X-Ecutioners: Revolutions

The album at least gets off to a rousing start, with an early track pitting the auspicious pairing of Black Thought and Ghostface against a sunny Miami Sound Machine beat. Similarly cheesy but far less successful juxtapositions abound, most perversely "(Even) More Human Than Human," a head-scratcher of a collaboration that mashes up the Midwestern angst of Minnesota indie-rap heartthrob Slug with Rob Zombie's monster-movie metal. Not surprisingly, the track is more notable for its audacity than its quality.

An amped-up collaboration with Dead Prez gives the album's second half a much-needed kick, yet reinforces the notion that Revolutions is only as good as its guests, which bodes ill for "Let Me Rock," a cringe-inducing team-up with the undistinguished snot-rock band Start Trouble. Time-wasting skits (is there any other kind, really?) and forgettable pairings with Fat Joe and Cypress Hill drag the album down further, pushing it past the thin line separating eclectic from just plain random. With pop-damaged albums like this, X-Ecutioners and the turntablism subculture it represents run the serious risk of gaining the world—or at least the worldly rewards that come with airplay and platinum plaques—but losing their souls.