BABYLON ZOO: All The Money's Gone (EMI) - The belated follow-up to the 1996 one-hit-wonder Spaceman, which shot to Number One on the back of a Levi commercial. This sounds like an Oasis covers band attempting an impression of T-Rex. Considering the delay in coming up with material, there may be some truth in the title for Zoo man Jasinder Mann. This is dire. (3/10) PB

ALBUMS

DC TALK: Supernatural (Virgin) - It's become fashionable to knock Christianity and anyone brave enough to combine pop music and Jesus can expect ridicule. DC Talk peddle fairly harmless alternative funk rock, with lyrics like "all of us have a friend in Jesus", "you're a Godsend" and "you got me tripping on a vision of eternity". Scoff if you will but I think there's hypocrisy in slamming this sort of music just because the band believes in Jesus. The Beastie Boys gained plenty of street cred with their respect for Buddhism and Kula Shaker's coolness came from the fact they explored Hinduism. Somehow I feel this lot will get a drubbing from the music press. The music is pretty inoffensive, if lacking in originality. (5/10) PB VARIOUS ARTISTS: Tommy Boy's Greatest Beats (Tommy Boy) - This astounding compilation may at first look like a record company's collection of artists but it stands up in its own right as a snapshot of hip-hop history. It's hard to believe so many top rap artists were on the same label and if you don't remember some of the groups, you're sure to have heard samples from these tracks repeated in the dance, rap and jungle music of the 1990s. Where do you start? Coolio's rare funk masterpiece Fantastic Voyage, De La Soul's relaxed classic Me, Myself and I, Butch Vig's aggressive remix of the House Of Pain's Shamrocks and Shenanigans? Or the timeless street sounds of Afrika Bambaataa, Naughty By Nature, Stetsasonic or Queen Latifah? This is an education in hip-hop. (9/10) PB

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.