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The album has no filler, no played-out skits or weak collaborations. Instead, Crown Royal exhibits the energy, grooves, and phatness of a future hip-hop classic.
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While Run-D.M.C.'s chest-thumping reclamations of its prominence grow tiresome through the course of the disc -- they need to do more showing than telling -- the good news is that the tracks helmed by the group ("Crown Royal," "Aye Papi," "Ash," and "Simmons Incorporated") show that its own creative touch is still intact.
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The Queens trio still flow properly and cut a dash.
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Entertainment WeeklyCollaborations with Stephan Jenkins, Fred Durst, and Kid Rock are cacophonous, lard-heavy attempts to recreate the raw "King of Rock" sound. [4/6/2001, p.120]
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RevolverThis collaborative overkill is the same misstep that hobbled the group's last comeback attempt, 1993's Down With The King. [#4, p.108]
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RevolutionMore often than not, their beats don't sound "old school," just old. [Feb 2001, p.101]
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Really, this isn't really a Run DMC album, they're just guests on it.
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Little more than infuriatingly lame collaborations.
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Run-DMC wind up overwhelmed by the guest stars and the schizophrenic nature of the production.
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Alternative PressSeems like a tarted-up version of 1986's Raising Hell.... This is for diehard fans only. [#154, p.87]
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It works for the first three tracks.
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Sadly, what should have been a spirited old-school revival feels more like half-baked nostalgia.
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Ultimately, most Run DMC fans would have been much happier with old-school Run, D, and Jay than with a smorgasbord of Billboard chart-toppers for hire.
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It’s not just that Crown Royal is a mediocre album; it’s how it manages that feat. Run-DMC, former trendsetters, now seem to be chasing after every pop fad in the book, including the ones they helped start.
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On Crown Royal, Run DMC are looking back so much that their necks must be permanently turned in that direction. Not only does nearly every track attest to how legendary Run DMC are, nearly every track also quotes directly from at least one song off their first four albums. It gets downright pathetic, every song bringing out a strong feeling of déjà vu.
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The musical equivalent of Willie Mays stumbling around in the outfield years after his skills were gone, Crown Royal fails in the most arbitrary, impersonal way possible, piling on so many ringers that Run DMC often seems like a guest at its own party.
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The Ishtar of comeback albums -- overdone, underinspired, and marketed to within an inch of its life.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 4 out of 8
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Mixed: 1 out of 8
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Negative: 3 out of 8
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Apr 14, 2022Although this album did not feature much DMC, the songs Rev Run put out were very solid and contained little to no filler.
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Sep 20, 2020
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Apr 6, 2016