Ultramagnetic MC's - Critical Beatdown
Product Information
Track List: Critical Beatdown
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Album Details: Critical Beatdown
- Release Date:
- 09/19/1991
- Label:
- Roadrunner Uk
- UPC:
- 016861549626
User Reviews: Critical Beatdown
-
It still Beats Down!!
, January 4, 2007Reviewer: marc d - See all marc d's reviews -
CLASSIC
, May 30, 2003Reviewer:
kingpin2gc - See all kingpin2gc's reviews CLASSIC CLASSIC CLASSIC HIP HOP ALBUM
read all (5) user reviews for Critical Beatdown
Pro Reviews: Critical Beatdown
| EXPERT RATING: From AMG Reviews Besides being an undeniable hiphop classic, the first album by the cult crew Ultramagnetic MCs introduced to the world the largerthanlife, oneofakind personality of Kool Keith. That alone would make this some sort of landmark recording, but it also happens to be one of the finest rap albums from the mid to late'80s new school" in hiphop that numbered among its contributors RunD.M.C., Public Enemy, and Boogie Down Productions. Critical Beatdown easily stands with the classic recordings made by those giants, and it is, in some ways, more intriguing because of how shortlived Ultramagnetic turned out to be. It would be wrong to assume that the finest thing about the album is its lyrical invention. Lyrically the group is inspired, to be sure, but the production is equally forwardlooking. Critical Beatdown is full of the sort of gritty cuts that would define hiphop's underground scene, with almost every song sounding like an instant classic. Although he turns in a brilliant performance, Kool Keith had not yet taken completely off into the stratosphere at this early point. He still has at least one foot planted on the street, and gives the album a viscerally real feel and accessibility that his later work sometimes lacks. His viewpoint is still uniquely and oddly individual, though, and he already shows signs of the freakish conceptualizing persona that would eventually surface fully under the guise of Dr. Octagon. If Kool Keith gives the album its progressive mentality and adrenaline rush, Ced Gee gives it its streetlevel heft, and is, in many ways, the album's core. Somewhere in the nexus between the two stylistic extremes, brilliant music emanated. Critical Beatdown maintains all its sharpness and every ounce of its power, and it has not aged one second since 1988. - Stanton Swihart, All Music Guide |
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Roots & Influences
Ultramagnetic MC's Biography
Arising from the Boogie Down Bronx in the mid-'80s as a far-flung hip-hop trio with a heap of new ideas to try out, Ultramagnetic's Kool Keith, Ced Gee, and DJ Moe Love occupy something of a singular place in the old-school pantheon. Combining funk-h...Full Ultramagnetic MC's Biography
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-- ©2008 All Media Guide, LLC
Pros: Pure Classic
Cons: Pure Classic
UltraMagnetic were awesome because of them being one of the first groups to flip samples on the sp-12. Ced-Gee was the first to chop samples on the sp12 to kick off the new sound of flipping break beat sampled drums and lacing it with a raw funky sound. He not only produced Ultra but he produced the Criminal Minded Album by BDP. Kool Keith and Ced-Gee were one of the first Mc's besides Treacherous Three, Just-Ice, and T-la Rock to use off beat cadence and big word vocabulary but doing it an abstract funky way like on "Ease Back" and "Delta Force One", "One minute less", and "I burn". All the joynts on "Critical Beatdown" sound mega full with alot of base bottom because it was enginered by the late great Paul C. This album is timeless and worth the buck!! ...