Veteran dance-hall reggae star Tiger has outlasted many a DJ who's fallen by the wayside during the course of his long career by constantly reinventing himself. But no matter how many times Tiger has changed his stripes, he has never made the mistake of taking himself too seriously. While he fancies himself an entertainer first and foremost, it would be wrong to dismiss him too readily. As he warns on "Nobody Move" from Claws of the Cat, his eclectic, invigorating and always enjoyable new album: "Tiger no fool, and Tiger no clown."

Claws breathes some fresh air into a genre that's been reeling lately from charges of sexism, homophobia and glorifying violence. Leaping from style to style without losing his footing, Tiger always seems to be enjoying himself, more interested in uplifting people than cutting them down. From the goodnatured boasting of "Nobody Move" to the infectious funkified ska of "Rude Boy" and the breezy sexiness of "Cool Me Down," he's out to prove to younger DJs that Tiger is still the king of this jungle. Overtly political tracks like "Windscreen," about unemployed youth reduced to squeegeeing windshields on the street, and "Who Planned It," which features A Tribe Called Quest rapping about the Los Angeles riots, harks back to dance hall's roots in early-'80s dub poetry.

The record's wide-ranging styles are linked together by Tiger's vocal pyrotechnics, replete with histrionic growls, snorts and screeches. "Flip Up and Flop," "Post Hole" and "Chaos," the most eccentric cuts on the record, combine the slapstick funk of George Clinton with the vocal acrobatics of Captain Beefheart, set to a dance-hall beat as it might be played by Spike Jones. (RS 666)

AL WEISEL