Various Artists: Take A Bite Outta Rhyme... : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" video may look corny now, but its legacy lives on and on and on. Chuck D's liner notes to Take a Bite Outta Rhyme trace the history between rock and rap, from disdain in the Eighties to today's hybrid chart lords like Bizkit and Rage. But despite the presence of big guns like Fred Durst and Staind, this compilation doesn't amount to much. Sevendust's by-the-numbers cover of "Going Back to Cali" and Bloodhound Gang's "It's Tricky" already sound like they belong in mothballs. Like most compilations, it isn't all worthless: One-hit wonders Dynamite Hack's "Boyz-N-the Hood" remains accidentally brilliant, and Lordz of Brooklyn, with Everlast and Stoned Soul, do a convincing "Sucker M.C.'s." But in general, Take a Bite Outta Rhyme isn't the sound of a tribute -- just of opportunity knocking. (RS 855)

RICHARD ABOWITZ