Public Enemy’s Live Assault Runs 27 Tracks and 72 Minutes

“Power Assault Live!… In the Belly of the BEAST” is Public Enemy doing what Public Enemy always did: turning live performance into a political act. The 27-track album runs 72 minutes and moves through the group’s biggest hits, crowd breaks, and a few shorter cuts, all built around the idea that music can be a weapon against the system. This is not a quiet record. It is a loud, angry, unapologetic one.

Track by Track

The record opens with “Intro” (1:04) and “Lost at Birth” (3:34), a quick start before the title track “Night of the Living Baseheads” (2:33) sets the tone. “Bring the Noise” (1:27) and “Welcome to the Terrordome” (3:38) follow, both short and direct. “Rebirth Beat” (0:21) is barely a breath, a transition into “Nighttrain” (1:47).

“By the Time I Get to Arizona” (4:08) slows things down with a spoken-word passage, followed by “Fight the Power” (3:36), the album’s high point. “Crowd Speech Break 1” (3:01) and “Gotta Do What I Gotta Do” (3:30) stretch the runtime without adding much. “Group Intro Break 2” (2:22) is filler, but it keeps the energy up before “Buckwhylin” (1:24) and “Anti Nigger Machine” (1:10) arrive together as two short, sharp statements.

“She Watch Channel Zero” (3:54) is a standout, a song about surveillance and control that still holds up. “Crowd Break 3” (1:49) and “Feel Like JB/Get Down” (4:19) are decent, but they sit in the middle of the record. “More News at 11” (2:31) and “A Letter to the NY Post” (2:00) are shorter, sharper pieces.

“I Don’t Wanna Be Called Yo Niga” (3:21) is a strong track, and “Burnley Crosshouse” (0:40) is a brief, strange detour. “Rebel Without a Pause” (1:21) and “Public Enemy No 1” (1:24) are quick, effective. “Don’t Believe the Hype” (2:05) and “Shut ’em Down” (5:49) close the main run with some of the album’s most forceful moments.

“911 Is a Joke” (3:55) and “Can’t Truss It” (5:47) end the record on a high note, with “Can’t Truss It” running over five minutes and earning it.

The Record’s Purpose

This is a live record meant to capture the group’s shows, not to replace them. It is full of crowd noise, spoken-word breaks, and songs played at full volume. That is the point. Public Enemy never wanted to be pleasant. They wanted to make noise, and this record does that.

Final Word

The record has highs and lows. The crowd breaks can feel like padding, and some of the shorter tracks run together. But the best moments — “Fight the Power,” “She Watch Channel Zero,” “Shut ’em Down,” “Can’t Truss It” — are as strong as anything Public Enemy ever recorded. This is a live document of a band at the peak of its powers, playing its own history with full force.

“Power Assault Live!… In the Belly of the BEAST” earns a score of 8 of 10. It is not perfect, but it is powerful.

album review · classic rap · hip hop · live album · Public Enemy