The Beatnuts - The Beatnuts 2xLP - Red Vinyl (/500)

Traffic / Relativity / Sony (2018, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

The Beatnuts were another one of those Golden Era groups that I knew by name back then, but never had any records by.  I likely saw their name mostly on production credits for other records and probably from time to time reading The Source.  But 1994 was a transitional year for me musically, so there are definitely some hip hop records that slipped through the cracks as I was starting to dig into punk and indie rock.

I picked up this record quite a while ago actually, maybe two years at this point but I just hadn't gotten around to writing about it.  The main strength of this album is how great the beats are front to back.  An expertly produced hip hip record, I can't complain about a single beat on here.  Jazzy without being too slow, upbeat without being too poppy or corny and expertly picked samples give the album a warm, lived in sound.  It's unique and interesting, but the vibe is instantly familiar.

Lyrically, these guys can hold their own as well.  They're not upper echelon MCs, but they are good and the beats play to the strength of the rapping.  But when someone elite like Grand Puba shows up on "Are You Ready" it's obvious they're just a notch below.  That's not really a bad thing or even a criticism.  This record just came out on the tail end of an era filled with some of the best to ever do it, to be pretty close to that elite level is a real accomplishment considering the others that were putting out records at the time.

In 2022, it still sounds innovative and fun.  I would highly recommend it if it flew under your radar back in '94.

The Beatnuts - The Beatnuts:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_ntZLcx9o0v6IlPQ2MJk90bL8XqFypCj0s

Music From Transformers LP - Purple & Silver Vinyl

Sony/Enjoy The Toons/Hasbro (2018)

I ended up being so enthralled with the GI Joe soundtrack that I immediately went about finding the Transformers soundtrack that was released a few years ago.  When it came out, I had half heartedly tried to buy a copy then, but it was released in different variants at different retailers and I wasn't able to ever find a copy in stock.  Eventually it just faded into the background.

I was able to locate a copy and an extremely reasonable price (with free shipping to boot) on eBay.  I guess at some point they did a second pressing and this version in Megatron colors of Silver and Purple was part of that press.  I really wanted to like this just as much as the G.I. Joe version, but Transformers comes up a little short.

As soon as I got the LP, I felt like this was a lower budget release.  Even though this album is a gatefold, the artwork itself seems rough and lacks the sharpness of the G.I. Joe one.  Once I started listening to it, I was a little bummed that the opening theme was the version with the vocals.  I wish an instrumental only version existed and they used it the same way they did on G.I. Joe album.  As I went through the album, I also noticed that the score for Transformers is much more low key than the G.I. Joe one.  There's a lot of slower moments and it doesn't have the same sort of upbeat energy that the Joe soundtrack has.

I am still glad I picked this up, though I probably won't listen to it quite as much.  It would be cool if more 80s cartoon soundtracks followed.  I know that I would scoop up Voltron, He Man and Thundercats right away if they were every made available.