(hed) Planet Earth Album: “Broke”

I'll make this short and to the point.To me none of these other so called "rapcore" bands can come close to the sound that hed has created.IT'S SO RAW!

Oh yes - this is the good stuff! A much more focused effort compared to their debut with some great arrangements, terrific sounds, excellent vocals and unique beats - what else could a white, middle-class, self-confessed metal-head want?! (hed) really came into their own with this album. What I particularly like are the computerised beats and sudden flourishes of human drumming over the top - really creative and, if I can get away with saying this, showing something akin to what Peter Gabriel did live with Manu Katche on the Secret World Tour. The two songs on Broke I'm referring to here are `Pac Bell' and `Jesus (of Nazareth)'. Everyone goes on about the song `Bartender', but I don't rate it as high as some other stuff on here. I can't really fault any of the tunes on `Broke' but I do particularly like `Killing Time', `Boom', `Swan Dive', `Stevie' and `Jesus'. The thing I've learned most to admire about this band is Mawk's sparse basslines. Most players would lace these songs with monstrous riffs, but his playing shows some damn fine maturity. I'd recommend this album to anyone because it's not overly obtuse, and it showcases a band that is top of their tree. To be honest, I don't think much else compares in this genre.

Was completely blown away by Hed's second record (selftitled) which was extremely intelligently written, pushing the heavy/rap into a clever and diverse way and having a dramatically powerful vocal presense at all times.

At the time Broke came at first I was a little dissapointed as the sound had changed but that soon gave way to appreciation that they had gone for something a bit more diverse than before - not quite as far as say Mr. Bungle type diverse but more in that direction than the previous album - which is a lot more conventional. For me are a few time lyrically they lose the integrity of the first record but are still a lot of songs where they hang onto it.

Probably their strongest record between self titled and back to base X, definitely worth a shot if you liked those two and better than the others in the middle.

Stand out tracks for me are: "Waiting to die" Hard and Fast

"Little Stevie" clever sense of music, great timing and nearly captures the same sort of power as their classic remix of Darkie off selftitled

"I got you" greatly passionate power song with great Chorus

"feel good" apart from having Serj on it it's a clever piece of music

and a few others - generally it's really good - only negative really is the incredible record before

I'm a fan of everything. I love Metal(Soulfly, Ill Nino, System of a Down, etc), Rap(Eminem, 2pac, DMX, ect.), R&B(Lauryn Hill, D'angelo) and Hard Rock(Sevendust, Nonpoint, Rage Against The Machine). This album is amazing. It mixes all of these genres. But.....you will not fully understand how great this band is if you don't like anything other than Metal. Cause they're more than just a metal band.

Hed-PE is the only other rapcore band, besides Rage Against The Machine, to sucessfully do the genre. They are the only two rapcore bands that matter. Limp Bizkit single handedly ruined the rapcore genre and lost all of its credibilty. Don't be fooled. Hed-PE isn't just another Limp Bizkit. M.C.U.D. is amazing. Take it from a fan of hip hop...he can rap his ... off. And he's a great rock vocalist. He really reminds me of a cross between Eminem and Zack de la Rocha of RATM. The music is really heavy. Great songs to just jump up and down to and go crazy. Here's a song by song look at this album......

Killing Time: Slammin. It's really shows what the band is like. I'll give it a 9/10.

Waiting To Die: The most "metal" song on the album. Very in-your-face song. It gets a 8/10.

Feel Good f/ Morgan from Kittie and Serj from SOAD: Love this song. The vocals are tight by everyone involved. 9/10.

Bartender: Probably one of the best songs on the album. The verses are pretty funny and the rest of the lyrics are kinda depressing. 10/10.

Crazy Legs: Great song. Some of the most offensive lyrics that I have ever heard in my entire life. Great though. 10/10.

Pac Bell: Probably the strangest song on the album. M.C.U.D.'s vioce is distorted for most of the song. It's yet another good song. 8/10.

I Got You: Pretty Good song. Nothing really amazing about this song. Good none the less. 7/10.

BOOM(How You Like That): This, along with Crazy Legs, is the most hip hop influenced song on the album. 8/10.

Swan Dive: This is also one of the best songs on the album. Very reggae influenced. Dark, self loathing lyrics and heavy a*s guitars. What more could you ask for. 10/10.

Stevie: Probably the weakest song on the album. It's ok but not as engaging as the other songs on the album. 7/10.

Jesus(Of Nazareth): This joins Bartender and swan Dive as one of the best songs on this album. It's actually the best. I think the song is about feeling betrayed by the religion that you gave your life to. But I could be wrong. 11/10.

The Meadow: A very suprising ending to an amazing album. This is a very relaxing ballad about wanting to love and be loved by someone. 9/10.

All around tight album. Go out and buy it now. And look out for their next album. It'll be out this October so pick that up too. Peace!!

If ever there was such a thing as a perfect union between hard rock and rap, (hed) PE surely discovered the perfect balance.

I actually found out about (hed) PE from the song Feel Good with Serj of SOAD and Morgan Lander of Kittie. I loved Serj and Morgan's parts but wasn't entirely sure about Jahred's. The rapping eventually grew on me so I decided to pick up Broke purely on a hunch. Turns out that I really do enjoy this CD, much to my surprise.

If the topic of sex is taboo for you, definitely look elsewhere, (hed) PE doesn't shy away from that topic. Other than that, if you like rock beats and you like rap, Broke just might be exactly what you're looking for. For the majority of this CD it really is just rapping, but Pac Bell is a little more than that. A lot of the time the songs on here are just fun, but Pac Bell seems, I don't know, real. The intensity in Jahred's voice is incredible towards the end of the track. Other than that, Bartender is a great song with excellent verses and an extremely memorable chorus. Jesus (Of Nazareth) has some pretty honest lyrics and yet another great chorus. The Meadow is a nice closing track, with almost a Sublime-esque quality. Not the best song, but it seems a fitting end.

My favorite songs are Killing Time, Feel Good, Bartender, Pac Bell, and Jesus (Of Nazareth). Broke isn't a groundbreaking CD, just a solid listen. However, if you're a band wanting to infuse both rock and rap together and avoid being completely cliche, you might want to listen to a few (hed) PE CDs. Each song has a solid beat and, the majority of the time, good rapping. A worthy addition for any music library.