Track Listing
1. Obatala
2. Buffalo Gals
3. Double Dutch
4. Merengue
5. Punk It Up
6. Legba
7. Jive My Baby
8. Song For Chango
9. Soweto
10. World's Famous
11. Duck For The Oyster
Review
Mr. McLaren is probably one of the most annoying characters in the history of music. You hear him speak in an interview and you just feel like punching him, he is all that is wrong with British snobbery.
Frankly if it wasn't for his direct contributions to the album, particularly in terms of voice, it would have been a perfectly good album. But when McLaren's voice kicks in I just feel like punching my speakers.
The concept of the album is interesting, it is built as if it was a radio show by the World's Famous, and then it explores "world music" with a hip-hoppish slant. Now it is only natural that track number two would have been sampled by Eminem, McLaren and him could be shot on the same rocket into the sun and I would sleep better at night.
The music in its base is not bad, but McLaren manages to ruin each track with some kind of unwanted or unnecessary addition. Could have been good.
Track Highlights
1. Soweto
2. Double Dutch
3. Song For Chango
4. Jive My Baby
Final Grade
7/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Guest musicians featured on this album include Trevor Horn, Anne Dudley, J. J. Jeczalik. Side recordings that these three artists did in-between Duck Rock takes would eventually become the first album for Art of Noise. Clips of the World's Famous Supreme Team radio show appear between songs.
McLaren shits all over the great song that is Soweto, just look at him, playing the white twat that he is:
4 comments:
Malcolm Maclaren keeping it real...REAL CRAP that is.
I am a keen promoter of openess, communication and understanding for conflict resolution but in Malcolm's case, I'll make an exception and plump for giving him a good kicking any day.
I think you're being a tad unfair on McClaren here. I think the Pistols are over-rated, Bow Wow Wow a fabulous band left in the lurch by McClaren when he got bored with them, but this album has to be seen in context.
This was pretty much not only the first exposure Britain had to world music, it was also almost the first exposure we had to hip-hop. Buffalo Gals, with it's video of body popper and breakdancers on the streets of New York was a revelation and inspired an entire generation. Tunes like Soweto and Merengue brought the vibrant african polyrhythms into the British charts in a way that hadn't happened before.
Yes, it's slathered in his white, non-musical attempts at rap and DJing and it might have been better had he let the musicians get on with it themselves, but put this album into context. This was world music and hip hop in the British charts for pretty much the first time and as such it probably deserves more than the 7 you've given it.
Shu: Sign me up.
Lanark: I agree with everything you are saying, but Malcolm keeps ruining every single song, just look at Soweto, a great track ruined by McLaren's completely unnecessary rapping.
Basically it would have been a great album if he had kept his voice out of it, he just shits all over the thing, making every single song grate on my nerves when he comes on. And that is why it gets a 7, it might have been a 9 if one could digitally remove McLaren from the mix.
To paraphrase Top Gun, his ego is writing cheques his ability can't cash.
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