THE AMAZING JECKEL BROTHERS - Insane Clown Posse

YEAR: 1999

LABEL: Island/Psychopathic

TRACK LISTING: Intro, Jake Jeckel, Bring It On, I Want My Shit, Bitches, Terrible, I Stab People, Another Love Song, Everybody Rize, Play With Me, Jack Jeckel, Fuck the World, The Shaggy Show, Mad Professor, Assassins, Echo Side, Nothing's Left

IMPRESSIONS: I was introduced to ICP through Cheeks, naturally, when he included songs from RIDDLE BOX and THE GREAT MILENKO etc. on various Cerpts Tapes. Between MILENKO and JECKEL BROTHERS the band had become widely known and, at the same time, panned by critics and not taken seriously as rappers. It seems to me that people to this day miss the entire point of the band; especially those who think that what they do is in any way similar to what Eminem does. Eminem has no sense of humour while ICP is solely about humour. That's the reason I liked them in the first place -- because they're very funny. The fact that people to this day think ICP is trying to sound "gangsta" is hysterical to me; they're wearing CLOWN MAKEUP for fuck's sake! Did you happen to miss that fact? While this album is debatably their best musically (even some critics gave it good marks), this is also their last really good album. The final sixth Joker's Card, in which they reveal the not-all-that-concealed "secret" fact that Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope are actually Christian rappers (their lyrics from day one have always telegraphed this "non-secret" to true fans), was rather a letdown musically and everything after that has been pretty abysmal. However, it is a fact that this album won ICP their Penguin Award for 1999's Song of the Year given to "Nothing's Left" which remains their most serious and heart-felt statement on record.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: I Want My Shit, Bitches, I Stab People, Another Love Song, Fuck the World, The Shaggy Show, Mad Professor, Nothing's Left

GUEST ARTISTS: Snoop Dogg (rap on "The Shaggy Show"), Ol' Dirty Bastard (rap on "Bitches"), The Jerky Boys (perform on "Bitches" and "Assassins"), Twiztid (perform on "Echo Side")

FACT SHEET: THE AMAZING JECKEL BROTHERS is the fifth album from Insane Clown Posse (not counting their numerous EPs). It is the fifth "Joker's Card" in ICP's "Dark Carnival" which will "cause the end of everything as we know it" once the sixth Joker's Card is released. It is a "concept album" of sorts which lyrically focuses on the Dantean 9 circles of Hell. Jack Jeckel and Jake Jeckel represent the opposite choices humanity makes between good and evil; the balls they juggle represent the sins committed during life. This album was more hip hop oriented than their previous major label debut THE GREAT MILENKO (the 4th Joker's Card) which was more rock-sounding and had been deleted by Disney-owned Hollywood Records only hours after release after complaints from the Southern Baptist Church. Island Records picked up MILENKO and released it uncensored and the follow-up fifth Joker's Card would be released by them later. THE AMAZING JECKEL BROTHERS debuted at #4 on the Billboard charts and certified platinum. "Assassins" is a cover of a Geto Boys song. "Another Love Song" is based on the Beck song "Jack Ass" which in turn is derived from a sample of Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue". Island Records released two versions of the album: one with cover art of Jake "The Just" and one with a Jack "The Sinister" cover.