As being somewhat of the standard bearers in the Asian music market, please forgive me for having high expectations of the latest RDB album, "3". I'm led to believe this is going to be innovative and fresh, the type to be so revolutionary that it has the potential to take the market forward into a new direction. This is a good thing as I'm hoping this may enthuse other current or newer artists with the vision and the aptitude, to showcase their real talent rather than be conformed to the strict regimen of convention. Despite all this, I'll save the praise till after I've heard it.

We start with an A-Team style intro preceding 'Yaari', which for a fan of the show is a quick blast of nostalgia. That blast quickly dissipates as the track kicks in and the music takes hold of you. It certainly gives you that feeling that you need to sit up and take note, a quick slap if you like, as if you've just been tango-ed. Certainly in the ilk of other RDB dance floor hits with a heavy chorus that demands dancing like its illegal to stand still. The lyrics are unusually pensive for a dance tune, but to me that's a good thing.

Next up is the track they deemed the one that would do the best in representing the album and so made a video of it. The vocals on 'Dil Mera' are actually by the RDB boys, which is a nice twist to proceedings. It's a sweet tune, which is basically a cop-out to actually passing judgement on this one way or the other. Lyrics are ok and the music is kept simple, ok I guess.

Number 3 on the CD is a skit called Cheese, quite funny. It further re-iterates the desire to be unique and explore new musical avenues on this album.

We are greeted by the sound of a roaring lion and a gunshot, not to mention some sinister sounding rock guitar on 'Dhulla'. Inexplicably we are suddenly subjected to what can only be described as a high-pitched drone. It is as out of place as a Paki at a BNP convention. The singing totally does not match this song and if I had my way would never be on any song, much like the 'lets put in as many sounds as possible into a track' production. All of this occurs as if the random 'person dying' sound effect appearing with the regularity of watery shit during a bout of diarrhoea wasn't bad enough. A bit of advice, leave the Rock to Swami. It is a traditional song, so I guess it doesn't matter that its been done by someone else before. Someone get me the flash-thing they have in the 'Men In Black' films and delete the very existence of this track from my memory. Please.

A little intro type sequence precedes this track, 'Mitra De Naal'. This is a very ordinary track with repetitive music backing it. The lyrics could have worked, all you need is another singer, different music and it all at a different tempo, other than that its fine. Oh, and I forgot to mention the annoying voice distortion. In summary, it has about as much edge as a doughnut.

Next up is the bass test, one of the trademarks of an RDB album. Erm… it causes my speakers to make flatulence noises so I guess they passed. I guess it showcases some form of difficult skill that they have mastered, although I'm oblivious to exactly what skill that is.

A positive at last! Although at first I thought my computer had developed a fault with the intro bit, but that's all part of the song it does work in the whole scheme of things. 'Yeh Din To Aata Hai' is the token track Hindi, which they always include in their albums but never get mentioned. But just like the other Hindi tracks I think this is kind of cool, despite being destined for underestimation, I think it's really good. The star of the show is the Hindi but everything else works well around it as well. Die-hard RDB fans first thought when they hear a straight up Hindi track will be WTF… tell me if I'm right?

Track 8 is Munda Pat Laya which when I first heard I thought I heard this somewhere before. So I did some digging into my music collection to Shehzad Roy's song with Sukhbir, Jinna Karlo Gay Pyar and the similarities are scarily uncanny. A better way of putting it is to say it's a blatant rip-off with the lyrics being the only difference. It clearly shows the RDB boys are lacking ideas that they need to straight jack someone else's tune and try to pass it off as their own which is disappointing to say the least. It is a fairly catchy tune but merely a weak imitation of its predecessor.

'Gidde wich', is an ok track, as average tracks go, with a very desi feel. The nice use of tabla stands out with nothing else to really praise.

Its time for you hip-hop fans to feel a sense of Déjà vu. "What" is the rap-fuelled, guitar-driven track with Rydem Ryder on the mic. I could be wrong but my musical ear detects the slightest hint of 'trick daddy' by Lil Jon thrown in amongst everything. The use of rock guitar matches the mood of the track created by the rapping. Nice to see Pakistani's getting a mention on the track. This is one for the rap connoisseurs.

Another funny, albeit over the top, skit about pirating CDs is number 11.

Some more guitar kicks off 'Oh Preeti'. Again, the novelty factor created by the guitar makes you want to listen to this at the start and its Spanish ambience keeps you interested till the end. The lyrics simple, fun and a bit cheesy, but that's what you want in this type of track so thumbs up for that. On the reverse of the CD cover they subtly refer to the track to which this is, how shall I put this delicately, the track that this is a cover of. It's 'Oh Tina' by Premi, not that any of you would remember that, it's from a long time ago. In its own right a really well put together track and is a successful product of the experimentation with new styles

A touch of Qawalli flavour here with Sabar Koti on the track 'Sharaab'. Without doubt the singing is quality, the lyrics are soaked in sorrow, matching the overall vibe and the bass has a familiar feel so overall it works. This assessment is given, as fortunately I'm one who can appreciate the qualities of this type of track, although whether many of the album-buying public will is another question.

A completely useless skit is next up, taking album filling to a new level. We have about as much use for this as a bald person has for a comb.

I was beginning to miss Mr Hussainpuri but he's here with what you would associate with being a typical RDB track, the 'bass-assisted dhol' that they, without question excel at more than any other artists. Upbeat, a simple chorus and 'shake what your mama gave ya' music, its what everyone wants and expects from them so why try too much of anything else?

The religious track 'Chabi' is at number 16. I can't believe the music isn't on a bollywood soundtrack, as the music instantly reminds you of that genre.

And the final track on the album is 'Wedding boliyan.' It does exactly what you would expect, a clap-along dhol beat, variations of tempo and the traditional lyrics that encourage various members of the family to get up and dance one by one, no complaints from me but it ain't anything special all the same.

A degree in psychology is not required to work out what the overall perception of this will be and neither will the ability to count further than that of the average 2 year old to work out the scoring. It's no coincidence (and also somewhat ironic) that the one of very few tracks that stands out is the one featuring Lember Hussainpuri, along with the tried and tested RDB formula. In my opinion the downfall lies with the excessive use of new ideas and styles. Not that there is anything wrong with the desire to be innovative, but such new concepts need to be drip-fed into our clichéd market, allowing time to assess the response and carry forward the aspects of the new ideas that worked. Changing thoughts and perceptions need not be done with the use of something completely different, had the album contained a mixture of tracks that we are 'used to' along with some of the high quality tracks that used a newer approach; you would be reading a completely different review, with the praise and rave reviews from all quarters. In the end I think they thought too much about what people might like and they had no direction of what they were trying to create so ended up making a mish-mash of sounds, which collectively sound pretty annoying. A big downfall of the album is their is not a single song which could be described as an anthem. It's ironic that they got the bootlegging skit because lets face this ain't really worth wasting a CD-R on.

This album is a bit like the cosmetic enhancement of the model Jordan, you can see the intention of what is trying to be done, but its been taken a bit too far…5.8/10. Lets put this down to a blip or a miscalculation along the way because these boys definitely have some talent.