January 28, 2005 - It's been roughly five years since the Handsome Boy Modeling School headmaster Chest Rockwell and Nathaniel Merriweather revealed themselves (and their institution) to the masses via their audio presentation So…How's Your Girl?. Now they have returned, bringing with them some alumni (Del, Father Guido Sarducci, De La Soul) as well as some new inductees including Tim Meadows, members of Linkin Park, Barrington Levy, Mike Patton, Cat Power, Casual, Rahzel, Lord Finesse, RZA, John Oates, The Mars Volta, and many others. To say that this effort leans a little more to the mainstream wouldn't be entirely unfair, but it's still got its fair share of underground, eclectic bump.

The incomparable Father Guido kicks it all off with a testimonial as to how his life has changed in the past several years thanks to the tutelage of Chest and Nat (it should be testament enough that the good Father, whose hey day was back in the mid-70s on SNL, is receiving yet another hip career revival here) before the albums dips into it's first proper track "If It Wasn't For You." Hands down this is not only one of the best tracks on the entire project, but it may very well be one of the best things De La Soul has done. The beat is whimsical and fluid, wrapping itself around the trio's smooth mic maneuvers with grace and serenity, yet always maintaining that bold rap aesthetic. The terms "dope" and "def" may be old, but damn if they don't provide appropriate descriptive illumination here.

From those auspicious beginning, the album begins its slow descent into warped, often incongruous terrain, at least in terms of the way the songs on the album have been ordered. Everybody's favorite strange vocalist Mike Patton does his trademark head-scratching vocalistics on "Are You Down With It," which flips between sweet falsetto crooning, gruff, Oscar The Grouch growling, and other cartoon derived madness. The groove laid down underneath Mr. Patton is a sprite acoustic leaning guitar strum augmented by subtle scratching from Rob Swift. The song itself is cool, it just doesn't really seem to fit with the De La number that preceded it.

This same transitional flaw ultimately causes "The World's Gone Mad" to falter, as well. Don't get me wrong, the song is dope, but it just doesn't mix with the Patton tune. Sweet-voiced reggae legend Barrington Levy lures the listener in with a haunting melody before deep-voiced Del drops his verbal volley. It's a well crafted number and even features Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos on backing vocals, adding yet another dimension to the overall effect.

Where the album really begins to show signs of wear and tear begins sadly enough with the fifth track and the albums second "skit." Entitled "Dating Game" it is a veritable rehash of the game show shtick Paul first displayed way back on De La Soul's 1989 breakthrough Three Feet High And Rising. What seemed fresh and clean some 15 years ago just seems tired and routine today,