Musical Ramblings: Send in the clowns, ICP get a bit better with age

Well, it's that time of the year when I do the inevitable review from this next group. Their last two releases disappointed me very much and I had very low expectations for this release. Actually, I vowed to sample it before I bought it, but sometimes when you are in a CD store, you can't leave without something.

Insane Clown Posse
The Tempest
Yes, I know it's not a rock or metal release (gasp!), but I've been a fan of these guys for many years. I like their old-school rap vibe (not the 50 Cent kinda crap where they mumble out of tune to predictable beats), their humour and the fantasy violent edge that they have.

After The Wriath, Hell's Pit and The Calm releases, I was wishing that these guys would go back to the era around The Great Milenko and Ringmaster and bring back the beats and humour that made me really dig the “band.” Luckily the band does bring back some of that classic feeling on The Tempest, but it isn't a return to that era.

“The Tempest” is the lead off track and gets you kind of grooving along and gives you the feeling that the duo is trying a again (minus the chorus). “Alley Cat” really starts the disc off, though. This track could easily be played in a club and have the floor dancing with the beat it provides (minus the chorus, again). “Growing Again” and “Haunted Bumps” bring the CD to a halt due to their slower paced beats.

“Hum Drum Boogie” and “Watch My Ride” may not be the best tunes on the disc, but my goodness, if you want a huge laugh these are the two tracks to sample first.

The knockout tracks on this disc are “What About Now?,” “The Party,” and “Bitch, I Lied.” If the disc was filled with tracks like these: fast beats, good rhymes and a sense of humour, I'd probably score it higher.

The one thing that always bugs me about these guys (as I've kind of commented above) are their “choruses.” They turn a stellar A+ song into a B- because of how they approach them. I don't like when theses guys try to sing. It ruins the flow of the song. They're usually out of key or the melody that they've chosen for the beats just doesn't flow like it should. Also, skip “I Do This!,” “Mexico City” at all costs.

This is one of the best ICP releases in a long time. I'm not sure how many people who are devotees to rap and hip-hop will take this (I guess in the “hardcore” rap community, they're still considered a little bit of a joke), but I really enjoyed it. Props on the really cool effects on the packaging (silver lightning — whooo!).