The anarchic Brick City lyricist Redman has been standing just to the left of the spotlight’s beam for some time, but when he steps to the right, his affect on the listener is still just the same.

Red’s no holds barred, witty, hurricane-forced verbosity leaves you disregarding ‘conscious’ emcees that drone on about  humanity’s decay [insert Z’s here] and instead leaves you craving Red’s mood lightening delivery. His jocular vocals focus on an assortment of his much-loved subjects, including weed, gratuitous sex and nonsensical jokes – far from serious, I think you’d agree.

The veteran has been marching in an unconventional but similar direction for 15 years and divides opinion over his unchanged style. While some will insist it’s admirable to stick to a winning formula, especially one that’s currently akin only to one other emcee, Ludacris, others believe times are changing and The Beast from the Bricks should have stayed muffled by the label execs at Def Jam. But while times and styles change, Redman stays Redman; that’s got to be a good thing, right?

From ‘92 to ‘96 his three albums ‘Whut! Thee Album’, ‘Dare Iz A Darkside’ and ‘Muddy Waters’, were all regarded as gleaming masterpieces from the Brick City emcee. But despite murdering every guest spot in sight in the late 90s, after 2001’s ‘Malpractice’, Red slowly faded out of the spotlight.

Six years on and Red has followed the yellow brick road from the city back into the recording studio, offering fans ‘Red Gone Wild: Thee Album’.

As the laser awakes the opening track, listeners are treated to an E3-supported cut entitled ‘Fire’, a mere flint spark compared to some of the combustible creations on this album. One of these aforementioned hotties is ‘Put It Down’ produced by Timbaland. The Asian-inspired strings and ‘hands in the air’ style beat captivate and make you exhale as you realise his game is as strong as ever.

‘Gimmie One’ also flexes impressive production qualities, with bling horns over a slow beat, dotted snares and brass instrument accompaniment, courtesy of Pete Rock.

Too much tree must have been responsible for one of the only slips on the album ‘Sumtn 4 Urrbody’, which attempts to utilise an experimental club beat, but just sounds slightly ‘odd’, and makes you stop foot tapping to reach over for the skip button.

The obligatory Def Squad cut ‘Walk In Gutta’ has an unlikely appearance in legend Biz Markie, and with Erick Sermon, Keith Murray and Red together on the mic again, it's exactly what hip hop needs.

The Watts-produced ‘Blow Treez’ brings back the formidable pairing of Red and Method Man, along with Ready Roc – enough said.

‘Merry Jane’ featuring Snoop and Nate Dogg leaves you envisaging drop top compressors, summer sun and game-strong crooners on every street corner, while the biggest treat on the album is left until the end.

The popular ‘Soopaman Luva’ saga continues with Red’s alter ego embarking on another humorous and intrepid adventure. From the opening line, “What up, yo, it's the Soopaman Luva / I'm about five minutes from out ya baby's motha", you know the light-hearted conclusion to this disc will leave you grinning.

‘Red Gone Wild’, for the most part, stays at an impressive level only dropping off the ‘very good’ scale in parts, leaving the album struggling to evoke past glories. While it is good to see Redman back doing what he does best, this album is slightly below a par you would associated with Red. What do you expect when your label keeps you contained for so long? If Def Jam has any sense and believe loyalty to the scene is imperative, they will not leave it six years until his next offering.