Following up his troubled 2006 release
The Big Bang,
Back on My B.S. -- or B.O.M.B.S. -- is guided by the "return to form" template, sometimes to a fault. "Give Em What They Askin For" is an exercise in yelling, kicking, and screaming "I'm back" as loud as you can, and while fans will likely cheer,
Busta and producer Ron Brownz are just preaching to the converted and should have left this hookless monster on a mixtape. A handful of similar tracks suffer from this same problem of ambition over inspiration, but for every miss, there's a hit, and you don't have to look any further than the other
Busta and Brownz team-up, "Arab Money," which acts as an Arabic-sampling alternative to its equally infectious older brother, "Mundian to Bach Ke." The
Jelly Roll production "Sugar" is the wild sound of
Kraftwerk with an
Isley Brother in their ranks, while
Pharrell gives "Kill Dem" a
Neptunes-styled version of dancehall, allowing
Busta to turn on the patois and let his Jamaican heritage take control. Odd that a comeback album would put unsurprising
Akon and
John Legend collaborations in the fourth quarter, but even odder is the successful closing bit of Euro-disco called "World Go Round" which falls somewhere between a
Flo Rida single and a new wave club classic. That's more highlights than last time out, and even if B.O.M.B.S. fails to put
Busta back on top, it is certainly a step in the right direction. [An explicit, 16-track version was also released.] ~ David Jeffries