The Calm, as in the calm before the storm. Shaggy 2 Dope's spoken introduction to Insane Clown Posse's 2005 EP refreshes the group's ongoing self-mythology. "After this short calm, a vicious storm will arrive," intones Shaggy, "We call this storm the tempest" -- and a haunted house organ creaks as he describes towering winds peeling away forests to reveal spooky crop circle messages. Hey, is that #Carnivàle's Brother Justin behind all that wicked clown makeup? Whatever Shaggy and Violent J have planned for the future, ICP's lyrical and musical tenets are mostly unchanged. J and Shaggy continue to follow the gangsta method of amplifying street-level grit into a violent hyper-reality, and their production is often just a serviceable frame for whatever social bile they want to spit. The Cypress Hill-ian Rollin' Over boasts equally about bodies in trunks and bodacious bedroom prowess, Rosemary is a dark murder fantasy with a twist at the end, and the Esham-guesting Deadbeat Moms hybridizes blaring apathy, gutter humor, and unscrupulous sexual politics. The Calm even satisfies the hardest-core Juggalos with screams about hatchet chops to the dome. In other words, it's a pretty typical Insane Clown Posse release, catering to a thriving niche and caring little for the rest. Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent J are stridently self-promotional and unfailingly proud -- Like It Like That says as much over a cut-up Jimmy Walker yelling "Dynamite!" -- and Crop Circles sketches their intriguing-enough new storyline with talk of mysticism, star charts, and chariots of the gods. ~ Johnny Loftus, Rovi

1		Intro
2		Rollin' Over
3		Rosemary
4		Crop Circles
5		Deadbeat Moms
6		We'll Be Alright
7		Like It Like That
8		Off the Track

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