The Wraith: Shangri-La

After a decade of proudly releasing offensive, obnoxious, and immature music that sold like gangbusters to kids around the Midwest, the Insane Clown Posse finally reached their much-prophesied "sixth Joker card," the last album in a conceptual journey that started with 1992's Carnival of Carnage. Claiming that everything up to this point had led to The Wraith: Shangri-La, they announce at the beginning that the meaning to their career will become evident by the end. And they wait until the very end of this ambitious album to reveal what it is, despite the occasional reference to Shangri-La (their metaphor for the afterlife). Waxing philosophical about ending the world's pains, ICP seem willing to spread some good vibes this time around. "Juggalo Homies" might even be the most positive song of their career; it actually has a great message about loyalty and friendship matched to a pleasantly laid-back rock track. Of course, the usual murder fantasies and sex anthems are in abundance, filled with the immature humor that has become their trademark. Oddly enough, they almost seem to apologize for repeating their usual hate raps on "Thy Staleness," which ends with the repetition of "I'm so sorry I'm stale" in a chanted singalong. A stab at a thuggish street anthem, "Ain't Yo Bidness," is a blatant Eminem ripoff, but the second half of the song is a definite highlight, as guest rapper Esham helps the Motor City clowns deliver a high-energy ending. In their attempts to change things around, their trademark circus music sound mixes well with rap-rock, and several songs (especially the double punch of "Crossing the Bridge" and "Thy Raven's Mirror") offer a very original twist on the genre that is distinctly their own. Finally, the album reaches its grandiose ending and reveals that the secret behind the carnival was really...God? The Wraith does reveal growth both lyrically and musically, although it's impossible to believe that ICP could have had any religious intentions, kidding or not, planned during the Carnival of Carnage years. On the other hand, this is the kind of skewed logic that has fueled their career.