Five years after onyx first assaulted rap audiences with hyperaggressive hits like "Throw Ya Gunz" and "Slam," the Queens, New York, trio returns with a third album on which venting hostility is still top priority. Though it errs by way of some sub-Puffy dance-floor dismalness ("Ghetto Starz," featuring the Lost Boyz and the bass line from "Another One Bites the Dust"), Shut 'Em Down's grimy, plodding bulk maintains the grumpy baldheads' reputation as the Ramones of curse-heavy hip-hop. Unabashed odes to anti-sociability such as "Street Niggas," "Stones" and a duet with Wu-Tang Clan, "The Worst," may be repetitive and may even border on self-parody. But as brainless retreads go, they're certainly no less amusing than "Blitzkrieg Bop." Hey, ho, let's go! (RS 784)

CHAIRMAN MAO