Achanak return after a gap of four years with their eleventh album - Bhangra-ology. Now by definition - ology means the study of something. So guess this album is the study of bhangra?!? Achanak's career spans over 16 years, and they have been hailed as bhangra greats alongside old school artists like DCS, Apna Sangeet and Heera. With the pestering I'm getting for these back in the day tunes at parties, I guess the scene's experiencing a back to the old school phase. However, unlike these other groups, I don't think Achanak have as extensive a range of back catalogue tunes. Of course there was Lak Noo, Hai Lachea and Aj Bhangra Punjabia Na Pauna. However, were they not also responsible for the less well known legendary anthems (ahem!)Ten Green Bottles and Phantom of the Bhangra Zone? However, saying all of this, I did think their last album was highly underrated and had virtually all the ingredients for a hit album. Anyway, that's all in the past - would Bhangra-ology prove to be a study of how bhangra should be produced?

The album kicks off with the Tigerstyle produced Teri Muhabbeta Mar Sutia. This is the first official production duties for the boys for Nachural Records, and they give the track their unique desi feel. Very similar kind of beat that fans of Tigerstyle's last album will be familiar with. I wouldn't expect Vijay's light vocals to normally work with this kind of beat, but it doesn't sound bad at all. This is one of the two tracks to feature in the Project Gotham Racing 3 X-Box game, as you may have previously heard about. A decent enough start to the album.

Track 2, and Tigerstyle continue on the production front this time on a co-production level. This track's called Tut Gehia, and is much more of an up-tempo beat. Complete with Burrrahh's, Oh-ho's and Ah-Hai's, this one seems catered for the desi crowd. A fairly good tune; but don't see it doing any excessive damage on the dance floors.

A string intro, and we are treated to a slow number in the form of Dil Nao Lag Da. Only problem is this is more like a trick than a treat. Simply put, this is rubbish. Tigerstyle have been relieved from the boards and up step Vijay/2NV and Daz Wood. These guys don't do anything spectacular with the beat. All in all, not a patch on a certain Leamington based producer's efforts of an identically named track. I can't last the full five minutes of the tune; the fast forward button has a use after all…

We're welcomed to Nach Ne Noo Jee Karda, by some dreadful check one, check two lyrics. The MC, who's failed to make the credits - a good thing too - is appalling. The beat is Bhangarage - just cos the guys missed the original Bhangarage phase doesn't excuse this attempt. The beat, by Manjeet Singh, would probably have done quite well about five years. Sorry mate, you seem to be stuck in a time warp. Stuck with him is this MC, who strengthens his case for worst MC, by reciting some MC Neutrino lyrics. His lyrics are purely random. These might work well enough in a club, but can't believe somebody gave him the idea of putting these onto an actual track. If you hadn't have guessed - I'm not a fan of this one.

Are things getting from bad to worse? Track 5 - Teri Meri Ek Jinderi needs to be a vast improvement. Well the quality of the MC has certainly improved. Actually, hold up - that sounds like Erick Sermon. (Northerners, check Google if you haven't heard of him). A couple of rewinds later, and a quick shuffle through my Def Squad tunes, and I come to the conclusion that these lyrics have been stolen from the Def Squad tune - Get Da Money. Nice one guys. Vijay lays down his lyrics and then we are treated to the rest of Mr Sermon's (or should I say Onasis) verse. This beat my Manjeet Singh again is a much better effort on his part. One of those Hip Hop paced desi tracks. A good track if you can excuse the stolen lyrics.

When you've been around for the best part of two decades, you got to be able to dig up some old material. That's exactly what the boys have done in the form of the sixth track Jhor Dheni. Originally recorded in 1991 from the album PaNACHe, Suki Kalia has been given the job of bringing it into the next millennium. I'm happy to say he does a good job. An up-tempo desi beats keeps this tune interesting. Not bad at all - however, it is just a different mix of an old tune.

Raaten, and the use old material continues. However, this one was from their last album 4Play. To make matters worse nothing's really been changed. The track had three different versions on the last album, and now it seems they've decided which one they liked best, and thrown it onto this album. It's a good tune, and is aided by the laid back Rap by Germaine Gregory. While not being the most amazing rapper, his lyrics do have some relevance to the track. Pete Ware, along with Vijay Ware, takes over the production, and keeps things up to his high standards. Fine tune, but we've heard it all before.

Track 8, and "Oh No", in is his own words, "He's back again." That pathetic MC shows it was not just a one off - he is truly worthy of being muted. To make matters worse, the song 'Nazra' sounds like Lal Ghagra. That tune may have been a hit, but following your ex-label mates was definitely not the way to go. Manjeet Singh is again producing, and you can only assume he was briefed to provide a beat to imitate Lal Ghagra. Surely we got to move on from MC lyrics informing us to move our hands in the air, and wave them like we just don't care?!?

Putt Sardaran De - a truly original title - is the ninth track. An MC kicks it off, and I'm sure he could rival the previous MC in the worst MC award. This MC has had the courage to name himself as G, which is as good as remaining anonymous. The only thing in his defense is that he has tried to relate his lyrics to the Punjabi vocals. The MC lyrics are fairly bland though - they are the kind of standard you would have expected in the back in the day Death Jamm series. Then it was acceptable, now it is not. The Punjabi lyrics are top drawer, but Vijay really can't cut it. At points his Punjabi pronunciations could compete with our very own Desi Gorrah. This is another track valuable to the existence of the fast forward button.

Dil Nao Lag Da makes its second appearance on this album. I thought the idea was to have two different mixes of your best tune, not your worst one. These guys seemed to have lost the plot…Next!

The final tune, and it's back to the back catalogue for arguably Achanak's best known track Lak Noo. This is the remix by Ravi Rai, from his self-confessed dire album 'The White Label.' I'm happy to say this was probably the best track from that album though. This is the other track to feature in the PGR3 game. Ravi has used some very clever samples in this one to bring it to life. The lyrics, despite being from the end of the 80s, sound great. A nice way to wrap up the album, but again it is an old track, and this version has featured on another album.

Overall, as you may have guessed, the album isn't amazing. It's saved by the presence of Tigerstyle and the livening up of some older tunes. With the exception of the Tigerstyle songs it all sounds a little bit dated to be honest. I mean they've tried to use MC's as is the trend aaj kal but they managed to find some complete jokers with lame unoriginal random lyrics combined with absolutely no flow whatsoever who contribute to worsening a fair share of the songs on offer. To grasp the listener in 2005 you need to come up with more modern music with substance and/or top quality old skool desi stuff but Achanak have failed in both departments. I'm told the primary reason for having the older tracks was to market the album in Europe, but if that was the case, surely it would have made more sense to just release a 'Best Of' album, and do it properly. Much has been made of the appearance of tracks in the PGR3 X-Box game, but I'd say that was more of a consequence of Ninder's clever marketing, rather than the quality of the tracks. Overall it scrapes to a 6.1.