The Lox are re-emerging after their debut album. Released on Bad Boy records, they were disappointed with their label support and sales, and bounced to Ruff Ryders. Of course, that's like jumping from a sinking Titanic onto a leaky-ass flimsy lifeboat, but it must have seemed like a good idea at the time.

Unfortuntately, there's very little on this album to set it apart from the masses of material. There really isn't much on here that stands out as particularly innovative or ground-breaking. Of course, there probably wasn't much effort to do anything really new here, as the album is laced with the same old same old thug and murderer talk. It's getting tired pretty quickly, but it'll sell.

Most of the production on this album is handled by Casio - oh, excuse me, I meant Swizz Beats. This means boring, repetetive beats with plenty of high-pitched annoying bleeps over a simple bass and drum line. Other production is handled by P.K., DJ Premier, and a rejuvenated Timbaland, whose latest beats have been a breath of fresh air.

Lyrics are this albums strong point, but considering the parade of mediocre beats, that's not saying a whole lot. Jadakiss, Sheek and Styles are fairly clever and humourous, but it's hard to escape the feeling that you've heard everything here before. Bragging about their money, ice, bitches, cars and hardness over and over again seems to be the extent of their subject material. It would be nice to see something different, but I wouldn't hold your breath.

There are very few standout tracks on this one. Very little is so horrible that you couldn't listen to it if you had to, but neither is this an album you'll need to keep near so it can stay in rotation in your player. Shining lights in the darkness of this album include, "Blood Pressure," "Recognize," (although it's not quite up to Primo's usual standard, it's still pretty hot.) and "Ryde or Die Bitch," a beautiful beat produced by Timbaland with livable rhymes from the trio.

Definitely nothing to write home about, this album doesn't provide much in the way of freshness. Thug heads, longtime Lox fans and Ruff Ryders will probably rave over this album, but most won't have much to say about it at all. This is a group with a lot of potential, and it's a shame to see it wasted like this.