Senser Stacked Up XX Album Review
Being a reviewer is both a privilege and a responsibility. Hearing first, and getting to review some of the most talented individuals on these fair shores is quite frankly BRILLIANT. Someone asked me the question recently "If you could review any release over your entire listening life, what would it be?" The ensuing inner argument was both brutal and is more than likely going to take a similar length of time to my bloody novel. But one thing I do know for sure, is that THIS album would be a serious contender!
Stacked Up isn't strictly a hip hop album. It isn't strictly a metal album either. Its not even 'rap/metal'. Senser came together in a time of musical experimentation. What Senser did was both forward thinking, and to the members of the band, i dare say simply a natural reaction to the world around them. They took the best bits of all their favorite musical styles and managed (with great finesse) to forge them into one unique and powerful sound. On the crest of a wave of early UK hip hop, the britcore era, and of the explosion of rave culture, Senser stormed the youth scene with enough vigor to start a riot. Fronted by Heitham Al-Sayed from South West London, of Saudi and English parentage, the firey and on point lyrics are blended with raw female vocals and big growling guitar riffs. They completed their sound with engineer, producer and programmer - Haggis, who understood that, at the time, the future of music must embrace electronic sounds, or go the way of the Dodo.
Senser | Switch
Fearless and relevant to a T, the band stood for a youth culture. A youth culture that were, in the late 80's and early 90s, still reeling from the stink of Thatcherism and of going unheard by generations of their peers. Stacked Up, their 1994 debut album is considered by many to be their best. Fearce and unwavering, the album does an astounding job of putting the audience right there in the middle of the revolution. Relentlessly passionate, and as current as the gulf stream. I'm glad for this opportunity to show my gratitude. Musically it gave me the bravery to push boundaries. Lyrically it gave me the belief that I could rap. But not only that. It stands out as one of the defining sounds of the era, and in the eyes of many UK hip hop heads, myself included, this album is right up their with the likes of Gangsta Chronicle, Countryman and Horns Of Jericho.
Senser | Age of Panic
To celebrate its 20 year anniversary, Senser enlisted the help of their fans via a kickstarter campaign, and have remastered and re-released the album. The original 13 tracks all got the deluxe 2014 treatment, and are delivered together with lots more releases including some previously unreleased bonus material. Stacked Up XX is both a special treat to fans of Senser's work, and it also makes available to new listeners a land stone in alternative UK music. The album, and indeed the band represent a time that is mirrored in our own current volatile social and political climate. As relevant today as it was at its release, Stacked Up is an important release in my musical lifetime, and it should be in yours. Revisiting or a virgin listener, it won't fail to move you. Given the choice of 99% of the charting albums or this, I know where my money is going.
Invokal - Verbalist journalist.
