CD Reviews - JerseyBeat.com

As the lengthy title says, this is not a new MC Chris album. Rather, it's a 15-song collection of very early MC material recorded in dorm rooms and basements with his backing band The Lee Majors, whom pop-punk fans may know better as the dearly departed Dirt Bike Annie.

Like Lennon meeting McCartney at a church fair or Keanu Reeves meeting Dogstar members at a supermarket, history was made the day the NYU dorm assignment machine stuck one Christopher Ward in the same room as Adam Raybuck. This chance pairing would eventually spawn, influence or somehow assist such bands as The Ergs!, The Unlovables, Short Attention, The Steinways, The Impulse and countless others. Most notably, Chris Ward's "MC Chris" persona was born out of late night jam sessions, parties and roadie-ing with Adam's band Dirt Bike Annie. The songs on this album give no indication of what lay ahead for MC Chris.

Far from the polished rhymes you now hear from MC Chris on the soundtracks to major motion pictures or at sold-out shows, these recordings sound more like a bunch of friends who after a few dozen beers and bong hits decide to pick up some instruments and hit Record on the 8-track. That's because that's pretty much what this is. In between the psychedelic wah-wah guitars, the Casio drumbeats, the movie samples and fart sounds, you can hear MC take his first awkward steps into the world of hip-hop. While often clumsy and overly-verbose, a few songs like "MC Chris Attax" and "MC Chris Number 2000" display the razor-sharp wit and charming self-deprecation that are now hallmarks of his rhymes. The disc even contains a primitive version of his classic "DQ Blizzard" which you can hear in all its fuzzed out, slowed-down glory. While The Lee Majors and Dirt Bike Annie are now sadly just memories, were it not for them there would be no MC Chris; so on behalf of myself and every 300-pound World of Warcraft player living in his mother's basement - thanks, guys.
- Oliver Lyons

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