Its Untouchable time once again and this time the latest long player from the label is entitled 'Heavy'. This follows in the same vein as previous Untouchables releases such as Urban Flavas' and Danger 2, taking the form of a compilation album showcasing the talents of those on the label. You know the deal by now, RDB and a whole host of producers do their thing over a big chunk of tracks. Will 'Heavy' live up to the name? All shall be revealed, read on…

After a bass-driven intro, we enter RDB territory with 'Kuriay Kuriay' which has H.S Virdee on the vocals and E=MC and Singh MC providing the emcee flava. Its typical RDB fare, nonetheless it is a great opener. The mix of a foot-tapping drumbeat, hum able chorus and tight emceeing turns out to be a winning formula. H.S Virdee laces the track with a smooth delivery and the emcees' bounce off each other complimenting each others contrasting styles quite nicely. Another RDB banger? Oh yeah, it most definitely is and it's one with lots of repeat value.

Next up its Illegal Demo with 'Holi Holi', which has Manak-E on the vocals. Now going by their impressive track record, I thought I was going to be in for another Illegal Demo treat. These guys delivered an absolute ripper in the form of 'Dekh Jawani' on Urban Flavas', and their contributions to Danger 2 and Indy Sagu's album were the high points of two otherwise disappointing albums. Sadly though 'Holi Holi' ends their run of solid tunes. The track opens up well and the sound of a female vocalist flexing her skills over some phat music gives you the feeling that you may be onto something special, but once the desi vocals and beat kick in, it's downhill from there on. That is of course, excluding the moments that see the female singer dropping lyrics in a confident fashion. She sounds good, however the same cannot be said for Talvinder Dhillon. It's not his delivery that is at fault here, but more the actual music itself that assists him. His vocals sound strangely out of place over a groove that doesn't really compliment his style. And the music itself is not that impressive
either. This isn't a particularly bad track, just not upto usual Illegal Demo standards. But I guess we can't expect everything from these guys to be off the hook right?

So it's left to RDB to pull things back with the rather sloppily titled 'Desi Fly Chick'. But make no mistake; the tune itself is anything but sloppy! This is a firing number that sees Nindy Kaur supplying the desi vocals and E=MC once again on mic duties, but this is a showcase of the latter's talent more than anything else. E=MC dominates the track from start to finish and backed with bomb production it makes for three minutes of pure listening pleasure. Plus it has a highly crossover mainstream value to it. The Untouchables camp may have found themselves a great find in E=MC, who boasts a clear, concise and confident as hell delivery. After listening to the track it would come as no surprise if some heads were to mistake him for a proper hip-hop emcee.

Track 5 takes us into 'desi' territory with an all-out desi number, and yes it's those boys RDB once again who are in charge of production duties. The track is entitled 'Peg Nal Peg' and the vocals of Mr. NEE2 are pitted against the usual desi instruments with some booming bass to produce a pretty charged number. Should go down well with desi heads! Hmmm so far so good…

Indy Sagu steps up to bat on 'Sonaay Yaardhia' and assisting him is the mighty Surinder Shinda and emcee Kocky K. As always Shinda shines through with an assured delivery, however the production fails to do justice to his talent. He is aided by a rather amateurish beat and the two sound like a bit of a mismatch. Kocky K's rapping (chatting rather) sounds more at home over the music, but the end result is a pretty shoddy track.

RDB once again handle the production on 'Oh Yaar Korn Nachdi' which sees them team up with True Players. This has a more 'poppy' and happy-go-lucky feel to it, a trademark True Players sound. The duo gets to show off their vocal skills over some peppy, upbeat music. It's not exactly something that would rock a club but would go down pretty well at a party or something. Not bad, but not that great either.

Track 8, 'Nachdhi', sees another mighty vocal talent, Amar Arshi, team up with producer Pal Dhupar. Amar Arshi drops lyrics over a somewhat dark and haunting piece of music. And although the combo of vocals and production isn't as much of a mismatch as it is on track 6, the mix is still a rather odd one. These producers really need to come up with something that does justice to these great vocalists; otherwise it just ends up being a case of the vocal talents of many being wasted. That is more or less what this track is guilty of: top singing but mediocre production. Hmmm 3 average tracks in a row, its fast-forward to track number 9.

'Nakhra' featuring Gubi Sandhu is one that you will come to associate with the rewind button. Reason? Well quite simply, 'Nakhra' is arguably the best track on the album with unlimited repeat value. It's RDB who bring the flava once again, this time with a funky loop, plinky strings and most importantly, Gubi Sandhu! Gubi's voice is as captivating as ever and together with lovely production the end result is nothing short of fantastic. MC Coppa, best known for his devastating performance on the Indy Sagu remix named 'Patlay Patlay' (Urban Flavas) is also on here but this time in a more 'laidback' mode. His ragga chants keep the vibe just right, and not once does he take the tune into realms of cheesiness or wackiness. This track will sound nice in your car, excellent in a club and simply divine on your Walkman. All in all, a top tune and just like 'Desi Fly Chick', this too has mainstream appeal.

But just as quickly as RDB raise the tempo, the quicker they let it slip, big time. Tracks 10 and 11 sound tired, wasted and uninspired. The former, 'Melay Vich', is a patchy effort throw together with no rhyme or reason. 'Roag' is no better; musically it sounds all too much familiar to a lot of other stuff released by the label. Wouldn't really be a problem if it was put together nicely, but it sounds like the work of a novice. Despite commendable contributions from Amar Arshi and E=MC, they fail to save the track from the dull and unimaginative production that it suffers from. Yes, it is THAT tacky!

Onto track 12 and things don't improve. 'Uddam Singh' is the work of a producer who goes by the name of Harvinder. Once again, it's not the singing at fault but the music. The production enters new levels of wackiness with a confused as hell sound. Sounds like a cross between garage, desi and hip-hop. Whatever it is, it sure as hell didn't impress this reviewer!

Next up is a DJ H contribution called 'Jatt Vigargiya'. Cast your mind back to 'Urban Flavas' and remember DJ H's track. It was the business right? It's a shame about this one then. This one sees DJ H in hip-hop mode with hip-hop style emcees as well. But neither packs any punch. The music and beat fail to grab the listener band fizzle out all too quickly. The emceeing sounds like an imitation of a number of hip-hop emcees. In fact the only redeeming feature is the vocalist, who isn't that hot either! 4 weak tracks on the trot. DAMN!

On Track 14 Punjabi Outlawz give us their offering entitled 'Jugni' featuring the vocals of a Master Rakesh. This merely continues the run of weak tracks with another sloppy production, which isn't really going anywhere. Once again, the music that the producer decorates fails to captivate the listener sending him or her towards the forward button.

Things come to a close with 'Chaa Muklavy Da' and its DJ Redcap who is given the task of ending the album on a positive note. He has the amazing Kuldip Manak on his side; can he pull it off and offer this highly mediocre compilation some credibility? Sadly not! What we have here is a piss-poor beat, crap musical arrangement and the 6th dodgy track in a row! Even the great Kuldip Manak sounds surprisingly bored on here, it's almost as if he would rather be doing something else. And the less said about the so-called emceeing the better. I'd give this track 0/10, as it can't get any worse!

So there you have it, UntouchablesUK hit us with another offering. One things for sure, it sure as hell doesn't live up to its title as it is anything but 'Heavy'! In an interview some time back the lead member of RDB, Kuly, stated that 'Heavy' would be "sick, its gonna be just sick, we got sick garage beats on there, sick hip hop beats too". Lets just put that statement down to a state of intoxication, because barring 3 or 4 good tunes, most of this is trash-can material! The main problem with this album is the quality of production, at times it seems like some kid has cooked up the beats and sounds on his PC. There are a few high points early on in the album, but after that the shitters drop thick and fast and the compilation fails to maintain the quality throughout. Plus the inclusion of a few more 'desi' tunes couldn't have hurt. On the cover of the album special mention is given to the tracks 'Desi Fly Chick', 'Nakhra' and 'Kuriay Kuriay', and rightfully so as they are indeed bangers. However, those 3 tracks are perhaps the only real solid tunes on the album. They are RDB productions, which are essential as ever, they make the album and save it from being a complete disaster. But why should we have to settle for that? It seems as if Untouchables have lost their way with their last few releases. 'Danger' remains their best product to date, nothing after that has measured up to the quality of that release. Lets hope that the upcoming Gubi Sandhu and RDB's group album, 2K3, will offer us something with a lot more substance. So the moral of the story is, put that tenner back into your wallet and save it for the next album. Overall I'd give the album 6/10 - Don't waste sleep over this one!