November 6, 1999

Smith, Will : Will2K

This extremely superb record, if you didn't know already, is all about [a]Will Smith[/a]'s attitude to the impending millennium, and rather like that of [B]Thom Yorke[/B], it can be summed up as: "It'

Let's give it to you, Big, er, Joey Style. This extremely superb record, if you didn't know already, is all about Will Smith's attitude to the impending millennium, and rather like that of Thom Yorke, it can be summed up as: "It's here and I like it", and it requests we "don't stop the beat", which I'm sure no-one's asked since 1984.

All of which is pretty cool. But better still is the sheer shock of odd to the system you get when you hear that this record is also, basically, 'Rock The Casbah' by The Clash, and not just that, the sleeve is 'Combat Rock', logo, typefaces and all, but without The Clash themselves. It's mad, it's brilliant, it features the line, "I remember wondering how old I was gonna be when the clock turned in on the year 2G", and it will no doubt enable Joe Strummer to move to a very, very large house in the country. Sorry. A larger house in the country.

David Stubbs