basement Wall, and their name was a local culinary reference. First Taste was a sludgy, swampy, bushwackin' affair which adeptly blended both the regional flavor of the Bayou with hard, organ-driven rock of the Vanilla Fudge and Deep Purple variety. "Riverboat" and "Toballby" typify the album in different ways; both are frenetic, loud, and cover odd topics - even though the former track has lots of starts, stops, and changes, and the latter is essentially one long jam broken up by a bizarre drum solo. If there is a fault, it's that they are a bit over-exuberant.