| | Ultramagnetic MC's Critical Beatdown CD Ultramagnetic MC's Discography of CDs
 (4 Customer Reviews)
When discussing albums that helped to redefine rap music in the late 1980s, it would be impossible not to mention CRITICAL BEATDOWN. The debut album from the Ultramagnetic MC's is one of the pinnacle releases of 1988's "new school" movement. Over frenetic, self-produced tracks that sound like the Bomb Squad beaming down from outer space, rappers Kool Keith and Ced-Gee deliver esoteric and often comical lyrics that somehow manage to retain a street attitude. It is this truly original blend that makes CRITICAL BEATDOWN such a timeless listening experience. Standout tracks include "Ease Back" and the bona fide classic "Ego Trippin'," though every song is memorable. Why CRITICAL BEATDOWN never found a mainstream audience is anyone's guess, but its influence on hip-hop cannot be understated.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
Live Recording
Ultramagnetic MC's: Kool Keith, Ced-Gee, TR Love (vocals); Moe Love (turntables).
Producers include: Ultramagnetic MC's.
Melody Maker (10/18/97, p.53) - "...full of scratch-tastic heavy beat, gold plated hip hop which manages to combine the minimalist ground-breaking Sugar Hill sounds with the show-no-mercy aural assault of the then-emerging Public Enemy."
NME (Magazine) (10/4/97, p.55) - 9 (out of 10) - "Kool Keith is the Prodigy's favourite rapper, and this relic of his time in the Ultramagnetic MC's...is why....they knew what they were doing, and everyone's been playing catch-up since. A bona fide classic." Ultramagnetic MC's Critical Beatdown Songs Critical Beatdown Music Review Average Rating: (5 out of 5 stars)  Hip Hop Classic
Up there with the best classic Hip Hop like PE's Takes a Nation album and De La Souls' 3 Feet High this is one of the defining albums of the genre. Trust me, you can't do without this album.
Submitted by a reviewer (London, UK) 
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No Critical Classic!!
This album set the stage for the new school point blank!! Ced-Gee was the first producer besides his competitor Marley Marl to chop groove samples and drum breaks on the sp-12 sampler and add absract noise sounds to create a hardcore funk sound!! He and lyrical wizard Kool Keith took lyrical complexity to the next level with big word technology, and off beat delivery but keeping the bronx street flavor on every track!! DJ Moe Love scratching up every thing from military spoken word records to Michael Jackson on the hooks.
Critical Beatdown is straight up Bronx B-Boy hip hop in it's purist form!!
Peep the many subliminal lyrical diss lines to everyone from LL, Run DMC, and even the God Rakim!!
Submitted by asrxpro2001 (Chicago)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No A rap hurricane!
The lyricism of Keith and Ced G is so 2008 and the beats are just disgustingly solid and funky. Man, this album is loud at low volumes and DJ Screw(may his soul RIP) couldnt slow it down, it is scientifical madness!
Submitted by chronwell (Washington DC)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No Everyone is doin' the ULTRAMAGNETIC thing now
Nobody gave them respect,nobody liked the earth-shattering beats. Nobody liked their witty-wicked word play. Nobody saw what very few saw in KOOL KEITH,CED-GEE,MOE LOVE & T.R. LOVE better known as the ULTRAMAGNETIC MC'S. CRITICAL BEATDOWN is an overlooked hip-hop wonderland. Duplicated by today's MC's and producers. But this album originated in 1988. Go figure? No. ULTRAMAGNETIC is the future,even though they are a group no more,anything released nowadays by new comers revolve around this almost 20 year old album,alone.
Submitted by draughnwill (Morristown,NJ)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No | Have you heard this album? |  |
Purchase Critical Beatdown CD To buy, Click on price to add to cart | Black Moon Enta Da Stage CD (1993)
Critical Beatdown
 $12.99   
This is the defining album of East Coast crime rap, which was largely established by the Brooklyn-based Boot Camp Clik of MCs. ENTA DA STAGE is a classic in its genre, featuring deep-in-the-crates beats by DJ Evil Dee (who continues to have a presence in New York's underground hip-hop scene), lurid street imagery delivered by MCs Buckshot and 5T and a flavor forever reminiscent of early-'90s New York.
As much a social phenomenon as a congregation of MCs and DJs, the Boot Camp Clik spawned Smif-N-Wesson (who later changed their name to Cocoa Brovaz after the arms manufacturer commenced litigation), Heltah Skeltah and the Originoo Gunn Clappaz. ENTA DA STAGE contains the classics "Who's Got Da Props?", "How Many MC'są," "Buck Em Down," (a perfect ...
| | Great Adventures Of Slick Rick CD (1998)
Critical Beatdown
$8.39
In the history of rap music, there are few artists who can be labeled as pioneers. One such artist is Slick Rick who, along with partner Doug E. Fresh, is the rapper responsible for such long-standing hip-hop classics as "The Show" and "La Di Da Di." With the special rhythmic flow of his accented vocals (he was born and raised in England) and powerful, innovative production, THE GREAT ADVENTURES OF SLICK RICK further led Rick Walters down the road of quick, massive fame and sealed his reputation as a master MC.
At the time of this solo debut, Slick Rick's personalized style was ground-breaking. The first single, "Children's Story," crowned Rick the king of rap's storytellers. He was able to turn the truthful pain and hardships of his community into entertaining tales that opened the eyes of the industry, and gave hip-hop a new thematic avenue. With the exception of LL Cool J's "I Need Love," Rick's "Teenage ...
| | De La Soul 3 Feet High And Rising CDs (1989)
Critical Beatdown
$15.25
3 FEET HIGH AND RISING includes a limited edition bonus disc containing rare B-sides and remixes.
They were like a breath of fresh air when they showed up on the scene in 1989, bringing a new vision to the young genre still known as rap. With one album De La Soul helped usher in the New School that dominated hip hop before the rise of Gangsta. Sure, some of 3 FEET HIGH AND RISING may already sound dated, like some strange relic from an imaginary 1989 summer of love, but it's still packed with the energy and humor that made it so irresistible in the first place. Posdnuos, Trugoy and Mase rapped in a lazily melodic code you could spend hours trying to decipher, but once you accepted the "Change In Speak," it was easier to just lay back and let the diverse samples move your butt.
The hits still sound fresh--pop chestnuts like "Eye Know" and "Buddy" (featuring the first appearance of A Tribe Called Quest), as well as self-descriptive songs like "The Magic Number." And although the game show theme that binds together the loose frame of the record is a bit silly, it must be remembered that it created the current craze of interludes and asides found on today's rap albums (from Wu Tang Clan to Too Short).
3 FEET HIGH... is the epitome of Afro-centric peace-oriented rap; yet De La Soul moved on very quickly from this manifestation of the style, although they've yet to lose their ...
| | VH1 Presents The Corrs Live In Dublin CD (2002)
Critical Beatdown
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This audio document of The Corrs' Dublin homecoming concert has pretty much everything fans of Irish pop could wish for, including an appearance from Bono in his earthly incarnation, fresh from an audience with President George W. Bush. It's to the band's credit that the charismatic singer fails to steal the show, despite creditable efforts via an anthemized version of Ryan Adams' beautifully downtempo "When the Stars Go Blue," and a great, leering rendition of Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra's "Summer Wine."
Somewhat more mysteriously, Rolling Stone Ron Wood also turns up on what sounds dangerously close to a lounge ...
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| | Arashk Ustuqus-Al-Uss CD (2008)
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"ARASHK is one of the more interesting projects in progressive metal bringing their own interpretations with no boundaries..."- Prog Metal Team, progarchives.comUstuqus-al-Uss is composed and played by Salim Ghazi Saeedi, a member of Iranian progressive rock band, Arashk.This album is cross-genre in nature. Unlike previous albums, Ustuqus-al-Uss hires violin and piano as lead instruments and many versatile elements live ...
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