So, another one of music's greats returns after a long absence. Occasionally forgotten about amongst the late 1980s canon of Public Enemy, Eric B & Rakim et al, EPMD's blend of effortless funk and casually aggressive bragging lyrics were as influential as anyone in the period for helping hip hop mature as an art form. And in Strictly Business, they produced one of the greatest rap albums of all time. So even though the portents weren't the strongest for a successful comeback (their last two albums have been largely wack, no DJ Scratch, almost all 2008 comebacks have been shite, etc), I couldn't help but be excited about hearing We Mean Business for the first time.

It certainly starts promisingly enough, with epic strings ably assisted by Raekwon's guest slot. You can certainly tell the esteem in which the band are still held via the quality of guests willing to collaborate with them. In truth, most of We Mean Business' stand out moments come from these guests: 'Yo', featuring Redman reunited with his former mentors is infectious and playful (everything you expect from Redman, then), while 'Never Defeat 'Em' features a classic EPMD guitar lick and a great cameo from Method Man.

Best of all is 'Run It', with a stuttering riff and the great KRS One. Now, no matter how shit KRS has been - and he has at times been very shit in recent years - I could still listen to him all day. Particularly as here, the lyric is unintentionally comedy; a kind of grumpy old men take on street life, reminiscing about the days where gangstas had such morals that you could leave your stash on the floor and noone would steal it. That kind of thing, anyway.

Elsewhere, unfortunately, the album sags, predominantly down to some bland and samey production. There were always more important lyricists than Eric and Parrish, but there were few more funky. With the likes of 'Listen Up' and 'What You Talkin'', EPMD sound unmotivated and frankly unnecessary. The album ends as it begins, with some nice, controlled aggression...not even the same stabbing sound used on three quarters of We Mean Business can diminish the impact of 'Actin' Up''s ferocious break. A few more of these and this could well have been worth the wait. As it is, there are four or five tunes that bear comparison with their best work, and a whole heap of generic shit. Welcome to the world of the 2008 comeback album.