Grandmaster Flash Albums (9)
What The Critics Say
The Bridge was released 20 years after Grandmaster Flash's last studio album and just two years after the DJ and his Furious Five became the first hip-hop/rap group inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The album is hardly weighed down by either of these milestones and the man himself acts not as a DJ but a ring leader dividing his time between songwriting, production, programming, and playing the keys. By keeping those legendary hands off the wheels of steel, Flash has already disappointed the golden age hip-hop purist, and with lightweight party numbers like "Swagger" or "Grown & Sexy" on the track list, he seems bound to drive away those expecting proper reverence. While there are some historical references and many of the rhymes are smart, the main way Flash supports the album's title is by injecting the golden age's block party attitude into the modern sound. Q-Tip sounds like he's having a ball on the worry free "Shine All Day" which offers "Roses are red/Starbursts are orange/You're my two scoops/Topped with the almonds" as if it was De La Soul on a first date. With vocoders, congas, and bells, "Tribute to the Breakdancer" conjures fond memories of the wild style days and on "When I Get There" the legendary Big Daddy Kane is as pimp as ever, promising "Up in the bedroom is the final destination/After that we're probably talking spinal restoration." The album's lyrical highlight and anchoring moment lies in "What If" where KRS-One imagines a world without hip-hop is also a world where James Brown and Funkadelic are forgotten. Besides the scratching, what's notably missing is a track as ambitious as "The Message" or "White Lines," plus some of the later numbers just don't hang with the rest of the album thematically, especially the steamy worldbeat cut "Oh Man." Still, the surprisingly slick and never embarrassing Bridge is a success overall and Flash's return is welcome even if it isn't a return to form. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
'Essential Mix: Classic Edition'
Release Date 5/7/2002
Tracks 17
Label FFRR
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What The Critics Say
During the '90s, it seemed nearly every year brought yet another Grandmaster Flash compilation -- so much so that classic productions like "White Lines (Don't Do It)" and "The Message" began sounding played out. Finally, in 2002, two labels finally started paying attention to Grandmaster Flash the seminal DJ, instead of Grandmaster Flash the chart hero. Hot on the heels of Strut's fantastic The Official Adventures Of..., Rhino released Essential Mix: Classic Edition, similarly a contemporary look at the classic sound of the wildly diverse old-school rap scene. Surprisingly, though, there's little overlap between the two; instead of '70s funk mastermixes, here Flash focuses on mostly straight run-throughs of synth-heavy early-'80s R&B nuggets from Nu Shooz, Fatback, Maze, Rockers Revenge, D Train, and Weeks & Co. Essential Mix: Classic Edition doesn't have the restless creativity and energy that sparks The Official Adventures, but there is a lot of great material; highlights come with the transition from Blondie's Flash-dropping "Rapture" into "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life" and on to Liquid Liquid's "Cavern" (whose bassline powered Grandmaster Flash's own "White Lines"). ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
'The Official Adventures of Grandmaster Flash'
Release Date 1/29/2002
Tracks 14
Label Strut
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What The Critics Say
Leave it to the archivists at Strut to uncover another facet of the near-legendary New York dance scene of the '70s and '80s. After releases from Larry Levan and Danny Krivit shedding light on what it meant to go clubbing in the late '70s, the label moved to hip-hop -- that other musical phenomenon of the era -- with The Official Adventures of Grandmaster Flash. Half mix album and half history lesson, the compilation cuts back and forth between interviews, vintage or newly recorded turntable sessions, and a few old-school standalones -- Babe Ruth's "The Mexican," Kraftwerk's "Trans Europe Express," Yellow Magic Orchestra's "Computer Games" -- to get listeners in the mood. Only two of the seven mix sessions are old, though the new mixes were apparently done the same way they would've if he'd been allowed his own mix album in 1982 instead of 2002. (It's a fact obviously hard to prove, but the closest he got at the time, 1981's seven-minutes-of-madness single "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel," is still breathtaking.) The new mixes sound just as good, with the master flashing across the spectrum of '70s dance -- from Parliament to Thin Lizzy to Cerrone to Spoonie Gee to the Eagles -- with deft flicks of the wrist serving as all the transition he needs. The 20-page color liners, produced with Frank Broughton and Bill Brewster (of the mixing history lesson Last Night a DJ Saved My Life), are the next best thing to a full video documentary. It's just slightly less revelatory than Strut's crown jewel, Larry Levan's Live at the Paradise Garage (mostly because few knew that one existed), but The Official Adventures of Grandmaster Flash is still the best look at the best DJ in history. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five tried to regroup on this 1988 release, but old school hip-hop had been lapped by the charge of the new school. There was little interest or response to such cuts as "Tear The Roof Off" and "Boy Is Dope," while "Fly Girl" and "Magic Carpet Ride" sounded dated and weary. ~ Ron Wynn, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The fire was gone and the imagination and flair diminished on this 1987 album. Grandmaster Flash sounded too tired on such cuts as "Big Black Caddy," "Get Yours" and "U Know What Time It Is" to recapture the spirit and bristling intensity that made "The Message" an anthem. He was sadly more effective doing nonsense like "Them Jeans." ~ Ron Wynn, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Grandmaster Flash's follow-up to The Message was his first minus the Furious Five. Things weren't the same from a compositional or performance standpoint, as his raps seemed weaker and his rhymes almost devoid of crispness, humor, or insight. Only "Ms. Thang" and "Street Scene" offered any hint of the incisiveness or vision depicted in "The Message." ~ Ron Wynn, All Music Guide
'They Said It Couldn't Be Done'
Release Date 1/1/1985
Tracks 9
Label Elektra
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What The Critics Say
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five merged the Afrocentric consciousness expressed by such early rappers as Gil Scott-Heron and the Last Poets with b-boy production to create "The Message," an all-time rap anthem. It was the focal point of this LP, which also included "It's Nasty" and "Scorpio," two other strong cuts that might have been winners on their own. Unfortunately, rather than a starting point, this album proved to be their ultimate peak. ~ Ron Wynn, All Music Guide
