Turn It Up! Public Enemy Reissued on Vinyl in England

March 8, 2013 By Mike Duquette — No Comments

With a production team that lived up to their explosive name and a pair of unique vocal stylists at the helm, even the most seasoned rock purist might be able to give in to rap group Public Enemy’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this spring.

While fans pine for deluxe editions of Public Enemy’s hard-hitting discography on CD, Universal’s U.K. arm is releasing a box set of all six of their Def Jam albums on 180-gram vinyl next month.

Public Enemy was a deft combination of two Long Island MCs – the booming bass of Chuck D and the complementary flow of clock-wearing hype man William “Flavor Flav” Drayton – combined with “Minister of Information” Professor Griff, fleet-fingered DJ Terminator X and the production team of Keith and Hank Shocklee and Eric “Vietnam” Sadler, best known as The Bomb Squad. Their dense mix of vintage funk and R&B samples urgently chopped up into shreds, alongside Chuck and Flav’s insistent, socially conscious verses earned them a strong critical following – with favorite tracks like “Bring the Noise,” “Don’t Believe the Hype” and “Fight the Power” – and increasing commercial success.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vQaVIoEjOM]

The group was no stranger to controversy – Griff was terminated in 1989 for anti-Semitic comments made in interviews, some mainstream audiences were uncomfortable with the band’s in-your-face approach to race relations and American politics, and then there was the whole “Flavor Flav on a reality show” thing – but the group (featuring Chuck D, Flav, Griff and DJ Lord, who replaced a retired Terminator X in 1999) continues to record and tour, releasing the albums The Evil Empire of Everything and Most of My Heroes Still Don’t Appear on No Stamp simultaneously in November 2012.

The 25th Anniversary Vinyl Collection features all of the band’s Bomb Squad-helmed albums on Def Jam, from 1987’s Yo! Bum Rush the Show to the 1998 soundtrack to Spike Lee’s He Got Game, newly repressed on 180-gram vinyl. Look for it in U.K. stores April 15, and check out the Amazon pre-order link below.

Public Enemy, The 25th Anniversary Vinyl Collection (Universal (U.K.), 2013)

LP 1: Yo! Bum Rush the Show (originally released as Def Jam FC 40658, 1987)

LP 2: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (originally released as Def Jam C 44303, 1988)

LP 3: Fear of a Black Planet (originally released as Def Jam C 45413, 1990)

LP 4-5: Apocalypse 91…The Enemy Strikes Black (originally released as Def Jam C2 47374, 1991)

LP 6-7: Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age (originally released as Def Jam 314 523 362-1, 1994)

LP 8-9: He Got Game (originally released as Def Jam 314 558 130-1, 1998)

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Mike Duquette

Mike Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he was a teenager. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small. His passion for reissues turned into a career, having written at and worked for all three major catalogue music labels and contributing to Allmusic, Billboard, Discogs, City Pages and Ultimate Classic Rock. He's penned liner notes for Verve, Chess, Mondo and Soul Music Records.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with his wife, a cat named Ravioli, twin daughters and a large yet tasteful collection of music.