In the year 2000, Priority Records released Basic Training. A compilation of the greatest hits from Brooklyn’s Boot Camp Clik, it’s usually considered the proverbial nail in the coffin for such an album to be released, which was particularly disturbing, considering that is was only a few short years prior where the Bucktown natives had the game on smash.

Similar to fellow New York natives the Wu-Tang Clan, the collective efforts of Blackmoon, Smif-N-Wessun, Heltah Skeltah and Originoo Gunn Clappaz churned out catalogues of instant vintage, and despite never attaining that commercial success, remained a focal point in the underground scene.

Unfortunately, after the negative response from their first group effort For The People, lagging sales of their subsequent releases, label drama and inner turmoil within the group (causing fan favorite Rock to temporarily leave the crew), their entire momentum came to a screeching halt, leaving their fans wondering if they’d ever reach that pinnacle of hype again.

an After a short hiatus, the BCC released For The People to moderate sales and a well-received response. But it wasn’t until Duck Down’s “Triple Threat” campaign in 2005 which saw them return to their true form, punctuated by resident super-MC Sean Price’s Monkey Barz. Following last year’s independent smash, The Last Stand, all eight members return again for their fourth group release, Casualties Of War, a compilation of tracks left on the cutting floor during their Last Stand sessions.

Kicking things off the head-pounding The Hustle, Steele supplies the song’s hardest quotable over faint sampled wails and moans: “General Steele/Boot Camp, Black Panther/Black fist, black gloves/wrapped around a black snub”. The stutter-step pulsations of the Nottz-produced Bubblin’ Up provides an excellent back drop for the Camp’s franchise player, Sean Price, to go absolutely nuts: “I dumb down my dialect and double my dough/you muthafuckas better act like you know/Sean Price’s a scholar, well-versed in the field of rap/valedictorian, I don’t even feel the track”.

Whereas The Last Stand featured soul-filled heatrocks from the likes of 9th Wonder, Pete Rock and Large Professor, Casualties Of War opts to turn to lesser-known producers while applying those same techniques. Unfortunately, while there was a sense of cohesion in the former, the beats seem more scattered and out of place in the latter, sometimes causing normally hard-hitting lyrics to feel softer than a Twinkie filling. Dan the Man and Fred Bear’s wanton sampling of The Meters’ Just Kissed My Baby for What You See inspires lazy verses at best. The noisy BK All Day is instant fast-forward material, and the usually reliable Marco Polo comes in with a few snoozers as well, in the forms of I Want Mine and My World. Fortunately, the ever-improving 9th Wonder does make an appearance with I Need More, and Jaywan Inc’s harmonica-fueled Jail Song provides the best moment of the album.

Casualties Of War is nothing more than an appetizer to whet Duck Down fan’s appetites until their next official full-length. However, with Ruck’s Master P now floating around, only the die-hards should pick up this compilation to get their fix.