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The Amazing Jeckel Brothers

 
Album Review: The Amazing Jeckel Brothers

  • Artist: Insane Clown Posse
  • Rating: StarStarStarHalf Star
  • Release Date: May 25, 1999
  • Total Time: 69:30
  • Type: Contains explicit content
  • Genre: Rock

Review

Within every man there is a fight, a struggle between good and evil. Within each man is the ability to create much good or much destruction -- it is up to the individual to decide which path to take. An angel, perhaps named Jake, urges each individual to follow the path of righteousness; a devil, perhaps named Jack, urges everyone to walk the path of darkness. Sadly, Jack and Jake are fat guys in clown makeup. Yes, it's true that the Insane Clown Posse are back with their fifth proper album (or, in juggalo parlance, the fifth joker card) -- and this time, they have alter egos! And a morality tale to tell! For The Amazing Jeckel Brothers is a full-fledged concept album about the 19 circles of hell and how each man is torn between the juggling balls of goodness and spraying evil soda on paying patrons. Or something. Certainly, the very fact that ICP is writing a concept album illustrates their growing ambition, and the cast of cameos illustrates their changing audience and stature. Where The Great Milenko, the legendary botched major-label debut, was targeted at white-boy, adolescent metalheads -- really, how could any album that contained guest spots from Alice Cooper, Slash, Steve Jones and Legs Diamond be anything else? -- The Amazing Jeckel Brothers contains cameos from Snoop Dogg and Ol' Dirty Bastard, plus a cover of a Geto Boys song, which brings ICP to street level...or at least the street level that gangsta-loving suburban high schoolers love. Still, the harder beats and the slight removal of metallic tendencies give the album a fresher feel, and the concept, however muddled it may be, does give the album real structure and momentum. So, if The Amazing Jeckel Brothers does prove to give the Insane Clown Posse a large audience -- the kind fellow Detroit jesters Eminem and Kid Rock earned in early 1999 -- it won't just because they've hung around long enough or that their peers have paved the way. It will be because they've actually delivered an album that comes close to fulfilling whatever promise their ridiculous, carnivalesque blend of hardcore hip-hop and shock-metal had in the first place. True, The Amazing Jeckel Brothers will still annoy anyone who believes ICP are, for lack of a better word, jackasses, but it will satisfy the juggalos, and the music is clever enough to expand their audience -- a triumph of some sort. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Intro (Lyrics) Insane Clown Posse, Mike E. Clark Insane Clown Posse (1:19)
Jake Jeckel (Lyrics) Insane Clown Posse, Mike E. Clark Insane Clown Posse (1:26)
Bring It On (Lyrics) Insane Clown Posse, Mike E. Clark Insane Clown Posse (4:28)
I Want My Sh*T Insane Clown Posse, Mike E. Clark Insane Clown Posse (5:20)
B*tches Insane Clown Posse Insane Clown Posse (4:33)
Terrible Insane Clown Posse, Mike E. Clark Insane Clown Posse (4:20)
I Stab People Insane Clown Posse, Mike E. Clark Insane Clown Posse (1:38)
Another Love Song Insane Clown Posse, Mike E. Clark Insane Clown Posse (4:12)
Everybody Rize Insane Clown Posse, Mike E. Clark Insane Clown Posse (3:21)
Play With Me Insane Clown Posse, Mike E. Clark Insane Clown Posse (4:18)
Jack Jeckel (Lyrics) Insane Clown Posse, Mike E. Clark Insane Clown Posse (1:26)
F*ck the World Insane Clown Posse, Mike E. Clark Insane Clown Posse (3:43)
The Shaggy Show Snoop Dogg, Insane Clown Posse, Gangster Fun, Mike E. Clark Insane Clown Posse (6:32)
Mad Professor Insane Clown Posse, Mike E. Clark Insane Clown Posse (5:50)
Assassins Insane Clown Posse, Ghetto Boys Insane Clown Posse (5:15)
Echo Side Insane Clown Posse, Mike E. Clark Insane Clown Posse (5:41)
Nothing's Left Insane Clown Posse, Mike E. Clark Insane Clown Posse (6:09)

Credits

Insane Clown Posse (Producer), Mike Beens (Lettering), Gary Spaniola (Mastering), Shaggy 2 Dope (Group Member), Mike E. Clark (Producer), Dan Christie (?), DavO (Photography), Mike E. Clark (Group Member), Bob Alford (Photography), Joseph Cultice (Photography), Violent J (Group Member)
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Wikipedia: The Amazing Jeckel Brothers
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The Amazing Jeckel Brothers

Jack Jeckel edition.
Studio album by Insane Clown Posse
Released May 25, 1999
Recorded 1998-1999
Genre Hardcore hip hop, Midwest hip hop
Length 69:40
Label Island/Psychopathic/IDJMG/Universal Records
524 661 (Jack)
524 659 (Jake)
Producer Mike E. Clark
ICP
Professional reviews
Insane Clown Posse chronology
The Great Milenko
(1997)
The Amazing Jeckel Brothers
(1999)
Bizzar
(2000)
The Amazing Jeckel Brothers
Jake Jeckel edition.

The Amazing Jeckel Brothers is the fifth studio album by American hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse. Released in 1999, it is the fifth entry in the group's "Joker's Cards" series. The Amazing Jeckel Brothers debuted fourth on the Billboard charts, and was later certified platinum by the RIAA.

Contents

Production

By late 1998 over one million copies of The Great Milenko had been sold,[1] and Insane Clown Posse was ready for the fifth Joker's Card, The Amazing Jeckel Brothers. Working with Mike E. Clark and Rich "Legs Diamond" Murrell, Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler developed their album with the highest of hopes. Hoping to receive the respect Bruce and Utsler felt they deserved, they planned to feature well-known, respected rappers on their album.[1] Bruce stated outright that he wanted to involve Snoop Dogg and Ol' Dirty Bastard. They paid Snoop Dogg $40,000 to appear on the song "The Shaggy Show." Snoop Dogg also helped them contact Ol' Dirty Bastard, who was paid $30,000 for his appearance. Ol' Dirty Bastard recorded his track in a matter of two days; however, his recording consisted of nothing more than him rambling about "bitches."[1] It took Bruce and Utsler a week to assemble just four rhymes out of his rambling, and had to re-record the track and title it "Bitches."[1] Finally, Insane Clown Posse contacted Ice-T, who charged them only $10,000.[1] The group felt that Ice-T's song did not belong on the album, and was instead released on a later album, Psychopathics from Outer Space.[1] The song "Echo Side" was originally released at an Insane Clown Posse concert in Garden City, Michigan as the first ever single from Dark Lotus.[2]

To help increase their positive publicity, the group hired the Nasty Little Man publicity team.[1] The team set up a photo shoot for Insane Clown Posse that was to appear on the cover of Alternative Press magazine in Cleveland. On the set of the photo shoot, a member of the publicity team approached Bruce and explained that in the song "Fuck the World", the lyric that stated "Fuck the Beastie Boys and the Dalai Lama" needed to be changed.[1] Insulted, Bruce exclaimed that his music would not be censored again — referring to Disney's previous requirement of censure.[1] Nasty Little Man told Bruce that the Beastie Boys were not only clients of the company but also personal friends, and the Beastie Boys told the company to make Bruce change the lyric.[1] In response, Bruce fired Nasty Little Man and asked its team to leave the photo shoot.[1]

Lyrical themes

The Amazing Jeckel Brothers focuses on the 19 circles of hell, and the morality of man as he is torn between righteousness and evil.[3] Jack "the sinister" and Jake "the just" emerge from the smoke of a candle to determine the fate of the dead.[4] The Jeckel Brothers juggle pulsating blood-covered balls.[4] For every sin committed during the mortal life of the dead, another ball is added.[4] Jack attempts to throw Jake curves in an attempt to see a ball drop.[4] If a soul witnesses Jake drop one of the balls, he will be damned to hell. Souls who see Jake successfully complete the act ascend to heaven.[4]

During the two years between The Great Milenko and The Amazing Jeckel Brothers, Insane Clown Posse had become nationally known, but were not taken very seriously.[1] While the controversy over The Great Milenko allowed the duo to attract the attention of Island Records, it also attracted Insane Clown Posse to public criticism for their style and lyrics.[5] Bruce recalls the period as an angry era for the group due to all of the negativity directed toward them.[1] He says that they "used to keep two piles of press at [their] office. One pile was all the positive press [they've] gotten, which was under an inch tall. Then [they] had the negative press pile, which was spilling over the side of a full basket."[1] As a result, The Amazing Jeckel Brothers was recorded as a release for their anger.[1]

Reception

The Amazing Jeckel Brothers debuted and peaked at #4 on the Billboard 200.[6][7] In 2008, it achieved platinum certification.[8] Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album a four out of five star rating, writing that "[Insane Clown Posse] actually delivered an album that comes close to fulfilling whatever promise their ridiculous, carnivalesque blend of hardcore hip hop and shock-metal had in the first place".[3] Rolling Stone writer Barry Walters gave the album two out of five stars, writing that "no musical sleight of hand can disguise the fact that Shaggy and J remain the ultimate wack MCs."[9] In reference to the song "Fuck the World," music critic Robert Christgau wrote "Personally, I think saying fuck 93 times in one song is a riot."[10]

Track listing

# Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Intro"   Mike E. Clark and ICP 1:19
2. "Jake Jeckel"   Mike E. Clark and ICP 1:26
3. "Bring It On"   Mike E. Clark and ICP 4:28
4. "I Want My Shit"   Mike E. Clark and ICP 5:20
5. "Bitches" (featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard and The Jerky Boys) ICP and Ol' Dirty Bastard 4:33
6. "Terrible"   Mike E. Clark and ICP 4:21
7. "I Stab People"   Mike E. Clark and ICP 1:40
8. "Another Love Song"   Mike E. Clark and ICP 4:09
9. "Everybody Rize"   Mike E. Clark and ICP 3:21
10. "Play With Me"   Mike E. Clark and ICP 4:19
11. "Jack Jeckel"   Mike E. Clark and ICP 1:25
12. "Fuck the World"   Mike E. Clark and ICP 3:44
13. "The Shaggy Show" (featuring Snoop Dogg) ICP, Mike E. Clark, Snoop Dogg and Gangster Fun 6:32
14. "Mad Professor"   Mike E. Clark and ICP 5:49
15. "Assassins" (featuring The Jerky Boys) Ghetto Boys and ICP 5:15
16. "Echo Side" (featuring Twiztid) Mike E. Clark and ICP 5:39
17. "Nothing's Left"   Mike E. Clark and ICP 6:10
69:40

Personnel

Chart positions

Chart (1999) Peak Position
Billboard 200 4[7]
Top Internet Albums 5[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Bruce, Joseph; Hobey Echlin. "Big Money Hustlas". in Nathan Fostey. ICP: Behind the Paint (2nd Edition ed.). Royal Oak, Michigan: Psychopathic Records. pp. 414–433. ISBN 09741846083. 
  2. ^ Bruce, Joseph; Hobey Echlin. "Complete Discography". in Nathan Fostey. ICP: Behind the Paint (2nd Edition ed.). Royal Oak, Michigan: Psychopathic Records. pp. 560–561. ISBN 09741846083. 
  3. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review of The Amazing Jeckel Brothers". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:f9ftxqrkldje~T1. Retrieved 2008-05-08. 
  4. ^ a b c d e "Who R ICP > Joker's Cards > The Amazing Jeckel Brothers". Psychopathic Records. http://www.insaneclownposse.com/carnival/iframe.php?page_id=icp_jeckel_brothers. Retrieved 2009-05-22. 
  5. ^ Bruce, Joseph; Hobey Echlin. "Banned by a Filthy Rat". in Nathan Fostey. ICP: Behind the Paint (2nd Edition ed.). Royal Oak, Michigan: Psychopathic Records. pp. 306–314. ISBN 09741846083. 
  6. ^ "Insane Clown Posse Makes "Amazing" Top Five Debut". MTV. June 3, 1999. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1430318/19990603/i_c_p.jhtml. Retrieved 2008-05-04. 
  7. ^ a b c "Insane Clown Posse Artist Chart History: Albums". Billboard. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:f9ftxqrkldje~T3. Retrieved 2008-08-19. 
  8. ^ "Certification for Insane Clown Posse". RIAA Gold and Platinum Certification Database. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH. Retrieved 2008-05-05. 
  9. ^ Walters, Barry (1999). "Insane Clown Posse: The Amazing Jeckel Brothers: Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/insaneclownposse/albums/album/120991/review/6068329/the_amazing_jeckel_brothers. Retrieved 2007-12-26. 
  10. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Review of The Amazing Jeckel Brothers". http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Insane+Clown+Posse. Retrieved 3 January 2009. 

 
 

 

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