Ian Brown - Illegal Attacks

So what the fuck? asks everyone's favourite simian at the start of Illegal Attacks, and that's what you'll find yourself asking after hearing some of the more cringeworthy rhyming couplets on offer here. Apparently King Monkey stayed off the spliff while writing his latest album; it makes you wonder what, er, lyrical bombs he could have dropped on us if he had been puffing the magic dragon. Musically, however, it's a nice marriage of hip-hop and old-skool funk underscored with suitably ominous sounding orchestral jabs, with Sinead O'Connor adding her tuppence worth in the background. It's a case of great tune, shame about the lyrics, which basically add up to three minutes of stating the obvious in a not-so-eloquent way. [Barry Jackson]