"Yo! Bum Rush the Show"
Public Enemy
Def Jam Recordings
Out of the watered-down,
pop-oriented rap music of
today comes Public Enemy, a
rap group that combines
minimal instrumentation with
raps full of street language.
“Yo! Bum Rush the Show”
is a rap album that has nothing
to do with the sophomoric,
“adolescent hormones gone
haywire” posturing of the
Beastie Boys, or the
obnoxious, clownish antics of
the Fat Boys. Public Enemy
delivers the angry, furious rap
that marked the music’s early
days.
Lead voice Chuck D lays
down a cocky rap about his 98
Oldsmobile on the album’s first
track, “You’re Gonna Get
Yours,” a fine example of the
Public Enemy style: simple,
harsh drum programming and
lyrics equally so.
On the record’s next track, D
raps about the woman who
thinks she’s “so-phisticated. ”
“Better walk, don’t talk,
she’s all pretend. Can’t be her
friend unless you spend,” D
warns his listeners as guitarist
Vernon Reid plays a guitar line
that sounds as though it came
from the AC/DC book of riffs.
Public Enemy often adopts a
militant stance in the lyrics of
their raps. In most cases, they
convey a fierce sense of black
pride.
“Rightstarter (Message to a
Black Man)” is a good example
of the band’s tough, black
militant stance. Back-up voice
Flavor Flav takes over the
rhyming chores while lead
scratcher Norman “Terminator
X” Rogers works the
turntables, delivering some
furious scratch work to
accompany the heavy drum
beats.
On “Raise the Roof,”
Rogers delivers more vicious
scratch work and the beats
become louder and harder as
Flav exhorts everybody to
“raise the roof.” One can
almost feel the power in the
driving rhythms on this track.
The album’s best cut is the
title track. Here, D berates the
violence that has plagued so
many rap concerts recently as
beats combine with an
occasional explosion of
synthesizer backing.
The vivid street lingo
sometimes makes the message
in the raps hard to understand,
but there’s no mistaking D’s
angry rail at crack on
“Megablast.”
“Hittin’ mega-pipes, gettin’
super stupid thin,” D declares.
To close out the record,
Rogers jams on the turntables
again on the instrumental
“Terminator X Speaks With
His Hands.”
“Yo! Bum Rush the Show”
is an excellent album that could
very deservingly be called a rap
classic. The simple, furious
instrumentation combined with
the group’s harsh street
posturing make this record a
must-own.
Run-D.M.C., be warned.
These guys are chillin’ and
jammin’ all over the place. And
they take no prisoners!
Review by Shane Hall
The John Thomas Project
John Thomas, vocals; Corrie
Bergeron, guitar, vocals; Scott
Edy, guitar; Rob Engberg,
guitar; George Jones, bass;
Chris Allen, drums.
Kay's Cabaret, Saturday, Feb.
27
★★★
Kay’s Cabaret, a small, cozy
nightspot in the Post Oak Mall,
played host Saturday night to
the John Thomas Project, a
loosely organized group of
musicians whose performances
resemble a jam session more
than a strictly organized band.
The group performs covers of
classic rock favorites from the
1960s and 1970s.
The music was slated to
begin at 9:00 p.m., but when
that time rolled around, not all
of the musicians had arrived.
Nevertheless, the music started
as guitarist and vocalist Corrie
Bergeron strapped on his
acoustic guitar and performed
a folk-oriented instrumental
called “Emerald Eyes. ” This
song was followed by the
arrival of more musicians, so
Bergeron stopped playing to
help set up equipment.
By 9:45, all of the musicians
except drummer Chris Allen
had arrived. Again, Bergeron
began performing, this time
with bass guitar
accompaniment by Jones.
As he has demonstrated in
the past, Bergeron is quite a
talented musician and singer.
Especially good was his version
of Jerry Jeff Walker’s “Mr.
Bojangles. ” Bergeron then
sang a duet with Edy on Simon
and Garfunkel’s “Scarborough
Faire.”
It was at this point that
drummer Allen arrived, so the
audience again shifted its
attention from the musicians
back to the television which
was broadcasting the
Olympics.
By 10:15, the John Thomas
Project was whole and ready to
play. The group started the
show with the Rolling Stones’
“Satisfaction. ” All of the
musicians displayed good
musical skills; especially
guitarist Rob Engberg. His
guitar solo on “Satisfaction”
was the work of a skilled guitar
technician.
Even with the first song, a
notable problem surfaced:
vocals. Thomas’ vocals were
mostly inaudible. Some blame
was placed on the sound
system, because even when
Thomas was talking between
songs, it was difficult to
understand what he was
saying.
But while vocals may have
left something to be desired,
musicianship did not Engberg
emerged as the star of the show
with his powerful guitar solos.
He was clearly at his best when
doing covers of Jimi Hendrix.
“Hey Joe” and Bob Dylan’s
“All Along the Watchtower”
(which Hendrix recorded in
1968) were especially
impressive.
Edy, playing rhythm guitar,
lent a perfect complement to
Engberg with his skillful rock
technique. Adding Bergeron’s
acoustic guitar created a
formidable trio. Meanwhile, the
rhythm section of Jones and
Allen kept the strong, solid beat
that is essential for great rock
’n’ roll.
Thomas, often shouting to
be heard, was generally
drowned out by the
instrumentation. Still, the
sound setup continued to be
suspect because Bergeron’s
vocals did not fare much better
with full instrumental backing.
Nevertheless, the show was
enjoyable from a musical
standpoint. The Animals’
“House of the Rising Sun” and
Jethro Tull’s “Locomotive
Breath” were both performed
well. The group seemed to be
having a good time as well,
which is how a jam session
should be.
Review by Shane Hall
Title Frantic
Starring Harrison Ford
Directed By Roman Polanski
Rated R
★★
Harrison Ford plays the
unlikely hero of Dr. Richard
Walker in Roman Polanski’s
latest film, “Frantic. ” Walker
and his devoted wife Sondra
spent their honeymoon in Paris
in the 1960s, and, twenty years
later, a medical convention has
enabled them to renew their
Paris romance.
However, Sondra
disappears a few hours after
checking into their hotel.
Walker waits patiently for her
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return, then becomes worried
and tries to track her down.
Unfortunately, he is the only
one who will believe that harm
has come to her. The
authorities try to help, but have
a hard time believing that she
was kidnapped.
With only a few clues to go
on, Walker must become a
detective in order to find his
wife. During this search,
Walker meets a beautiful and
mysterious Parisian, played by
Emmanuelle Seigner. These
two form an unlikely alliance,
and together they are able to
find the ransom the kidnappers
demand.
Walker is an absent-minded
American who can’t speak
French trying to find his way
around the Paris underworld.
He is challenged to perform
acts of heroism, even though
he doesn’t want to be a hero.
However, he is very crafty, and
his quick thinking keeps the
team one step ahead of the
kidnappers.
This is a surprising character
for Harrisson Ford to play,
considering he has played the
two of the most swashbuckling
adventurers of movie history,
Indiana Jones and Han Solo.
Ford is a talented actor, and his
portrayal of Dr. Walker, a man
whose love and dedication to
his wife allow him to persevere
in the face of great danger, is
sincere and touching. He is
clearly the most valuable asset
to “Frantic.”
A clever story, with
characterization that avoids the
stereotypical action-heros,
“Frantic” still fails to bring out
the aspects of an action-thriller.
Polanski’s command of the
action is sometimes powerful,
resulting in memorable,
exciting scenes, but most often
fumbling and confusing. By
failing to build suspense, the
resolution of a possibly exciting
scene is boring.
One merit of the film is the
photography. With the
exception of a simplistic focus
on otherwise convincing
symbols, the photography is
excellent Polanski has a
command of the dark, shifting
aspects of surrealism, and uses
light very effectively.
Polanski pays for not
building a net during the film
by losing his balance and falling
from the tightrope of directing
with the ending. Not only is the
final action ridiculous, but
Polanski choses to write
Seigner out of the story in such
a way as to make the haunting
attraction she provided seem
unimportant.
“Frantic” is a film with good
intentions, but it loses focus
and interest.
Reuieiu by Matthew Stewart