Website: Body Count
The Inside Pulse:
Oh, how one remembers “Cop Killer” as if it was yesterday. Their first album in over a decade, Ice-T apparently took time out from acting to record Murder 4 Hire with his Body Count brethren. And how things have changed over the last ten years; metal is far more melodic and rap-rock has been done to death. Yet Body Count keeps up with the times, going for a less dirty and amateurish sound while amplifying the rap aspect of their style. This isn’t the band you remember, but that’s not meant in any sort of bad way.
There’s a bit of a theme on Murder 4 Hire, and it’s skepticism, particularly towards love and religion. It’s nearly a universal element of the album, a nonstop questioning as to how our world can be what it is if there is truly a God and how people can treat others the way they do. And no, it has no answers.
Positives: “You Don’t Know Me! (Feel My Pain)” is a sharp missive towards all the wanna-be gangstas complete with some extremely vivid imagery. But musically, it’s “The End Game” that stands miles above the rest of the album as something truly unique, catchy, and satisfying. “Down in the Bayou” is an amusing ditty about Louisiana racism, and “Relationships” is good for a few laughs from any guy who has ever dated a psycho chick.
Negatives: Well, it’s still not all that good. Body Count was always more of a novelty than a band taken seriously. While Murder 4 Hire is a huge step up from prior works, there’s a long way to go before hit territory. It doesn’t help that only a fraction of the lyrics are brilliant; the title track is so cringeworthy in this regard that it’s hard to keep listening.
Cross-breed: Your local mediocre Korn ripoff artists enjoy a nice visit from Chuck D, albeit not on one of his better songwriting days.
Reason To Buy: There’s a schtick to Body Count, and those who enjoy it will probably come back to it. But they’re still very much a schtick who probably wouldn’t have even been remotely glanced at by a label if it wasn’t an Ice-T project.
