Vernon Reid thankfully gives up on his solo noodlings and rejoins forces with the vehicle that give his talents such a good showcasing. LC were supposedly dead to the world yet here they reconvene and on this album things seem to have turned full circle for them. In the late 80's and early 90's it was their funkiness and apartness from so much of the hard rock world that gave them a fresh voice. However in 2003 it would seem that their concentration on song and - dare I say it - normality, that makes them stand out from the ruins of the nu-metal implosion and metalcore screamo bands. LC have changed by staying the same and in many respects this album doesn't sound like it's been years since their last one. All the usual LC stylings are there, an innate funkiness driven by the rhythm section with Reids slashing and diving guitar work laid over the top. Studio trickery is utilised particularly on Coreys' voice but the whole thing is very much anchored into the hard rock world due to the underlining heft of the songs structures.

Personal favourites on this album would be opener Song Without Sin, A ? Of When and the whimsical Flying. But that's not to denigrate the social commentary tunes which LC can still fire the listeners way with aplomb and a heck of a lot more street cred than your average hard rock band. Numbers like Nightmare City and Operation: Mind Control both work their heavy way along. And the cover of AC/DC's Back In Black was both a surprise and a fun choice for cover tune. Tomorrow Never Knows I could of lived without.

The dense sounding production reminds me more of Stained than their debut and as the album moves along it becomes clear that this isn't a five star release. It is a little overlong and does lack a certain X factor spark. It is however a good quality release from a quality band and it's certain that this is an album most of their former fans will enjoy as it sticks very much to what LC were initially known for, though it does understandably lack the youthful freshness of the more open and buoyant debut.