| Heavy Load | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | New Kingdom |
| Border: | yes |
| Released: | 1993 |
| Next Title: | Paradise Don't Come Cheap |
| Next Year: | 1996 |
Heavy Load is the first album by the musical duo New Kingdom, released in 1993.[1] [2]
The singles "Good Times" and "Cheap Thrills" made the top 100 on the UK Singles Chart.[3] The group supported the album with several live dates, including shows with Royal Trux.[4]
The album was produced by Scott Harding, New Kingdom, and the Lumberjacks.[5] [6] It was recorded in Manhattan.[7] "Mother Nature" examines ecological themes.[8]
Vibe called the album "a celebration of the black-light world of the subconscious," noting the "drug-induced lyrics swimming through a jazzmospheric haze."[9] Spin thought that the group "could be Cypress Hill's geeky, inward-peeking younger brothers."[10] The Santa Fe New Mexican noted that Heavy Load features some "newer elements which have entered into hip-hop, namely black noise, a term used by some critics to describe experimental jazz sounds and various industrial, electronic soundscapes pulsing over the requisite skewed bass lines and funky beats."[11]
The Calgary Herald deemed the album "a happenin' hip-hop funky fury." The Province considered it "a record that favors low, thick, swinging rhythms over big beats, storytelling over boasting, characterization over gangsta posturing."[12] The Boston Herald wrote that the group "turn a pop-music grab bag, with samples of Miles Davis, Grand Funk and others, into ... metallic R&B."[13]
AllMusic wrote that "songs like 'Mad Mad World' and 'Mighty Maverick' work especially well, with Sebastian's trippy spoken-word poetry matching the psychedelic musical backgrounds to create the drugged-out feel the band seems to strive for." In a retrospective article, The Village Voice praised the "dusty sonic patina that was fond of incorporating reverse reverb," writing that "at times, New Kingdom resonated like a psychedelic Wu-Tang."[14]