When Vince Furnier took over ownership of the Alice Cooper name and launched his solo career back in the mid-70's, I think the intention was to gain stardom on the level of an Elton John or a Bowie along with developing the character in ways previously unheard of. What happened instead was real life interference - specifically, the pressures of keeping up appearances in the public eye, and the effects of continual substance abuse. Two albums into the venture, cracks in the dam were beginning to show, yet on Goes to Hell, Alice and crew are still functioning at near-optimum abilities, for the most part. Backed by the usual co-horts (Bob Ezrin, Steve Hunter, and Dick Wagner) it's an introspective affair, overall, and definitely has more insight than the outright camp that was all over the previous Welcome to My Nightmare.

Everyone has to get their start somewhere. For 80's Casanova pop star Robert Palmer, it was with Vinegar Joe, a rollicking theatrical blues rock outfit from the U.K. which also featured the raunchy pipes of female counterpart Elkie Brooks and multi-instrumentalist Pete Gage. They all share the spotlight in a roughly equal fashion, through a pleasant, engaging, and versatile set of groove-heavy songs - although at certain points Brooks' vocal gymnastics can't help but get out in front. Not to mention, tracks like "Leg Up" and "Never Met A Dog" had a thread that the studio was never going to ever capture.

This was the group's big play on a number of levels. Partly a response to the controversy generated over band member Professor Griff's comments about Jews, and also building on the popularity of "Fight the Power" which had been recorded the year before for Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing, the group constructed possibly the most conceptual album the hip-hop world has ever witnessed. There is a little bit too much filler (a failing of all concept albums, I suppose) but overall, Fear of a Black Planet is easily one of the most engaging, entertaining, and educational records ever made, in any genre, bar none.

The album which established Public Enemy as the preeminent social and political force in hip-hop...but for all the dizzying samples, noises, segues, shouts, and raps, there was still a nagging feeling that the group had much more ground to cover. Which they would...but here, it was enough to wow audiences at the time, and get the music world to take the genre seriously.

Sure, it sounds like it came out right on the heels of Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys circa 86-87...and it's unmistakably a Public Enemy album, through and through. Just not a good one - at least compared to what would soon follow.