The other day I picked up a vinyl copy of the one LL album I still don't had (while he still banged out good music on the regular that is) in a used records section - "Walking With A Panther". It's no "Radio", "B.A.D.", "Mama Said..." or even "14 Shots to the Dome" as it has a very strange mix of tracks on there. It goes from some of the cheesiest love ballads until '97s mediocre "Phenomenal" ("You're My Heart", "I'm That Type of Guy", "Two Different Worlds", etc.) to super dope lyrical exercises delivered over hardcore beats like "Droppin' Em", "Nitro", "Why Do You Think They Call it Dope", "It Gets No Rougher" and more.
Vinyl buyers drew the shortest straw as they were missing out on four bangers, and if these were added instead of the cheesy tracks mentioned above, "Walking With A Panther" would've been viewed in a totally different light is my guess. The CD version included two bonus tracks, an outro song called "Change Your Ways" as well as the classic Rick Rubin production from '88 that were recorded for the "Less Than Zero" soundtrack; the slamming "Going Back to Cali". The cassette copy featured both these tracks but also included the infamous Kool Moe Dee diss "Jack the Ripper", another Rubin production from the same soundtrack. Lastly the cassette also had a rare LL track called "Crime Stories" that's prety dope too. Thanks to Magnifik for riping and uploading the latter. Feel free to drop a comment, do you think LL's third LP would be better if including these four songs instead of some of the weaker ones? Enjoy!!
sorry for the delayed comment but i couldnt resist leaving it now as i just read your post. But I often have this debate with a good friend of mine and I agree with you totally. This album is actually really good but does get watered down with those weak joints you mentioned. But the good songs you listed more than make up for it as those are bangers in their own right.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the trip down memory lane but this mix of "jack the ripper"is not the one from the tape, the one you have is identical to the Def Jam classics version.
ReplyDeleteThe tape version had a slightly tweaked scratch track and the remix was just as subtle but as a serious collector I had to let you know.
I'm still hunting for that tape version.
Big Dre - Cape Town
Still one of my favs from LL, for some reason the label decided to re-press this as a clean version as the only version available.
ReplyDeleteCan you re-up this, plz?
ReplyDeleteRe-up PLEASE fam. I got the cassette, but I'm not trusting my player I have right now. Might ruin it. Do you have it in flac?
ReplyDeleteYea that's true Big Dre. The version that came out on all the compilations after the original release omits alot of Cut Creator, AND the breakdowns. It can ONLY be found digitally on the Def Jam 10th Anniversary box set.
ReplyDeleteI got the clean version on vinyl. It omits 4 songs!
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