Round the Outside! Round the Outside!

AMG Review of Round the Outside! Round the Outside!

Steven McDonald
All Music Guide

Round the Outside! Round the Outside! takes earlier McLaren outings and rings some changes on them, mixing them with new material -- so while you get such things as "Buffalo Gals II" you also get such bizarre new items as "II Be or Not II Be," in which McLaren and Jason Van Sugars take that famous soliloquy and turn it into a rap number, and "Romeo and Juliet," in which the entire play gets updated into a rap number running several minutes. The former is mainly a racket, while the latter manages to be a demented few minutes with some terrific drum samples and a bridge that combines sound bites from one of the movie versions and splats it against electronic harpsichord. The problem with this album more than anything else is that it's music really aimed at the dance floor rather than the brain (despite the unusual level of wit displayed by McLaren and his co-conspirators -- check out "Operaa House!" where house and rap blend with classical vocalizing) and after a while listening, it leaves you feeling relentlessly pummeled and a little crosseyed. In the finish it's a relief when the thundering stops; on the other hand, it makes for a great party record.