Album · Public Enemy
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back by Public Enemy
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back is an album by Public Enemy, released in 1988. 5 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 18 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Bring The Noise”, on 8 lists with a best position of #62.
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Public Enemy's second album, came out on Def Jam and Columbia in 1988 and sounded like a city block going up in flames. Having watched how crowds took to their shows, the group pushed the tempos well past those of their debut, Yo! Bum Rush the Show, and set out to make hip hop's answer to Marvin Gaye's What's Going On. Sessions ran from 1987 into 1988 at Chung King, Greene St. and Sabella studios in New York.
The Bomb Squad built the racket: free jazz squall, heavy funk and musique concrète collage stacked into a dense, aggressive wall of noise, with Chuck D hurling revolutionary politics over the top, alongside Flavor Flav, Professor Griff and Terminator X on the turntables. Critics named it the best album of 1988 in the Pazz & Jop poll, and its standing has only grown since.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bring The Noise | 8 | #62 | – | 1991–2026 | |
| 2 | Rebel Without A Pause | 3 | #14 | – | 1987–2022 | |
| 3 | Don't Believe The Hype | 4 | #516 | – | 2002–2023 | |
| 4 | Countdown to Armageddon | 1 | #302 | – | 2024 | |
| 5 | Night Of The Living Baseheads | 2 | #50 | – | 1988–2021 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.