Rating:
Genre:
Rap
Release Date: 03/25/2003
Although
the Fine Arts Militia is led by
Public Enemy's
Chuck D, don't expect a
PE-style sonic onslaught of pummeling samples and mile-a-minute rhymes.
Brian Hardgroove is in musical charge here, creating soundscapes that marry elements of
funk,
rock, and
jazz in varying proportions. In these more musically straightforward surroundings,
Chuck D is at his most direct, dropping all pretense in favor of calm, rational treatises on topics ranging from global politics in a post-9/11 world (the two-part
"A Twisted Sense of God") to cultural commentators so out of touch that they think "
rap" and "
hip-hop" are interchangeable terms. The points are entirely valid and intelligently addressed, although those
Public Enemy listeners who preferred to tune out the lyrics in favor of
the Bomb Squad's groundbreaking production style will find it much harder to do that with
We Are Gathered Here; for all the power of
Hardgroove's musical settings, the focus throughout is entirely on
Chuck D, where it belongs.
~Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
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