Essential Grandmaster Flash, The

Considering that Grandmaster Flash didn't release a whole lot of tracks in the first half of the '80s, there sure have been a whole lot of compilations sourced from that body of work. The same label that put out this release in 2007, in fact, had just put out a Grandmaster Flash collection in 2005 -- a very similarly titled one (Essential Cuts), for that matter. The Essential is different from Essential Cuts, however, for while the 2005 Essential Cuts release was just one disc, 2007's The Essential is a two-CD set, its 20 tracks adding up to almost two hours of music released under the Grandmaster Flash name from 1980-1985 (though a couple of the cuts were credited to the Furious Five). It's likely that the average rap fan will be happy with a mere single-disc Grandmaster Flash best-of, but for those who want more, this double CD is still solid. All the necessary cuts are here -- "The Message," "Freedom," "White Lines (Don't Do It)" -- as well as some valuable items that don't necessarily make it onto single-disc Grandmaster Flash anthologies, like "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel," "Freestyle," and "Jesse." While the liner notes don't make for the most thorough history of Grandmaster Flash likely to be written, they do a satisfactory job of pinning down the essential facts and developments of their prime years. ~ Richie Unterberger|