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"They were definitely at the top of the chain when it came to purveyors of quality urbane pop of the time." (This review)
This is album review number One Hundred and Eighty Six in the series of retro-reviews of both vinyl and CD albums from my collection.
The series is called Cream of The Crate and each review represents an album that I believe represents significant musical value, either because of its rarity, because it represents the best of a style or styles of a music or because there is something unique about the music, the group or the particular production. The first fifty reviews were based on vinyl albums from my collection, with the following fifty on CD albums from my collection. Links to all these reviews can be found at the bottom of the page.
This is a rare trip into the 1990's, not my favourite period, but there were some interesting groups starting to refine street rap into excellent music, and this week's group is one such group.
The group is the Stereo MC's and this is a CD album is titled - Connections. Released on the Island label in 1992 it has the identifying code of 512 743-2. It is a twelve track album.
The Stereo MC's started out as a three-man electro hip-hop band with Rob "B" [Birch], The Head [Nick Hallam] and Owen If [Ian Rossiter]. They first came together in the East End of London, Clapham, in 1985, when this style of music was really making itself known on clubs and other live venues. Now while radio was a little slower picking it up, by the time their first third album was released in 1990, they became the first English hip hop band to get a single into the US R&B charts - that single being Elevate My Mind from that 3rd album, Supernatural.
Rob B, Owen If & The Head - Stereo MC's
In having that single in the USA they had in fact, re-exported hip hop back to it's origins.
Their live band performances included singers Andrea Bedassie and Verona Davis, as well as Cath Coffey who also worked with the band in the studio. They were one of the few hip hop outfits to play rock music festivals at the time. When they released the album Connected in 1992, they recorded it with Verona Davis and Andrea Groves in addition to Cath Coffey.
Connected the album remains one of my all time favourites in this style of music, which is a style that I find I have to be selective in. This album, now one of a total of ten which does not including their first release being an EP, contains the single Connected, which never made number 1, in fact their only single to do that was Lost In the Music which reached number 1 in 1991 in the US Dance Music Charts.
However, Connected the single rated in more charts than any single prior or post this album's release, in ten countries, and twice in the USA where it reached a very respectable number 8 in the Alternate rock charts. The album spent almost a year on the UK album chart, peaking at Number 2.
Their last album release however was Emperor's Nightingale in 2011. The track Boy was lifted as a single and it failed to chart.
The group has had its share of success but not set the world on fire. When we look at Connected we find an album that won Best British Album at the 1994 Brit Awards. Q magazine placed Connected at number 52 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums and album was also included in the book the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
I am selective about rap, hip-hop and the variations because while I think the music of the "streets" can be exciting and raw, generally it's simply pulse driven and limited in other elements of music I appreciate. In Connected the Stereo MC's have shown this does not need to be the case. The album is a great mash-up of rap, hi-hop and damn fine dance music. It has strong pulse, but it is overflowing with rhythms, and, it has melody and even harmony. In fact it is cheekily funky with an element of swing. That makes this album stand out. In fact initially nobody knew what to call their mix of groove, soul, melody and inspirational raps, but that meant that no one group of listeners could claim it as exclusively their own.
As Jim Carroll wrote in his 1992 review of this album, "A joyful collision of sounds and vibes, influences and attitude, uptown trains and downtown nights, this album knows the score."
Track Listing:
1. Connected
2. Ground Level
3. Everything
4. Sketch
5. Fade Away
6. All Night Long
7. Step It Up
8. Playing With Fire
9. Pressure
10. Chicken Shake
11. Creation
12. The End
Personnel
- Robert Charles "Rob B." Birch: Vocals
- Nick "The Head" Hallam: DJ
- Ian Frederick "Owen If" Rossiter: Drums, Percussion
- Cath Coffey: Backing Vocals
Additional Personnel
- James Hallawell: Keyboards, Organ
- Paul O. Kane, Matthew Seligman: Bass
- Chicu Modu: Sax
- Ivan Hussey, Johnny T., Anya Ulman: Strings
- Kick Horns: Brass
So we come to the first track - Connected, which is the killer track of the album and almost makes the album worthwhile on its own. It's so close to a perfect song with Birch's sharp lyrics layered brilliantly over those mesmerising beats. The track is chock a block with jazz riffs (hardly the stuff hip-hop was supposed to be based on), it has unlikely instruments such as flutes and I love the chunky chugging organ and Rob B's fine growling rap is in a rap class of its own. It is supplemented, with a mire ground level lay-back rap where Cath Coffey's vocals act as a counterpoint to the shuffling background beat.
Nor should we lose sight of the clever DJ mixing that is outstanding on this track, courtesy of "The Head".
Nick "The Head" Hallam
From the moment it kicks off you know you are listening to some of the classiest rap ever recorded, where they have built on that firm base that artists like Grandmaster Flash started, and really, their only competition for this "Classy rap", might be the KLF, who incidentally were another British group. This is without doubt the top track on an album of fine music, it has it all - the lyrics, the pulse, rhythm, great harmony from the backing singers and damn fine musicianship.
Kudo's for the production work guys!
Somethin' ain't right
Gonna get myself, I'm gonna get myself
Gonna get myself connected
I ain't gonna go blind
For the light which is reflected
I see through you, I see through you
I see through you, I see through you
Ya dirty tricks, ya make me sick
I see through you, I see through you
Gonna do it again, gonna do it again
I'm (gonna do it again, gonna do it again)
Gotta do right (gonna do it again)
'Cause somethin' ain't right (gonna do it again)
Gotta do right, come on
If you make sure you're connected,
The writing's on the wall
But if your mind's neglected,
Stumble you might fall
Stumble you might fall
Stumble you might fall
I, ain't gonna go blind
Gonna get myself, I'm gonna get myself
I'm gonna get myself connected
I ain't gonna go blind
For the light that is reflected
Hear me out
Do it again, do it again
Do it again, do it again
I wanna do it again, I wanna do it again
I wanna through it again
Ya terrified (I wanna do it again)
Ain't gonna go blind, ain't gonna go blind
(I wanna do it again) here we go
If you make sure you're connected,
The writing's on the wall
But if your mind's neglected,
Stumble you might fall
Stumble you might fall, hear me out
Stumble you might fall
Interstate five stayin' alive
Won't someone try open up your eyes
You must be blind if you can't see
The gapin' hole called reality
Ow, wanna do it again,
I know I'm gonna do it again
I wanna do it again, come on,
I'm gonna do it again
Hear me out, terrified
Somethin' ain't right, here we go
If you make sure you're connected,
The writing's on the wall
But if your mind's neglected,
Stumble you might fall