Amazing debut album by the four vocal wizards known as the Pharcyde; my way-cooler-than-me brother was right on point when he presented this CD during a visit my sophomore year at college. Me and my few friends were knee-deep in all things either Ice Cube or Rap-A-Lot, i.e. The Predator, Guerillas In Tha Mist, Little Big Man etc. etc. while my brother was busy proclaiming Bizarre Ride as the future of hip-hop. And he was fucking right. OK, it may not of sold like The Chronic but I feel no shame in saying I like this album way fucking better. From the opener "Oh Shit" to the weirdly sadistic "4 Better or 4 Worse" and the hemp classics "Otha Fish" and "Pack The Pipe", almost every song on this one is a keeper. Sure, the record suffers from a few too many "skits" but I guess that was a right of passage when getting a rap album released in 1992. All in all, the humorous funk on Bizarre Ride was just what the hip-hop world needed, a welcome relief from the quickly-becoming-stale gangsta posturing so prevalent back then. The band lasted for another twelve years and three albums (albeit with different members) before finally breaking up in 2004. Enjoy.
