The all-star rock/rap compilation Judgement Night has been hyped to the gills. So now that the cash registers are rolling, those of you inclined to believe the pairings of Sonic Youth & Cypress Hill, Helmet & House of Pain, Dinosaur Jr. & Del the Funky Homosapien are too good to be true can pat your skeptical selves on da back. Not that it's a concept without potential. Run DMC and the Beasties have been rocking long enough to prove it can be done. The trick is to integrate two styles of music into something else entirely. Instead, just about every track on Judgement Night sounds like two songs, neither one listenable. Like gratuitous remixes of cliche metal.
The hipster in me wants to blame the rock bands here, a lot of which just, well, suck. (Hey Ice-T, why Slayer?!) But the rappers as well as rockers lack a thorough grasp of the playing ground. The only couple that really seems to hit it off is a pop twosome - Teenage Fanclub & De La Soul. Their "Fallin'" leans on light-hardy, up-beats much like something you'd find on any De La album. Incidentally, it's the most pure"rap" of the "rap/metal." (Carrie McLaren)