THE GREAT MILENKO  -  INSANE CLOWN POSSE

YEAR:  1997
LABEL:  Island/Psychopathic Records
TRACK LISTING:  Intro,  Great Milenko,  Hokus Pokus,  Piggy Pie,  How Many Times?,  Southwest Voodoo,  Halls of Illusions,  Under the Moon,  What Is A Juggalo?,  House of Horrors,  Boogie Woogie Wu,  The Neden Game,  Hellalujah,  Down With the Clown,  Just Like That,  Pass Me By
IMPRESSIONS:  This was the first of the Joker's Cards I got into in a really big way (working backwards to RIDDLE BOX soon after) and this shows by the fact that I nominated it for a Penguin Award for Album of the Year.  The dunderheaded rap of ICP combined with an expertly hidden morality and some good ole axe murders made for a strange combination but one I found to be very amusing.  The mystique of the "Dark Carnival" and the six "Joker's Cards" melted this horror-fan's heart and the abundance of hooks melted my ears.  And how can you not love an album which starts with Alice Cooper introducing it?  And the fact that the whole album was made by Disney is just too hilarious to forget!  The title track is a monster "head-nodder" you can't help but move to -- as is the rather profound (for wicked clowns) "How Many Times?" which holds up as a stand-out track.  Seriously though . . . who was asleep at Disney that didn't realize what kind of album Insane Clown Posse was gonna produce?!?!?!
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  Intro,  Great Milenko,  Hokus Pokus,  Piggie Pie,  How Many Times?,  What Is A Juggalo?,  House of Horrors,  Boogie Woogie Wu,  The Neden Game,  Hellalujah,  Pass Me By
GUEST ARTISTS:  Alice Cooper (narration on "Intro"),  Steve Jones (guitar on "Piggy Pie"),  Slash (guitar on "Halls of Illusions"), Rich "Legs Diamond" Murrell (vocals, guitar on "Piggie Pie", "How Many Times", "Halls of Illusions", House of Horrors", "Hellalujah" and "Pass Me By"), Deb Agoli (vocals on "Intro", "Hokus Pokus" and "House of Horrors")
FACT SHEET:  THE GREAT MILENKO is Insane Clown Posse's fourth album and the fourth "Joker's Card".  The Great Milenko (in the "Dark Carnival" mythology) is a "Necromaster" illusionist who tricks people into "greed, envy and lust" and warns them against committing these sins.  The album was released by Disney-owned Hollywood records who quickly pulled the album from release laughingly stating that they didn't realize what the album's content would be -- despite the fact they spent a million dollars making it.  Island Records agreed to take the album and release it untouched.  The album features guest appearances by original horror-glam rocker Alice Cooper, the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones and former Guns N Roses guitar hero (and self-confessed ICP fan) Slash.  A song called "House of Wonders" was originally recorded for this album but didn't make it; instead winding up on the collection "FORGOTTEN FRESHNESS VOLUME 1 & 2"; this cd compilaton also features the "uncensored" version of "Piggy Pie".  THE GREAT MILENKO was produced by DJ Mike E. Clark who brought a stronger "rock" sound and better production to the album.  The strong sense of morality always hidden beneath ICP's violent lyrics always guaranteed that those punished with violence in the songs were guilty of such sins as bigotry, perversion, violence and injustice themselves; the innocent never get axed in an ICP song.  This quite clear theme throughout ALL the Joker's Cards assured my guessing quite early that Violent J and Shaggy were secretly Christians; a fact revealed in the final Joker's Card to some juggaloes' dismay.  In 2009, long-running horror magazine FANGORIA named "THE GREAT MILENKO" an iconic horrorcore album . . . whatever THAT means.  The album was also nominated for a Penguin Award for Album of the Year.   

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.