Panjabi MC - Bhangra's gift to the world. An immense talent with the ultimate industry credit as the man in front of 'Mundian Tho Bach Ke', the biggest Indian tune for years.

All good thus far, innit?? But then throw in a Moviebox contract shackling him ironically just like a 'Steel Bangle' while the wider world wants to reach him, with his label paying him up front for this, the final album of the contract. Now, they paid and asked for an album and PMC gave them one. The title of the album 'Steel Bangle' was something which PMC promise years back; I'll leave you to work that one out, now let's talk about the music…

The album starts with the intro, which is unusual for PMC as his intro is normally about track three. Anyways, this is a lazy incarnation of a mix of two intros from the 'Switchin' EP and the 'Dhol Jageero Da' album simply stuck together. A sign of things to come one thinks…

The first song is 'Main Hogaya Sharabbi', sung by Ashok Gill. It begins like a lazy tumbi/percussion band on Sunday afternoon, and they're joined by a quality singer who provides a great performance only to be let down by his compatriots. What I'm saying is this is a superb vocal, which hasn't been worked. Don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing the song; I actually really like its simplicity and it is very catchy, but it hasn't been worked. Bit of a waste really as it could've been an immense song had PMC put his full creative efforts into it.

Track three sees Labh Janjua come in to remake the dynamic duo that bought us 'Mundian Tho Bach Ke.' The song is 'Nachdi Tu Gidhe Vich' and there's a bit more of a dancey element to this, made up of keys, melody and beat. But nothing changes throughout the entire song and it's another waste of a good vocal. But its still got that spellbinding thing to it which makes it an alright track.

Then there's the remix of 'Dhol Jageero Da', given a bashment b-line to keep the boyz subz poppin'. Ya get me cuzza? That's about all there is to say about this track, another remake of a classic that isn't as good as the original. Why do artists keep doing this?

Janjua returns for number five, 'Viah Kartare Da'. It's got a sample from Sugar Hill Gang's 'Rapper's Delight' with a bit of dhol and harmonium stuck on top. Janjua's vocal again is good, and could've been killer if PMC had been arsed to spend more than an hour putting it together.

The MTKB partnership remains for the next tune, 'PMC Boliyan', which is more of the same.

The lazy tumbi/percussion combo returns for Ranjit Mani's entrance on 'Punjab Dian Gallan.' I think the singing has been slowed and it doesn't work too well. This is too simple, and anyone in their first lesson at playing any Indian instrument can outperform what's on here.

Mr Mani has another go for 'Ek Wari Haan Karde' and is given a bit more justice by Panjabi MC. It's still quite simple and the vocal seems to have been slowed but this is just a great one to sing a long to. It's got a garage type swing to it but as a platform for Ranjit its spot on.

Labh Janjua comes back for the final time on 'Gabru Tere', the penultimate track. I think this is where most of the studio hours went to as it sounds a bit more complex and thus making it one of the best tunes on the album, despite this being maybe the weakest of Janjua's vocals on here.

The ritualistic rap song then comes on at the end with Mr G proclaiming he is 'So Underground'. Couldn't be much more correct as you need to be six feet under if you feel this at all. He goes on that he's 'So underground the underground ain't heard of me', and you wanna know why? They don't want to, you're crap and will be a distant memory as the guy who filled space at the end of Panjabi MC's poorest album ever.

That tells you about the efforts put in by PMC, which have been echoed by his Moviebox masters. The cover uses old press photos and little creativity with the back concerned more with ringtones than the music on the CD (okay this has become normal but it seems over the top here). But there's no inlay and no shouts, thanks or anything else, which will have the effect of putting the naturally suspicious desi mind into overdrive. I guess the Moviebox moguls have thought 'if he doesn't give a shit then we don't either.' But people will buy this simple for the name: Panjabi MC.

Having read this you probably think that this album is total crap and not worth buying. However, its not, it's actually not too bad. There's only two songs on here I really don't like and although there are no dance floor fillers or memorable tracks, its still an average album. In terms of the vocals and music on there it gets 6.7 out of 10, and the fact Panjabi MC didn't put much into this and it still came out alright just shows the man's talent. But you're left reeling 'what could've been' if more had been made of it. The marketing gurus at Moviebox have slapped a nasty yellow circle on the cover which reads 'Brand New 2005' to ensure that you know it's fresh; our advice is to use the logo as an indicator to keep your hard earned cash in the pocket as this release was hotly anticipated but the real cheese will be the next album, his first under mainstream directorship with resources, funds and most importantly enthusiasm - the boys got talent, I'm not doubting that. But don't keep us waiting too long; my copy of 'Legalised' is wearing down…