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Ah, it fair takes you back. Local provincial niteklubs 1998, the sound of Big Beat on the stereos, "TFI Friday", Christopher Walken...great times eh lads? Unfortunately, those great times passed into history quite some time ago. And so, five years on from his commercial zenith, how's Norman Cook holding up?
The answer - sadly, not very well. On his fourth album under the Fatboy Slim banner, he's effectively done exactly what he did with the above-average previous two (1998's "You've Come A Long Way Baby" and 2000's "Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars") except not as well. While back then, Cook's compositions were pinned with the sort of undeniable sense of fun which could get all but the most miserable up and shaking their arses on the dancefloor, "Palookaville" just sounds incredibly messy. It's not even that the formula's really changed that much, it's just the feeling that Norm used up all his good ideas on his previous releases and is now scraping around for whatever's left in the barrel. Even songs which have a germ of a good idea in them such as the Spanish guitar sampling "Mi Bebe Masoquista" and a stoner cover of Steve Miller's "The Joker" are ruined by simply having the wrong ideas in the wrong place.
Fair to say that we should no longer really praise this bloke I think.
Rating: 4/10
Reviewed by Andy James
