Tricky's potential once seemed boundless, but by the time of his fifth album,
Juxtapose, he hadn't expanded his trademark sound: a creeping, menacing blend of hip-hop, alternative rock, and ragga, all delivered with stoned paranoia. Perhaps
Tricky realized that its rewards were smaller with each subsequent album, since he designed
Juxtapose to be his most ambitious, eclectic album since
Maxinquaye, and the one that finally broke him to the mainstream American hip-hop audience. So, he teamed with
DJ Muggs (the architect of
Cypress Hill's sound, a clear precedent for
Tricky's) and
DMX's producer, Grease. The end result is hardly a collaboration -- in fact, it feels truncated, weighing in at a mere 35 minutes -- but it works in other ways, since
Tricky often seems revitalized. That much is evident on the stellar opening cut, "For Real"; the music is spaced-out, sexy, melodic, and appealing, even when it gets foreboding. It's a terrific beginning, suggesting that this will be the first album to offer significant variations on
Tricky's signature sound. And it does, but it may not go far enough for some tastes, since a good portion of this brief album is devoted to retreads, which reveal his weaknesses all too well.
Tricky remains unduly infatuated with ragga, letting British toaster Mad Dog run wild; his frenetic delivery single-handedly breaks the spell of each track he's featured on. But elsewhere,
Tricky pushes forward in inventive ways that add weight to
Juxtapose -- "Contradictive" is his best pop move to date, blessed by Spanish guitars and elongated strings; the paranoid drums of "She Said" successfully deepen the menace; and "Scrappy Love" is a haunting blend of soul and trip-hop, with eerie piano reminiscent of
DJ Shadow.
Juxtapose is a qualified success, but it is a success since the moments that work are his best in years. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine