The Geto Boys (album)

The Geto Boys
Remix album by Geto Boys
Released January 17, 1990 (1990-01-17)
April 25, 1995 (1995-04-25) (reissue)
Recorded 1988–1990
Genre Hardcore hip hop
Gangsta rap
Horrorcore
Length 54:56
Label Def American/Warner Bros. Records
24306

Rap-a-Lot Records (rerelease)
Producer DJ Ready Red
Doug King
John Bido
Johnny C
Rick Rubin
Brendan O'Brien
Geto Boys chronology
Grip It! On That Other Level
(1989)		 The Geto Boys
(1990)		 We Can't Be Stopped
(1991)

The Geto Boys is a remix album by the Geto Boys released in 1990. The album contains one track from the group’s debut album Making Trouble (1988), 10 from its previous album Grip It! On That Other Level (1989), and two new songs. All tracks on the album were rerecorded, remixed and revamped by acclaimed producer Rick Rubin with his protégé Brendan O'Brien. The cover of the album resembles The Beatles' album Let It Be, and the songs attracted much controversy upon the album’s release.

Controversy and release

The original Def American pressing is the only WEA-distributed album with the following warning in addition to the standard explicit-lyrics sticker:

“ Def American Recordings is opposed to censorship. Our manufacturer and distributor, however, do not condone or endorse the content of this recording, which they find violent, sexist, racist, and indecent.[1] ”

Due to the controversial nature of the lyrics, especially in the songs "Mind of a Lunatic" and "Assassins", the album's originally intended distributor, Geffen Records, and CD manufacturer Sony DADC, which manufactured Geffen's releases, refused to have any part in the release.[2][3] After Geffen terminated its manufacturing and distributing deal with Def American, Rick Rubin arranged alternative distribution with Warner Bros. Records, which agreed to distribute the album and all subsequent Def American releases with product manufacturing by WEA Manufacturing.[4] Marketing for the album was handled by Warner Bros. sister label Giant Records.

Subsequent pressings on Rap-a-Lot and various distributors do not contain the secondary warning. The version of "Gangsta of Love" contained on later versions of the album uses a sample from Lynyrd Skynyrd’s "Sweet Home Alabama" instead of Steve Miller Band’s "The Joker"; the version included on the original pressing of its 1989 album Grip It! On That Other Level had contained the Miller Band sample. "Do It Like a G.O." was released as a single with a music video but did not chart.

Track listing

All tracks written by Akshen, Li’l J, Willie D.

No.TitleLength
1."Fuck ’Em" (New Track)4:02
2."Size Ain’t Shit"  3:41
3."Mind of a Lunatic"  5:04
4."Gangsta of Love"  5:12
5."Trigga-Happy Nigga"  3:47
6."Life in the Fast Lane"  3:25
7."Assassins" (taken from Making Trouble album 1988)5:06
8."Do it Like a G.O."  4:25
9."Read These Nikes"  3:37
10."Talkin’ Loud, Ain’t Saying Nothin’"  3:55
11."Scarface"  4:55
12."Let a Ho be a Ho"  3:40
13."City under Siege" (New Track)4:27

Personnel

The following people contributed to The Geto Boys:[5]

Geto Boys

Additional personnel

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [6]
Entertainment Weekly(B-) [7]
Robert Christgau(B-) [8]
Rolling Stone [9]
The Source [10]

In a 3.5-mike out of 5 review, The Source wrote positively of Rick Rubin's contribution to the album, writing, "The group's fuck-everybody attitude and simple straight-forward music is a perfect match for Rubin...."[10] Andy Kellman of AllMusic also praised Rick Rubin's contribution, writing, "The album is expertly sequenced, and some songs seem to have twice the impact of their original incarnations."[6]

Robert Christgau, on the other hand, criticized the album, comparing it negatively to slasher films. Christgau ended the review, writing, "I'm impressed by [its] pungent beats and vernacular. I'm glad they put Reagan in bed with Noriega. I'm sorta touched when one of them thinks to thank the first girl to lick his asshole. I admire their enunciation on 'Fuck ’Em.' But fuck ’em."[8] In another mixed review, Entertainment Weekly's Greg Sandow ridiculed the album's glorification of violence, writing, "The catalog starts to seem silly. Stealing from the poor? On their next album, the Geto Boys might just as well do a song about tearing wings off flies."[7]

Album chart positions

Chart (1990) Peak
position
US Billboard 200 171[11]
US Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums (Billboard) 67[11]

References

  1. ↑ Hochman, Steve. Maybe They Should Issue Stickers For Everyone's Ears. Los Angeles Times. 22 July 1990. Retrieved 17 June 2011
  2. ↑ Pareles. John. Distributor Withdraws Rap Album Over Lyrics. New York Times. 28 August 1990. Retrieved 17 June 2011
  3. ↑ Bogdanov;Woodstra;Erlewine 2001, p. 478
  4. ↑ Hochman, Steve. Geffen Cancels Distribution Pact With Controversial Def American. Los Angeles Times. 18 September 1990. Retrieved 17 June 2011
  5. ↑ The Geto Boys - Credits. Allmusic. Retrieved 18 June 2011
  6. 1 2 Kellman, Andy. "The Geto Boys - Geto Boys". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 June 2011
  7. 1 2 Sandow, Greg (12 October 1990). "The Geto Boys Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 18 June 2011
  8. 1 2 Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: Album: The Geto Boys: The Geto Boys". Consumer Guide. Retrieved 17 June 2011
  9. ↑ Light, Alan (15 November 1990). "Geto Boys: The Geto Boys : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  10. 1 2 (Summer 1990) "Classic review : Grip It On That Other Level in The Source (1990)". The Source.
  11. 1 2 The Geto Boys - Charts. Allmusic. Retrieved 20 June 2011

Further reading

  • Bogdanov; Woodstra; Erlewine, eds. (2001). All Music Guide: the Definitive Guide to Popular Music (4 ed.). Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-627-4. 
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