LEN's 1999 hit Steal My Sunshine was an absolute jam. Its Andrea True Connection break and bassline bump meshed seamlessly to Sharon Costanzo's exuberant vocal, and like the best summer songs its lyrical agenda involved little more than getting stupid and lying in the grass. Unfortunately the boozing, partying smash-up that followed LEN's breakthrough killed the combo's momentum dead, and Sunshine was relegated to '90s rock compilations. LEN's principals (Costanzo and her producer/vocalist brother, Marc) holed up in a studio, but the sessions stalled out. Still, what was recorded has surfaced in 2005 as Diary of the Madmen, a collection of tracks recorded between 2001 and 2004. Nothing matches the strength of Sunshine, but overall it's a much more dynamic set than You Can't Stop the Bum Rush. The music is stronger throughout, like in the backgrounds of Fight, Get Down, and People (Come Together). (The latter samples A Tribe Called Quest and the 1968 Friend Lover hit Reach out of the Darkness.) And while LEN's lyrics don't usually progress much past the song titles as emphatics, their sentiments are certainly genuine. "I'm just freaking out 'cause I'm thinking too much," Sharon sings over the pretty strings and softly brushed percussion of Let It Slide, and repeat collaborator Biz Markie makes a cameo, too. Other standouts: LEN remakes New Edition's Cool It Now as fluttery, Off the Wall-style disco, complete with strings, brass, and wah-wah guitar, and Dante's Inferno is a slowly bobbing instrumental that approaches acid jazz. There's some throwaway material on Diary of the Madmen, but for drawing from three years of sessions it's remarkably cohesive. It took them awhile, but LEN's sequel to Sunshine deserves a listen. ~ Johnny Loftus, Rovi

1		Intro
2		We Are...
3		People (Come Together)
4		We Be Who We Be
5		Good Ol' Days
6		It's a Brother Sister Thing
7		Cool It Now
8		Get Down
9		Another Crazy Nite
10		Fight
11		Kookoo Docks
12		Funnel
13		The Royal Screwjob
14		Let It Slide
15		Better Days
16		Dante's Inferno
17		Outro
18		Video Killed the Radio Star