The Dolls' second and last album of their original run was a memorably slipshod document which on paper (their idol/inspiration Shadow Morton in the producer's chair), should have surpassed the original. In reality, this was an outfit whose time had come and gone, and their partnership with Morton was nothing more than a misguided last-hour shot at the brass ring. The howling, madness-filled ending of "Human Being" definitely included.

Heard this a ton of times on the heels of Galactic Vibes, and I still cannot explain how and why it is as good (if not better than) that album, but in a different way. It's a mystery I don't know if I will ever be able to crack. Psychedelic rock blended with Classical and native South African influences, but that is selling Astra's powers far short. The version I have includes three bonus tracks which were recorded pre-Astra; including an enchanting pop single called "The Coffee Song" which is as good as their more progressive works. This band should have been world-wide mega stars, and would have been, if not for the stinking shroud of Apartheid.

Just an awful episode - the only positives are James Hong is pretty good as the Chinese crime boss (not really much of a stretch), and Hunter's nuclear-sized machine gun.

The Elephants had the good fortune (or misfortune) to catch the ear of John Lennon and Yoko Ono and essentially be hired as their backing band in late 1971. The only problem was Lennon's ongoing political situation which prevented him and the Elephants from touring on a regular basis. For their one album under the now long-defunct Apple label, we find a more jovial spin on their radicalism (no doubt affected by John & Yoko's absurdist bent) backed by advanced musicianship thanks to recent arrivals "Tex" Gabriel, Gary Van Scyoc, and Adam Ippolito. This is a professionally executed street record from start to finish, which even contains some nice detours like Van Scyoc's country ballad "Wind Ridge". The one thing missing, ironically, is the boiling-over anger which was a calling card of the previous album, and on the lengthy "Baddest of the Mean" it feels like they are taking a sarcastic potshot at that version of the band. Still, this is a really good record, and I have no idea why it has not been re-packaged on CD or a new run of vinyl.

Public Enemy seemed to hit a period of malaise in the late 90's even though the He Got Game movie still had them in the public eye, garnering a hit with the title song and soundtrack album. But the music was far removed from their hell-raising heyday. It was thought There’s A Poison Goin' On might remedy this, but for the second album in a row a cardinal mistake is made - it's boring more often than not. There are isolated spots where the old combative spirit comes through ("Do You Wanna Go Our Way", "Crash"), but on the average it sounds like every other hip-hop record of the time, with tough, slow beats more reminiscent of a Cypress Hill record, and Chuck often coming off like a battle rapper, instead his usual booming preacher vocal. In short, they cut an album far below their usual standard.