Public Enemy – Live From Metropolis Studios (2015) [Qobuz FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

This live album captures Hip-Hop legends Public Enemy performing the most intimate gig in the band’s history, at Metropolis Studios in London for 125 lucky contest winners. A document of that unique show, held in August 2014, has been released as both a concert documentary video and this companion soundtrack album, which contains more than an hour of Public Enemy’s biggest hits.

Recorded live in a studio in a suburb of London, Live from the Metropolis Studios appeared just a few months after Public Enemy’s muscular 2015 studio effort Man Plans, God Laughs, so there’s nothing from that album here. That said, this double-disc live album — which is accompanied by a longer home video release, including a documentary — isn’t fixated on the past. To be sure, PE thread in their big hits — “911 Is a Joke” and “Welcome to the Terrordome” come early, “Night of the Living Baseheads” and “Fight the Power” show up later — but there are sharp selections from deep in the catalog (including the title track to Spike Lee’s “He Got Game”), and the proceedings conclude with “Harder Than You Think,” the 2007 single that became their biggest-ever hit in the U.K. What impresses is both the depth of the songbook plus the vigorous, sinewy attack. As they bear down on their 30th anniversary, Public Enemy may no longer sound like young men but they’re canny, muscled survivors, a group intent to preach thegospel until they die with their boots on. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracklist:
01 – Intro
02 – Lost At Birth
03 – Miuzi Weighs A Ton
04 – Get Up Stand Up
05 – Rebel Without A Pause
06 – 911 Is A Joke
07 – Welcome To The Terrordome
08 – Hoovermusic
09 – Black Steel In The Hour / Do You Wanna Go Our Way
10 – Show ‘Em Whatcha Got
11 – Bring The Noise
12 – Don’t Believe The Hype
13 – Can’t Truss It
14 – He Got Game
15 – Night Of The Living Baseheads
16 – I Shall Not Be Moved
17 – Fight The Power (Soul Power – Who Stole This Soul)
18 – Can’t Do Nuttin’ For Ya Man
19 – 31 Flavors
20 – Shut ‘Em Down
21 – Harder Than You Think