Both on and off the mic, Ol' Dirty Bastard's antics are legendary. His many personal demons and legal troubles have sparked sensationalistic, tabloid-like coverage of his entire career, yet he continues to bring the ruckus like no other can. As everyone knows, ODB is currently incarcerated, and had very little, if anything, to do with the making of this album. In a recent jailhouse interview, he stated that he didn't even know about it, so the odds that he'll be seeing any royalties are slim at best. Regardless, it's still ODB, and a lot of heads (myself included) will eagerly pick up anything with his name on it. While it's always good to hear the Dirt Dog in action, "The Trials And Tribulations Of Russell Jones" is at best, a misguided cameo-saturated remix fest, and at worst, a prime example of shitty beats, cut-and-paste recording, and someone trying to make money by exploiting the name.

Whereas "Enter The 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version" was built upon RZA's gutter-core production, and "Nigga Please" flaunted the Neptune's synthetic bangers, the beats on "Russell Jones" are, for the most part, pretty corny. The vast majority sound like they were recorded of either a dirt keyboard or some weak-ass free software. Generic drums and tinny synths are in full effect, coming off like a watered-down version of second-rate, imitation Swizz Beatz jams.

Then there are the guests. Whoever decided to put ICP on here, on two tracks, including the 'lead single,' deserves a swift kick in the head. I suppose the Juggalo army will be psyched, but most legitimate hip-hop fans above the age of 14 won't be impressed. "Dirty & Stinkin'" rocks a decent enough, very catchy beat with some bright female singing on the hook. Unfortunately, ICP's low-level shout-raps ("I'm dirty like Osama Bin Ladin's toes" for example) don't really help, and the unnecessary guitar-heavy remix is real bad.

Other songs, like "Caught Up," features less than 30 seconds of Dirty himself, relying on second-string guests C-Murder and Royal Flush (also featured on "I Wanna Fuck") to fill up the rest of the track. Don't get me wrong, Flush's 1997 LP "Ghetto Millionaire" was great, but he needs to find some better beats and more legit projects if he wants to really make a comeback. E-40 also reps on a few tracks, and comes off pretty tight, but the 'chemistry' between all the guests is not really hitting, for obvious reasons. Another problem is the blatant recycling of ODB's older material. "Dogged Out" sports some listenable if unoriginal synth-sitar loops, and Too Short is in the house (always good), but all of Dirty's rhymes are exactly the same as "Dog Shit" from "Wu-Tang Forever". Likewise for "Zoo Too" and "C'Mon."

On the upside, there are a few solid numbers. Even though ODB's voice only comes through for a matter of seconds, the dark and minimalist "Lintballz" with Sunz of Man and Brooklyn ZU is not too shabby. "Reunited" (one of just two songs without guests) is arguably the best joint on the album, with a cool instrumental flaunting spazzy keyboards and deep bass bumps. Some of the skits ("Waitress #13" and "Highjack") are entertaining as well, more random conversations than fake drug deals or cinematic shootouts.

But, all in all, "The Trials And Tribulations Of Russell Jones" seems like little more than a marketing ploy to make D3 Records some loot. It should also be noted that the same label played a big role in releasing non-artist-endorsed CDs like "Tha Dogg Pound: 2002" and Snoop's "Dead Man Walking". It's painfully obvious that Dirty himself was not involved in making this, and despite his ample charisma on the mic, there's just not enough of it to redeem the album. If he was seeing any money from it, you should buy it for that reason alone, but that seems very unlikely. A truly unique talent like Ol' Dirty Bastard only appears every so often, and it's a shame to see his legacy tarnished by random people putting his name on stuff like this. Hopefully he'll be a free man soon, get off the pipe, hook up with RZA, and make some real music again.