Insane Clown Posse - The Tempest

You find yourself locked in place, bound by forces both familiar and frightening. A rumble, a tremble travels up your spine, a bass blast from supernatural speakers. Strobing lights blind your eyes, an unearthly spectacle beyond any made by man. Strap on your seatbelts, for you have entered... The Tempest.

You have reached a pinnacle, a peak in a journey that began years ago, when the Dark Carnival opened its gates and the Insane Clown Posse unleashed the Carnival of Carnage. That was the first of six mighty Joker's Card albums, a decade-spanning saga that climaxed with the platinum-selling Great Milenko and Amazing Jeckel Bothers, and wrapped with a vision of the afterlife, The Wraith: Shangri-La and Hell's Pit. The Joker's Cards had been dealt, but the Carnival carried on, as the caravan entered The Calm, 2005's record-breaking EP. That was just a prelude, an opening chapter to a new era for the Insane Clown Posse's Dark Carnival chronicle. The storm has loomed on the horizon, but now The Tempest is here...

Hold on tight, cuz that's not just your life flashing before your eyes. It's a story of life, death, sin and redemption, conducted in the clouds by the Insane Clown Posse, and you're about to drop in. get ready to ride the wind... Album Description

Insane Clown Posse - "The Tempest" (5 stars)

The Insane Clown Posse return for their 10th studio album. And it definitely lives up to its hype and some. It's a real roller-coaster ride (pun intended).
On this album, we hear a side of the Insane Clown Posse we have never heard before. Their new style is something I could easily get used to. It's alot more industrial and heavier than anything they've released in previous years. It flows extremely well. Although I was skeptical, because I thought it was gonna get caught in the nearly-abscent concept that "The Calm" had, but I put that aside and went into this superior masterpiece. Nearly every track is flawless.

Violent J's raps alone make this album worthwhile. Once again, he is decreasing as a storytelling rapper and developing as an underground emcee. His flow is improving alot lately, as well as his rhymes. I'm sure he could flow with the best of them. He sings a little on here as well, his singing isn't bad, but I prefer his vicious rapping.
Shaggy 2 Dope is great here too, I wouldn't consider him in the same category with J on the lyrical tip, maybe flow-wise, but he falls short when it comes to wordplay. But his raps are always great to hear on an Insane Clown Posse album anyday.

As for the production. The legendary Mike E Clark makes a triumph return. His beats have drastically improved since he left right after "Forgotten Freshness, Vol. 3" dropped. His production here is experimental and atmospheric. It sets the theme really well for the concept of the album.
Mike E Clark isn't the only producer here, though. Underground rap producer Akuma also laid down some additional production, namely the guitars, his additional production here is what I consider "the icing on the cake". All I gotta say here is; Mike, welcome home.

Here's my individual track ratings.

01. "The Sky Is Falling" (A+)
02. "Ride The Tempest" (A+)
03. "Alley Rat" (A-)
04. "Haunted Bumps (ft. Mike E Clark)" (A+)
05. "Growing Again" (A)
06. "Hum Drum Boogie" (A-)
07. "I Do This!" (A-)
08. "What About Now?" (A+)
09. "Watch My Ride" (A+)
10. "News At 6 O'Clock" (B)
11. "The Tower" (A+) (favorite)
12. "The Party (ft. DJ Clay)" (A+)
13. "B*tch I Lied" (A-)
14. "Play My Song" (A+)
15. "Mexico City" (C+) (least favorite)
16. "If I Was A Serial Killer" (A+)

As you can tell, nearly every track got an A from me. That's something I rarely do. This album is just that good. Oh, and FYI, they didn't change "The Tempest" from a raging storm to a mere roller-coaster. What they did was make a HUGE storm (as you can clearly see all the lightning throughout the CD cover/inserts) and put Juggalos on the roller-coaster and while we Juggalos are riding through the devastating storm, those corrupted haters below are being swept away. Makes perfect sense.
Anyway, I recommend this to ALL Juggalos, horrorcore rap fans and all underground rap fans. This album is personally, in my top 5 Insane Clown Posse albums of all time. Pure genius. Peace.

Mike E Clark appears courtesy of Strange Music.
DJ Clay appears courtesy of Psychopathic Records.

~ Raw hide July 31, 2008

A thousand sounds

Mike Clark really creates some crazy atmospheric beats. Clearly the best part of this album is the music, it actually sounds exactly like the album cover looks. The lyrics and rapping aren't bad, but like everyone else here has said it isn't as wicked as most juggalos would have hoped for (aside from "the tower" and "play my song"). As for the rest, you can expect unique song concepts by J and Shaggy laid over electrical beats that were ultimately well produced. Like the title of this review suggests, there is a LOT here in the way of some good old fashioned sonic madness. March 9, 2008

4.5/5 really but hell of a good cd

I bought the Tempest in September having no idea what to expect and I found the CD. The Tempest is creative and good ol Mark E Clark back which would make most fans happy. There is only one flaw I found about this album...its not wicked sorry but its true the CD is not wicked compared to others like The Amazing Jeckel Bros,Great Milenko, even the 6 Card Series had more wicked than this CD but either way its still good. It sounds more like 80's rap mix in with modern day Rap/Rock some my favorite hits are Alley Rat,Haunted Bumps,Growing again, I Do This!,News at 6 O Clock,Play my song and If I was Serial Killer which I find funny as hell Violent J is singing on Piano November 21, 2007

oh no

ICP has just gone down hill. The last three or four cd's I purchased just plain sucked to the point they are now sitting on a rack in the local cd trader store...don't do it people, you know you know better October 11, 2007

Ride The Tempest....

Very solid yet different release by the Clowns this time around. No more Joker Cards to keep you guessing what's next, just The Tempest that thankfully is way better than The Calm. Now that Mike Clark is back on the boards, the wicked ones are noticeably back at home. This one is filled with songs that are sure to make anyone's head bob. October 8, 2007

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