Body Count Albums (5)
'Live in L.A.'
Release Date 10/25/2005
Tracks 17
Label New Media Studio
See Album Tracklist and Review
'Violent Demise: Last Days'
Release Date 3/11/1997
Tracks 16
Label Virgin
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
A significant improvement over the stilted Born Dead, Violent Demise: Last Days is, in many ways, the best record Body Count has made to date. Where the band's speed-metal has seemed dated in the past, the group sounds fiery throughout Violent Demise, giving the music a visceral punch it had clearly been lacking in the past. Ice-T's lyrics fall halfway between outrage and outrageous, especially on the anti-O.J. Simpson "I Used to Love Her," "Dead Man Walking" and "You're F**kin' with BC," which pushes their self-promoting chants to ludicrous extremes. Even though the music has more punch than before, it doesn't have the ridiculous sense of humor that made Body Count a gonzo classic of sorts, but the sheer force of the record is a welcome change of pace from a band that seemed incapable of true sonic power. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
There was a lot of controversy over "Cop Killer" and Body Count's debut, and Born Dead replicates all of Body Count, including the attempts at social commentary and "Body Count, Body Count, Body Count, BC, BC, BC" chants. Ice-T's band sounds like a heavy metal relic from the late '80s. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Divorced from the controversy that surrounded its release, Body Count's self-titled debut is a surprisingly tepid affair. Apart from the previously released "Body Count" (which appeared on Ice-T's 1991 album O.G. Original Gangster), the record is devoid of serious commentary, trading intelligence for a lurid comic book depiction of sex, violence, and "Voodoo." All of Ice-T's half-sung/half-shouted lyrics fall far short of the standard he established on his hip-hop albums. The controversial "Cop Killer" -- which is nothing more than a standard thrash metal chant -- stands out because it is one of the few tracks that doesn't rely on garish, cartoonish imagery. There's the saga of "Evil Dick," which tells Ice-T to not "sleep alone." There's "KKK Bitch," where he crashes a Ku Klux Klan meeting and screws the grand dragon's daughter. There's "Voodoo," where a witch doctor cripples our hero with a voodoo doll. There's "Mama's Gotta Die Tonight," where Ice-T offs his mother cause she's racist. By the time the band works around to the power ballad "The Winner Loses" and Ice-T is crooning, "My friend's addicted to cocaine," it's unclear whether the record is a parody or a flawed stab at arena metal. Either way, Body Count is a humorous curio from the early '90s that will appeal either to metalheads or listeners with a twisted sense of humor. [After "Cop Killer" was pulled from the album, it was replaced with a bland version of Ice-T's rap classic "The Iceberg" recorded with Jello Biafra.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
