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If ever there was a rap album that everyone should own, it's "Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde."

Yeah, I know that's a pretty bold statement there, one that will no doubt bring a flood of angry e-mails from dismissive hip-hop-heads, but I'm sticking to it. The 1992 debut of the West Coast MCs who made an impressive splash, then all but disappeared, "Bizarre Ride" is just so cool in so many ways, it's tough to know where to start. In both content and form, the Pharcyde produced a disc that should be remembered as one of the best of the '90s. Tragically, it's not remembered as such, so I'll try and bring it back into the spotlight for a bit.

I bought this album during a particularly embarrassing phase in my life: that of the gangsta rap fan. Yes, when I was around 14 or so, I decided that hip hop was the way to go and invested heavily in the sounds of Dr. Dre, Onyx and Ice Cube. It was insane, I tell you - I even bought an MC Solaar tape so I could hear rap in French and feel cultured.

Granted, in retrospect my foray into rap wasn't particularly daring, and if I'd tried to do any of the tough guy things they were rapping about, I'd have probably been laughed at and slapped around. I'd have deserved it, too, because my appreciation was extremely superficial, and not at all based in any sort of genuine understanding of the music.

As I grew older, I realized that perhaps my bootleg copy of "Doggystyle" wasn't quite as hardcore as I'd once thought. I slowly gave up on my rap tapes, not because they were bad, but because I saw that it was a little ridiculous for a teenager from suburban San Diego to be bumpin' to the phat beats of Compton. And while Snoop and Dre were eventually given away to other misguided white people, "Bizarre Ride" always stayed in my CD rotation.

Why? Not for any of the reasons why most people like rap. The lyrics are pretty good, but not amazing. The Pharcyde's not waving too many political flags here, nor are they rallying around anything I want to fight for. The music? Once again, good but not amazing. Listen to Public Enemy or Dre if you want amazing production, not the Pharcyde. This isn't to say that it totally lacks merit, just that nobody really trumpets the album as a classic. There's no logical reason why I should like this album so much.

But I do.

Here's why: it just makes you feel good. Sorry, nothing deep there. No profound music scholarship about how "Bizarre Ride" influences listeners with major keys and polyrhythmic patterns. It's catchy, it's funny, it's easy to understand. This isn't complex music; if a geeky 14-year- old can get it, anyone can. And once you understand it, it's irresistible.

This isn't a great album for singles - "Passin' Me By" was pretty popular, and "Return of the B-Boy" should've been - but as a complete package, it's really hard to beat. With 11 songs and 5 interludes, it really is a bizarre ride.

Once you wind your way through the crazed roller coaster that graces the cover, you'll have visited all kinds of subjects, ranging from hassles with the cops, accidental dating of a transvestite, misguided puppy love, presidential spending policy and some guy's extraordinarily unpleasant mom. Actually, nasty mamas are a recurring theme in the album, come to think of it.

The hosts, Imani, Bootie Brown, Fat Lip, Slim Kid and J- Swift, former dancers on "In Living Color," no less, are awfully good at putting together a killer jam. They throw together great samples, live instruments and pretty decent rapping on song after song, making for an excellent collection. J-Swift and Fat Lip are more than competent on the wheels of steel, and all the MCs can most definitely rock the mic right. Maybe "Ya Mama" and "4 Better or 4 Worse" aren't going down as classics of rap vocals, but they're just as good as anything you'll find on most hip hop albums. Besides, where else can you hear someone claiming, "Ya mama's an extra on the Simpsons?"

Looking for a good track to get a party going? Look no further than "Soulflower," a remix of a previous collaboration with labelmate Brand New Heavies. As the Fender Rhodes keyboard plods along steadily, J-Swift serves up some tasty samples and the boys grab their mics and rock. The infectious beat, combined with the sing-songy vocals will motivate even the stodgiest old fogies to attempt dancing. Lord knows, my roommate freshman year walked in on me attempting to bust a move to this track many a time. It's just so damn catchy, it forces you to like it.

Unfortunately, the Pharcyde never really lived up to this really, really promising start. "Bizarre Ride" went gold, true, but it soon faded from memory. The group's second release "Labcabincalifornia" had some good stuff, but not on par with "Bizarre Ride" and after that ... not much at all. Some critics would pick on the Pharcyde for this short- lasting impact, but I can't pass judgment that quickly. I think that any band that could put out an album this good, whether as a debut or as the culmination of a 30 year career, should be remembered.

I can only praise "Bizarre Ride" so much; the real proof is on the music itself. So next time you've got a couple bucks to spare in the record store, give it a try. It won't change your life or anything, but it'll make living it a lot more fun.

Hopkins is not a trained hip hop critic, so don't hold his ignorance against him. E-mail afropic@ucla.edu to better inform him.