Mission Accomplished

Mission Accomplished doesn't do much to reinvent the club/dance sonics Tricky forged on Maxinquaye, but it does offer some of the biggest beats he's ever cooked up. The title track mixes storm-tossed live drums with subtle fuzz guitar (and a rip from Peter Gabriel's Big Time, too), while Crazy Claws is gestalt hip-hop: Both in your face and somehow aloof, the MC outlines his sordid trysts with ghetto women while shrouded in a haze of club-drub drums and druggy bass. It's just the sort of dark-and-chic portrait of underbelly dwellers that made Tricky seem so fresh at the beginning of his career. Divine Comedy, on the other hand, bears a strong message -- Polygram, Tricky's former label, sucks because it won't hire minorities with criminal records -- but its throwaway sonics aren't commensurate with Tricky's anger. Discardable as it may be, Mission Accomplished shows that Tricky's still got plenty up his sleeve. ~ Christian Hoard, All Music Guide