- Audio CD (26 Jun 2006)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: 679 RECORDINGS
- ASIN: B000GJ0NPC
- Other Editions: Audio CD | Vinyl | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 20,984 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product details |
Track Listings
| 1. Kidz |
| 2. Sick 2 Def |
| 3. No Good |
| 4. Dead and Buried |
| 5. Mama |
| 6. Charmaine |
| 7. I Don't Hate You |
| 8. Everyday |
| 9. Tough Love |
| 10. Where Ya From ? |
| 11. No More Eatin' |
| 12. Missin' Links |
| 13. Couldn't Get Along |
| 14. Who Needs Actions When You Got Words |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
A Brit-bred Slim Shady? Another The Streets? He’ll be sold to you as both and although the Mike Skinner comparison is a lazy untruth, with his bold debut Plan B (aka Ben Drew) leaves the former trailing in terms of raw impact. This white boy tale-spinner from East London does owe an awful lot to Eminem, from the quick-spat-take-that fury of his microphone style (quasi-American accent to boot), to the bounce of his backing tracks, to taking the role of participatory narrator, devil’s advocate and instigator. But every aspect that’s been neutralised, parodied or packaged to turn Mathers into a one-man industry is exaggerated and left red-raw here, with an added vulgarity that must be sending Mary Whitehouse’s obscenity antennas cuckoo as we speak.
"Tough Love" is one of the clearest reasons for the Eminem comparison, recalling in tragic detail one set of parents’ perverse sense of discipline and the ensuing death of their daughter. One thing that sets him apart though is avoiding the solely self-referential cataloguing of his own existence, instead seeing the wider world and all of its wounds from his perspective. It’s no mistake that he sounds like he’s stolen Zack de la Rocha’s tongue in "No More Eatin". But this is no international project – in his own words, his style is "like Little Mo getting raped and keeping the baby instead of getting it aborted". The only thing that should stop this from going supanova is not having Dr Dre on speed-dial and Radio 1 not owning a durable enough bleep-machine. --James Berry
Review
Plan B (aka Ben Drew) must be David 'Dave' Cameron's worst nightmare. The East London-born rapper utters the 'c'word within 10 seconds of his debut album, and laces his rap with references to anal rape, parental abuse, honour killing and biros in eyeballs...
With an acoustic guitar as his USP, and an attitude that pitches him somewhere between Mike Skinner and Eminem, those of a liberal persuasion will consider Drew a true reflection of the capital's meanest streets. A verbose white rapper whose penchant for violent language belies a well-honed conscience.
At times, this approach works. The single "Sick 2 Def" is a genuinely arresting set piece, an open sore of a track, spewing raw disgust. The other high point is "Where Ya From?", arguably the sharpest anti-Gangsta rant to come from these shores.
Unfortunately, these two-moments aside, Drew's bleakness (and voice) soon begin to grate - the shock value runs out all too soon, even before we reach the nadir of Prodigy-sampling "No Good!", the mawkish "Mama" and the imagination bypass that is "Charmaine".
Like spending an hour at Speakers Corner, Who Needs Action... starts off illuminating, but ends up banal. A bit of a one-trick pony. Time for Plan C. --Adam Webb
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
It's dark. It's almost impossible to listen to in places. Yet, you cannot escape. It's almost a morbid fascination that forces you to listen as Plan B drags you into his raw, dark, unforgiving world. The guitar parts he plays bring an original sound to an over-crowded genre, and his delivery suits his lyrics perfectly. Each track is an experience, and the lightest track on the album, "Charmaine", leaves you breathless. Plan B has a real gift for story telling, and you will no doubt be hanging on every word if you make the right decision and buy this album. Quite possibly a modern classic.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
British hip-hop is - and some could say always was - in dire straits. Never able to match America in quantity or quality of artists, we are left with a handful of visionaries; Dizzee Rascal, Mike Skinner (who's recent album is a joke), Skinnyman. Jamie T, Plan B's nearest contemporary, is another rap troubador with live instruments who moves much further into the realms of other music types than Plan B; Plan B, despite wielding a guitar, sticks more to traditional hip-hop.
The Eminem comparisons are legitimate; Plan B has the same rapping talent (not quite as great), the same vitriol and vicious rhyming, the same twisted sense of humour (right down the genital warts and small penis), and seems to aim to offend; for Eminem, the likes of Christopher Reeve have been his whipping boy. For Plan B, it's Jill Dando. There's even a song about his mother; although it's in sympathy for a boyfriend on drugs, rather than in hatred for herself being on drugs.
However, this does not detract from an impressive debut album. Plan B may not be as original - although there is originality here, which I will get to later - as Eminem is and was, but he is still witty, sharp and brilliant at what he does. Rapping often over his own instrumental samples, he is insulting, profane and wilfully offensive in the way that few rappers outside of Eminem really are.
The bursts of originality, however, show a classic artist in the making. His Britishness, and those urban vignettes, for one, is an advantage. While Eminem would step into his characters totally, Plan B will often sympathise - on 'Tough Love,' for example - or, on 'Charmaine,' allow himself to be victim of catastrophe. He also has his own causes to rant against, most importantly religion. On at least two tracks he rails against it - showing a surprising knowledge of religion itself, though, adding to Eminem's tradition of intelligent hatred. He also willingly plays against gangsta culture - opener 'Kidz' criticises the mentality of British teenagers, rap fans, who think, for example, that guns are cool - and on 'No More Eatin' he practically has a hardcore punk song on his hands.
All in all, there is enough originality and wit on this album for it be an excellent debut, and without even trying Plan B has wedged himself into the top level of British hip-hop. His sophomore effort, with any luck, will see him furthering his skills and uniqueness to his advantage.
The Eminem comparisons are legitimate; Plan B has the same rapping talent (not quite as great), the same vitriol and vicious rhyming, the same twisted sense of humour (right down the genital warts and small penis), and seems to aim to offend; for Eminem, the likes of Christopher Reeve have been his whipping boy. For Plan B, it's Jill Dando. There's even a song about his mother; although it's in sympathy for a boyfriend on drugs, rather than in hatred for herself being on drugs.
However, this does not detract from an impressive debut album. Plan B may not be as original - although there is originality here, which I will get to later - as Eminem is and was, but he is still witty, sharp and brilliant at what he does. Rapping often over his own instrumental samples, he is insulting, profane and wilfully offensive in the way that few rappers outside of Eminem really are.
The bursts of originality, however, show a classic artist in the making. His Britishness, and those urban vignettes, for one, is an advantage. While Eminem would step into his characters totally, Plan B will often sympathise - on 'Tough Love,' for example - or, on 'Charmaine,' allow himself to be victim of catastrophe. He also has his own causes to rant against, most importantly religion. On at least two tracks he rails against it - showing a surprising knowledge of religion itself, though, adding to Eminem's tradition of intelligent hatred. He also willingly plays against gangsta culture - opener 'Kidz' criticises the mentality of British teenagers, rap fans, who think, for example, that guns are cool - and on 'No More Eatin' he practically has a hardcore punk song on his hands.
All in all, there is enough originality and wit on this album for it be an excellent debut, and without even trying Plan B has wedged himself into the top level of British hip-hop. His sophomore effort, with any luck, will see him furthering his skills and uniqueness to his advantage.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I bought this album three years ago, having caught Sick 2 Def live, and finding it to contain one of the most powerful and visual lyrics I'd heard in a long long time. The rest of Who Needs Actions was a bit different, more produced, with the acoustic element down in the mix, and all the better for that. The lyrics and the tunes are strong, and they work so well together.
Three years later the punchline to Charmaine still gives me judders, Tough Love confronts issues no one else seems to want to, while No More Eatin' must be one of the most heartfelt and violent tracks ever written. The relationship between his mother and her boyfriend, the relationship between him and his father, the death of a close friend... The album is emotional and honest. I love everything about it - and have been waiting impatiently for a real follow up.
Way back, I read an interview with Ben Drew where he mentioned a project all about a smackhead called David Frost. What's happened to it? Has the idea been shelved? For Plan B, what now? He's got far too much raw talent simply to disappear.
Three years later the punchline to Charmaine still gives me judders, Tough Love confronts issues no one else seems to want to, while No More Eatin' must be one of the most heartfelt and violent tracks ever written. The relationship between his mother and her boyfriend, the relationship between him and his father, the death of a close friend... The album is emotional and honest. I love everything about it - and have been waiting impatiently for a real follow up.
Way back, I read an interview with Ben Drew where he mentioned a project all about a smackhead called David Frost. What's happened to it? Has the idea been shelved? For Plan B, what now? He's got far too much raw talent simply to disappear.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great album
I bought this album when it first came out, listened to the first few tracks a few times, and thought that it's just trying to shock, so gave up on it. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Fish to fry
plan b cd
this is a top cd with some quality songs on it, it does though after a while listening that plan b is just moaning and groaning in his songs, there is alot of swearing but all... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Daz
CD
Excellent CD been to see Plan B in concert so I knew what I was buying one of the best buys ever
Published 13 months ago by E. Lilly
Plan B cd
Like one of the other Amazon customer reviews, I purchased this cd as I liked their other cd, Strickland Banks. Read more
Published 16 months ago by lou
Raw Talent
Like a lot of others I got into plan b through his recent defamation of strickland banks album and now want to look back at his earlier work. Read more
Published 17 months ago by C. Sharp
Raw Talent
Plan B's prior release to The def of S banks is a raw unpolished version of what we have today. He was probably told by his record company to alter his style to become acceptable... Read more
Published 17 months ago by A. A. Bell
Excellent, get the o-card version
An excellent album, there seems to be 2 versions on Amazon, an O-Card version (which is what I purchased) and a regular version. Read more
Published 18 months ago by ptha
Dont call him the new eminem
What an amazing album. Literally it has some of the greatest lyrics I have seen since the Marshall Mathers LP or BIG. Read more
Published 20 months ago by sohail badat
supprised
Banks has a good voice and his new stuff is great, This was a bit hard core but ok.
Paul
Paul
Published 23 months ago by Mr. P. Stewart
Nice one blud
Quality bit of Streets like UK hip hop.
From start to finish this ablum grips you. Plan B is a real story teller with a lot more in his locker. Read more
From start to finish this ablum grips you. Plan B is a real story teller with a lot more in his locker. Read more
Published on 9 Feb 2010 by Rat M'Scrat
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