Last Train To Paris

A Diddy concept album with cameos from Grace Jones, Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake and Lil Wayne sounds about as inviting a prospect as a weekend on the hustings with John Gormley. Surprisingly, Last Train…. is a bit of a blast, albeit of the schlocky, guilty-pleasure variety. With a who’s-who of producers – The Neptunes, Swizz Beatz etc. – toiling in the engine room, Diddy moves wildly between genres, touching on Italo, banging techno and even psychedelia as though trying to relegate Kanye West to runner-up spot in the battle to determine which of them can produce the most overcooked hip-hop triple–LP of the season. What stops this from being an unsavory mess is Diddy’s commitment to yomping great hooks. Giggle all you want at his overweening ambition and conceptual tackiness – the LP’s “plot” evolves the Didster rushing to win back the girl of his dreams as she is about to leave Paris – but, on record as in life, his commitment to throwing a great party just about redeems him.