martindavey87 Body Count’s 1992 self-titled debut album was a pretty big success for the band. Granted, that success came about due to the infamy and controversy surrounding the song ‘Cop Killer’, but the record itself was a solid effort. When renowned rapper and actor Ice-T put together a metal band, not many people thought it’d last, seeing it as a one-off endeavour. So it was no-doubt intriguing to see a follow-up released, and how did they capitalize on the success of ‘Body Count’?

They didn’t.

Released in 1994, ‘Born Dead’ takes everything that made its predecessor so good, and does away with it completely. The rapping has mostly been replaced by Ice-T constantly repeating the same phrase over and over, with very, very occasional bits of talking. The Lyrics, which once had meaning and were incredibly angry, satirical and lashing out at everything, are now dull, juvenile and pointless. The music seems pretty bland, and hell, even the skits between the tracks are gone. What previously gave the album a loose narrative and plot, is now just one uninspired song after another.

There are a couple of brief instances where the production and sound of the album suffers from dips in quality. I’d guess that this was thrown together in between Ice-T’s rapping and acting careers, as some parts sound rushed and disjointed. And a cover of the Jimi Hendrix classic ‘Hey Joe’ seems so out of place here.

However, it’s not all gloom and doom. There’s a couple of moments which take me back to Body Count’s first outing, and reminds me why this band are so good. ‘Necessary Evil’ and ‘Born Dead’ are both decent enough tracks that prevent this album from getting a one-star rating, but overall, considering all the publicity the group had garnered with their debut, this is a disappointing follow-up.

UMUR "Born Dead" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US, California based metal act Body Count. The album was released through Virgin Records in September 1994. It features the same lineup, who recorded the band´s self-titled debut full-length studio album from 1992. Said debut album earned Body Count quite a bit of infamy as a concequence of the "Cop Killer" track, but also lots of attention because they were an all black band playing heavy metal (which is still a rarity). The album became quite successful in terms of sales, and what some people might have thought was a one off project, became a bit more than that, as Body Count opted to continue and recorded "Born Dead".

Stylistically "Born Dead" is quite different to it´s successful predecessor. It´s audible that it´s the same band playing, but Body Count sounds harder edged, more riff oriented, and more "metal" on "Born Dead", than they did on the more hardcore tinged debut. I´m not sure if it´s part of the explanation, but as opposed to the debut album, which was almost solely composed by lead guitarist Ernie-C (with lead vocalist Ice-T handling most of the lyrics), both bassist Mooseman, and rhythm guitarist D-Roc, are credited for writing or co-writing several tracks on "Born Dead". In addition to the original material on the album, "Born Dead" also features a cover of "Hey Joe" (which was originally featured on the Jimi Hendrix tribute album "Stone Free (1993)").

However to my ears the major difference here is how the vocals are performed and how the lyrics are written. While the debut album contained several tracks, which featured "storytelling" type lyrics (probably as a result of Ice-T usually performing rap vocals), the lyrics on "Born Dead" generally feature less words, and are more anthemic in nature, with the same words being repeated over and over again. Ice-T sounds pretty pissed here too, and the otherwise quite charming humour from the debut is more or less gone on this album.

The sound production is sharper, more heavy, and darker too, and it all adds up to a pretty aggressive and raw sophomore album by Body Count. Unfortunately the new musical direction doesn´t elevate the band´s music to a higher level. On the contrary the lack of the humourous storytelling lyrics and the endless repetition of the lyrics on many tracks, make "Born Dead" slightly hard to get through in one spin. A great riff, a clever lyric line, and a cool rhythm pop up now and again, but overall "Born Dead" is a disappointment compared to the strong debut album and a 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.