The Trials And Tribulations Of Russell Jones

04/16/2002 8:00 PM, LAUNCH
Dan Leroy

On the all-time list of albums made while the artist was trying to elude the law, this is a pretty good effort. But compared to the now-incarcerated Ol' Dirty Bastard's past work, in and out of the Wu-Tang Clan, The Trials And Tribulations Of Russell Jones doesn't rank as well. Minus the production skills of the RZA, much of the backing is pedestrian, and relies squarely on Ol' Dirty's singsong free-associating to carry the load. It works some of the time; you can't help but laugh at whacked-out snippets "Cute Devils" and "Waitress #13," and ODB's weirdness is enough to get songs like "Zoo Two" and "C'mon" over. But he obviously didn't have enough time to finish the album before heading to the joint, as the number of recycled old rhymes proves. And when you're depending on inferiors like the Insane Clown Posse for help (as he does on the surprisingly sunny-sounding "Dirty And Stinkin'") and the result is actually one of the better tracks on the album, you got problems--not just of the legal variety.