Cold Crush Brothers vs. Fantastic Romantic 5 - Cold Crush Brothers

The second (official) live Cold Crush tape to surface, this one earns classic status not because it's the best that's ever been heard, but because it's the best-sounding -- and the only one coming straight from one of the sources: DJ Charlie Chase. He offered it as a way to beat the bootleggers (and finally earn some proceeds himself), also explaining in the intro, "I cleaned up the vocals and recut the beats." As dangerous as the word "recut" sounds, this battle tap really is a classic (and if parts were redone, they certainly don't reveal any artificial sources). Chase gives plenty of time to the Cold Crush (it's possible he didn't even have the Fantastic Five section on tape), who take up nearly all of the 45-minute disc. Though a few tracks are crammed front to back with line after line of dizzying, single-cadence old school rapping, it's clear that the Cold Crush were masters of keeping the beat going at their frequent club dates. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide