It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back

Rolling Stone (11/89) - Ranked #12 in Rolling Stone's "100 Best Albums Of The Eighties" survey. Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p.110) - Ranked #48 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" - "...Loud, obnoxious, funky, avant-garde, political, uncompromising, hilarious..." Spin - Included in Spin's list of the Top Ten College Cult Classics - "...In any context, a revolutionary work..." Spin (12/03, p.122) - "...NATION OF MILLIONS lived up to its hype and then some..." Q (10/01, p.44) - Ranked #47 in Q's "Best 50 Albums of Q's Lifetime" Q (9/95, p.132) - 5 Stars - Indispensable - "...the greatest rap album of all time, a landmark and classic...." Q (p.140) - 4 stars out of 5 - "Packed full of loud, obnoxious classics....You really should own this by now." Alternative Press (11/00, p.144) - Included in AP's "10 Essential Political-Revolution Albums" Alternative Press (8/01, p.112) - Included in AP's "10 Essential '80s Albums". Alternative Press (7/95, pp.76-77) - Ranked #6 in AP's list of the 'Top 99 Of '85-'95' - "...After IT TAKES A NATION OF MILLIONS TO HOLD US BACK, rap couldn't just be stupid and boom and yelp--it had to have production values and 'relevance'..." Vibe (12/99, p.158) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century Vibe (6/02, p.108) - Ranked #1 in Vibe's "Top 10 rap albums". Melody Maker (7/22/95, p.35) - Bloody Essential - "...I hadn't believed it could get harder [than YO! BUM RUSH THE SHOW]. Or better....It was like being beaten over the head in four/four time with a skip..." Mojo (Publisher) (6/00, pp.124-5) - "...Responsible for the angriest polemic since The Last Poets....[They] revolutionized the music, using up to 80 backing tracks in the sonic assault....to these ears PE sound like the greatest rock'n'roll band in history." NME (Magazine) (9/25/93, p.18) - Ranked #5 in NME's list of The 50 Greatest Albums Of The '80s - "...[IT TAKES A NATION...] drags punk, rock, and hip-hop screaming towards the end of the century....Definitive..." NME (Magazine) (10/2/93, p.29) - Ranked #9 in NME's list of the 'Greatest Albums Of All Time.' NME (Magazine) (7/15/95, p.47) - 10 (out of 10) - "...the greatest hip-hop album ever....this wasn't merely a sonic triumph. This was also where Chuck wrote a fistful of lyrics that promoted him to the position of foremost commentator/documentor of life in the underbelly of the USA...." Pitchfork (Website) - "The early Public Enemy masterpieces remain unique and inimitable now, relics of a world irreparably changed though in a few notable ways, very much the same."