Tricky Mission Accomplished CD

"MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" contains 3 brand new songs plus one highly sought after track previously available only as a bootleg.

It isn't that Tricky is no longer elaborating on his signature sound -- turning out variations of Maxinquaye would perhaps be regressive, but it would also still be enjoyable -- but that he's burrowed into bitter, nasty self-parody. It's little wonder that Island decided to cut its losses while the label could, since he's become positively obsessed with two things: proving his street hip-hop credibility (without changing his sound, mind you) and dwelling on his lack of commercial success. This might not be a death knell if he demonstrated a willingness to change, but he's stubbornly sticking to the sound he settled on with Pre-Millennium Tension. Not bad, at least sonically, but certainly not groundbreaking -- an impression not helped by the recycling of the (admittedly difficult to find) independently released single "Divine Comedy," wherein Tricky attacks Island for not giving him adequate support. Well, who could??? The guy has a talent bordering on genius, and even if his three albums following Maxinquaye merely expanded that record's sound, they were often compelling. But it was never, ever, commercial -- especially in the U.S., where trip-hop was only marginally thirty-something dinner music, unlike his native U.K. And, even then, nobody listens to Tricky to relax -- you listen to Tricky to get within his own world, get within his paranoid, dope-fueled fantasies. Here, there's more paranoia than fantasy, and even if the title track of the EP works pretty well, Mission Accomplished tests the patience of the dedicated. Here's to hoping that this was a necessary purge, and that when he settles into a full-length for Epitaph's Anti imprint, he'll forget about chart success and record labels and just make music. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Mission Accomplished doesn't do much to reinvent the club/dance sonics Tricky forged on Maxinquaye, but it does offer some of the biggest beats he's ever cooked up. The title track mixes storm-tossed live drums with subtle fuzz guitar (and a rip from Peter Gabriel's "Big Time," too), while "Crazy Claws" is gestalt hip-hop: Both in your face and somehow aloof, the MC outlines his sordid trysts with ghetto women while shrouded in a haze of club-drub drums and druggy bass. It's just the sort of dark-and-chic portrait of underbelly dwellers that made Tricky seem so fresh at the beginning of his career. "Divine Comedy," on the other hand, bears a strong message -- Polygram, Tricky's former label, sucks because it won't hire minorities with criminal records -- but its throwaway sonics aren't commensurate with Tricky's anger. Discardable as it may be, Mission Accomplished shows that Tricky's still got plenty up his sleeve. ~ Christian Hoard

Previously On Import

Personnel includes: Tricky, Lynx.

Photographer: Clint Fisher.Alternative Press (3/01, p.83) - 3 out of 5 - "...Uniquely mixed guitars, beats and rhymes as only Trick Kid can meld them. Good..."
CMJ (2/19/01, p.18) - "...Back after almost a 2-year absence...he's still genre-hopping, flirting with metal-inflected guitars and continuing his love affair with edgy, underground rap..."