It seems the last couple of Stereo MC's albums have sometimes been unfairly judged by some because of that long wait for the follow up to 'Connected'. Both 'Deep Down & Dirty' and especially 'Paradise' seemed to show a refreshed band once again in love with creativity (something which possibly no-one else who started at the same time as them could lay claim to these days) but here they really do show they are as relevant as ever with such a modern sounding album full of tracks that could be as big as all those one's you'll remember from the 90's.
The beats are fresh ('Gringo' wipes the floor with anything the Chemical Brothers have tried in the past 7 years), Rob's voice is sounding more soulful with every album (the mystery track on disc 1 especially) and of course it's all punctuated by the great female vocals that compliment the whole sound.
All in, it's a great record for a party or just sitting back and listening. It's got peak time club tunes (the aforementioned 'Gringo','The Here And Now' and 'Show Your Light'), chilled vibes on 'Coming Home' and 'You Got It All' and everything has that uplifting feel we need more than ever in 2008.
You'll struggle to find a better dance album this year.