Nelly: 'Brass Knuckles'

That muscle-flexing cover shot is supposed to paint Nelly as strong, powerful, the epitome of manly confidence. Recent events, however, tell a different story. Brass Knuckles has been bumped back repeatedly since it first appeared on the release slates last October, and both of its preceding singles have under-performed. 'Party People', a strained, Fergie-assisted club banger, stalled at #40 in the US, while the gentler, more melodic 'Body On Me' didn't even make it that far. Then there's the fact that Brass Knuckles packs a whopping 18 guest appearances into its 15 tracks - hardly an endorsement of Nelly's own star quality.

It's no surprise, therefore, that a certain prickliness has crept into this album - check out these ultra-defensive lines from the charmingly-titled 'Who F**ks Wit Me?': "I ain't even gotta work no more, my money works for itself, I'm earning interest as I sleep." Elsewhere, Nelly's boasts about sex, money and status - the stock-in-trade of any self-respecting rapper - have a tendency to miss the mark. "Some call me Dennis," he notes on 'Long Night', "Cuz my Rodman diggin' in." Is that really the best he could come up with?

This isn't to say that Brass Knuckles is a disaster, but it's nowhere near as impressive as Nelly's rippling torso. A major problem is those endless guest appearances, which have a tendency to make Nelly feel like a bit-player on his own album. Pharrell Williams upstages him on 'Let It Go', a typically impressive Neptunes production, and Nelly was never going to rival Akon at his lewdest and crudest. "I wanna get in your drawers and bang it out 'til the morning," the Senegalese saucepot sings on the otherwise quite pleasant 'Body On Me'.

Problems also arise when Nelly tries to act tough - see the opening one-two of 'U Ain't Him' and 'Hold Up' - because he winds up diluting his rapper-next-door charm. He's far more appealing when he relaxes a little, playing the country boy in the city on 'LA' and showing his vulnerable side on the almost-cheesy 'One And Only'. 'Lie', a neat juxtaposition of sweet, dreamy R&B and harsh, expletive-filled lyrics, is similarly impressive.

Moments like this save the album from out-and-out mediocrity, but it's not hard to fathom why Nelly's label were reluctant to release it. Nothing here seems destined to rule the charts the way 'Ride Wit Me' and 'Hot In Herre' once did.