Mission Accomplished

1	Mission Accomplished 3:13
2	Crazy Claws 4:20
3	Tricky Versus Lynx Live 2:43
4	Divine Comedy 6:07

Barnes & Noble

That Tricky's first recording in more than two years finds release on Epitaph's Anti imprint, the same label responsible for Tom Waits's career-reviving Mule Variations, makes a few important statements from the outset: First, that Tricky's combination of buzz-saw-jagged dissonance and vitriolic patter has become so intensely concentrated that its release by a punk-rock label is altogether fitting; second, that his growing reputation as an unpredictable iconoclast rivals that of Waits to the point of earning the label kinship; and third, that Tricky just likes to shake things up. This four track EP packs a wallop, from the metal grind and drum-'n'-bass charge of the title track to the pelting rhythms and half-toasting banter that incites "Crazy Claws" to the hypnotic, Brit-tongued gutter rap that flattens "Tricky Versus Lynx." But at its core lies "Divine Comedy," an example of the type of bleary-eyed, acid-tongued missive that Tricky's built his reputation on (it was previously only available as a bootleg 12-inch). That final track -- a reaction to a racial slur uttered by an executive at Tricky's former label, Polygram -- encapsulates, with almost frightening clarity, all of the sonic and emotional bombast of Tricky at his defiant best. Colin Helms

All Music Guide

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