BODY COUNT — Born Dead (review)

Album · 1994 · Rap Metal

3/5 · 2017-08-26
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.

more than 2 years ago
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siLLy puPPy wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Thanks, Jonas for keeping up with them! I guess they are worthy of our attention beyond the debut :)

Vim Fuego wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Cool! I have heard them, but not listened in great depth.

UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I have a review series of the whole discography coming up, so there´s a chance to read a Little about the albums you´ve missed :-).

Vim Fuego wrote:

more than 2 years ago

The most recent one is probably closest in sound and feel to the debut. I also lost track for a while after this album, simply because I couldn't find the albums in the shops anywhere.

siLLy puPPy wrote:

more than 2 years ago

This is where i lost track of them. I loved the first album, hated this one and never kept up. I'll have to revisit it again some day and then check out some newer ones. Ice T is one of my faves

Vim Fuego wrote:

more than 2 years ago

This didn't have quite the naive charm of the first album, but there's a couple of great songs on it, including the title track, Necessary Evil, and that cover of Hey Joe has a malevolence not possessed by the original.