The fact is given little play in the liner notes, but the Chuck D-chosen compilation Louder Than a Bomb celebrates a hip-hop moment whose time seems anything but now. Of the 16 original tracks collected here, the most recent (Common Sense's "I Used to Love H.E.R.") was released in 1994. Bomb's celebration of the political side of rap also includes songs aimed at dated targets such as the Gulf War (Paris's "Bush Killa"). The set's myriad voices, however, often speak to concerns that unfortunately remain relevant, as on Ice-T's anti-censorship "Freedom of Speech," the Jungle Brothers's excoriation of African American infighting based on skin tone ("Black Is Black"), and Run-D.M.C.'s all-purpose "Proud to Be Black." (A more currently salient Ice Cube choice, though, might have been the chilling, hilarious Driving While Black tale "U Ain't Gonna Take My Life.") Doug E. Fresh's hectoring antichoice missive, "Abortion," is offensive in all the wrong ways, but Louder Than a Bomb is generally a smart selection of angry, thoughtful cuts.

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