Track Listing

1. A Special Joint (Intro)
2. Blackout
3. Mi Casa
4. Y.O.U.
5. 4 Seasons
6. Cereal Killer
7. Da Rockwilder
8. Tear It Off
9. Where We At (Skit)
10. 1, 2, 1, 2
11. Maaad Crew
12. Run 4 Cover
13. The ?
14. Dat's Dat S**t
15. Cheka
16. Fire Ina Hole
17. Well All Rite Cha
18. Big Dogs
19. How High (Remix)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40358 in Music
• Brand: Method
• Released on: 1999-09-28
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.com
If you love energetic beats coupled with explosive lyrical content then Blackout! is your album. This highly anticipated effort features the combined powers of the Wu-Tang Clan's Method Man and the Def Squad's Redman--it's 19 cuts of pure excitement. Production highlights include the RZA-produced "Cereal Killer," Erick Sermon's "Maad Crew," and the dark-and-dirty sounds of "Run 4 Cover," featuring the Wu's Ghostface Killah and Streetlife. The album remains focused throughout without trying to appeal to any specific audience. Lyrically Red and Meth consistently come with the best in wit and wordplay, weaving a musical tapestry that should hang on the wall of any hip-hop fan. You won't find any specific messages, themes, or philosophies, but any true head will tell you that Blackout! is hip-hop at its best. --Kenji Jasper

Customer Reviews

Anything but a blackout!
Reggie and Hot Nixx blow up on this one. Blackout is a standout track. The thing that save this album though is that half the production is done by someone other than tha green-eyed bandit. Now don't get my wrong I love the Sermon electro-funk beats but unless the song is above average they tend to get monotonous. As with the Redman album Doc's the Name 2000. Good album but it quickly started to collect dust on the rack. This is what many people have waited for, for years. The only disappointing part is that RZA still refuses to do more than a track or two for anything. Doc's got the sickest lyrics and Meth is amazing. His flow melts together with the track at times and he does it more and more everytime he puts something out. He is setting himself up to be one of the greatest of all time. Hopeful they will clear there schedule for a sequel in a year or two.

So High That I Can Touch The Sky
This is a great album bringing together two great artists, Method Man from Wu-Tang and Redman from Def Squad. This album was my first real exposure to Redman, but I've been a Method Man fan for quite some time. And those who have always loved Method Man's great lyrics and smooth flowing will not be disappointed with this album whatsoever. Redman was also a pleasant surprise to me, very creative and very smooth, though not quite as intellectual at times as Method Man can get he provides a lively companionship to Method Man.

There are quite a few vivacious beats and some absolutely fantastic lyrics on this disc, but my one complaint has to be that the beats could be stronger. Many of them are not all that great, and seem to lack originality which is why I wind up giving this disc only 4 stars. The other major reason is that though there are a lot of good tracks on this album there is a lot of stuff on here that is only so-so and thus I find myself skipping tracks quite a bit. On the bright side though Erick Sermon and The RZA do a great job of producing several of the tracks.

My favorite track is probably "Fire In Da Hole" which just has a great all around sound to it. No real story or narrative here but it has one of the best beats on the album and has some really nice lyrics as well. "Da Rockwilder" is of course a great track, but it's really too short. "How High" is done in a great remix version on this disc and is some ways better than the original version. "Cereal Killer" is a narrative story about sneaking into a house and capping some unsuspecting victims. Not always my cup of tea, but it's done here with a wit and wordplay that has me laughing all the times.

Oh I should also mention "4 Seasons" which is a great track featuring Ja Rule and LL Cool J as well. It really shows that LL is here to stay, and that not-so-new comer Ja Rule has a lot to show us over the next years. I also want to mention the "Blairwitch" parody this is one of the funniest skits I've heard on a rap album in years.

If you like hip-hop this album is an absolute necessity. If you're not sure but you want to hear some extremely literary lyrical flows, then this is a great album to listen to. If you like this album, I highly recommend that you check out Wu-Tang's Enter The Wu-Tang probably one of the most revolutionary hip-hop albums ever. Overall Blackout! is a great disc and highly worth the purchase.

Two Powerful Forces Combine
Redman is known as one of the funniest, craziest, most clever lyricists in the game. Method Man can hypnotize people with his smooth, confident flow, and is the (commercial) star of the Wu-Tang Clan. We can expect nothing less than a great album. I actually expected a little more from two such accomplished artists, but this CD leaves little room for complaint.

The rhymes are all good. Both artists have similar senses of humor and clever rhymes throughout. Redman is actually the better lyricist in my opinion, but I still prefer Meth because of his voice and flow. Red and Meth compliment eachother well that way. The switch between Meth's mellow voice and Red's thick one adds variety, as do the differences in their flows. They have a lot of different types of flows on here to match with the different beats. On DJ Scratch's "1 2 1 2," they have a brisk, on-point flow. On "Blackout!" their flows are more up-beat and energetic. On "Cereal Killer," it's more dark and sneaky. The way they switch up their styles to match the different beats is one of the things that makes this album great and helps the songs stand out.

The lyrical content itself is good and bad. Red and Meth are funny and clever, no question, but they couldn't make a serious-sounding track if their lives depended on it. None of their songs are about anything. Even though their verses are good, they start to run together a little bit. Their lines are better in some songs than others. There's nothing truly wack on here, but not very many stand-out tracks either. "Cereal Killer" is kind of narrating a story, so that one is nice, but for the most part it's easy to lose track of the lyrics from one song to the next, even with dope lyricists like these.

The collaborations were alright, could have been better. LL Cool J has a nice verse in "4 Seasons." Ja's needed work. Street is good, but Ghostface's verse in "Run 4 Cover" doesn't make any sense. There aren't all that many collabs, which I think is a good thing.

The production is pretty nice. Half is done by Erick Sermon, and the other half has several different producers. "Blackout!" is a punchy, tropical-sounding beat that makes a nice opener. "Mi Casa" has a really nice vibe to it, and is one of my favorite songs with both the beat and the lyrics. "YOU" and "4 Seasons" sounded the same to me at first, but they grew on me. "Cerial Killer," courtesy of the RZA, is dark and spooky and a little bit goofy, which creates a near perfect effect. "Da Rockwilder," obviously produced by Rockwilder, has a kind of smooth futuristic effect that can get anybody nodding their head. The DJ Scratch beat for "1 2 1 2" is just like the rhymes...brisk and on-point. "Run 4 Cover," another RZA track, is way different from his other track. It has a more intense, sinister feel. "The ?," produced by Redman himself, is dark and sublte, in the same vein as "Cereal Killer." "Cheka" is loud and bouncy. Those were the standouts in my opinion.

Overall, Red and Meth made a great album. It's too bad they didn't make a classic, but this is one I haven't regretted buying at all. Some of it caught my ear at once, other parts grew on me, but it's all good.

Closing Comments: They should make another one.