When you have Kanye West produce your last two albums, it's inevitable that his braggadocio side of him will rub off eventually. That side is splashed all over Universal Mind Control, Common's oft delayed, Neptunes produced new album that finally gets dumped in December with major grumblings from fans annoyed at this chest thumping, ego tripping Common that subdues his much beloved message-themed songs in favor of the bitches, the bling the Benjamins and the bubbly boastin' that Common has been a powerful voice against.

Even though Universal Mind Control is definitely more geared towards the dance floor than the pulpit, that doesn't mean it's terrible. Give Common some credit, he's a talented dude and even though most of Universal Mind Control is fluff, it's fun fluff and this is some of the best production that The Neptunes have come up with in years. The opening self-titled track that heavily apes Afrika Bambaataa (and we don't need those overly played Zune commercials to tell us that) is one of the greatest party songs of the year and the album closer "Everywhere" featuring Martina Topley-Bird is a fine song harkening back to Common's sorely underrated and misunderstood Soul freakout 2002 record Electric Circus. But lets get real here for a second. The songs that suck here REALLY suck. "Punch Drunk Love" is just lazy conciet, with Kanye West lending some terribly lame choruses and "Announcement" featuring Pharrell is just plain stupid with Common letting all the ladies know just what an animal he is. The people who love Common and his past work have every right to be annoyed by how awful some of these tracks are, but Universal Mind Control, even with all its flaws is still worth a few listens and worth having just for the title track alone.