This came out in 2002 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
This may look like the third album from the Vancouver hip-hop outfit led by Mad Child and Prevail — but looks can be deceiving.
In fact, they call Monsters In The Closet “album 2 1/2.” Why? Because this 20-track release is really a collection of leftovers, B-sides, remixes and odds ’n’ ends. Which is not to say it’s substandard. If anything, a few of these cuts — the Nelly Furtado-fuelled buzz-groove of Breath, the low-riding P-Funky groove of the Fuel Injected Remix, the snotty Eminem gangster-rap of Battle Axe Exclusive, to name just three — are more understated and intelligent than the usual Yankee bling-bling and more than capable of holding their own in a chart battle. Granted, Swollen Members are still at the stage where they sound too much like their influences and not enough like themselves to really break through in a big way. But judging by the quality of the stuff they have in their closet, by the time they really get around to recording another album, the third time will be the charm.
