The hip-hop influenced times of the 1998 debut "Psyence Fiction" are long gone now. So does the brilliant trip-hop era of the 2003 follow-up "Never, Never, Land"... However, one thing's still the same regarding the audio-creations of James Lavelle and Richard File - collectively known as the always-evolving UNKLE - namely the impressive list of notable guest musicians. Whereas the firstborn featured contributions by Jason Newsted (then still in Metallica, now in Voivod), Thom Yorke (Radiohead), Mike D (Beastie Boys) and Richard Ashcroft (The Verve), the second one was shining bright with the singing of Ian Brown (ex-The Stone Roses), Jarvis Cocker (Pulp), Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) and Robert Del Naja a.k.a. 3D (Massive Attack), and the latter two are also present in "War Stories" - UNKLE's brand-new, third full-length album that we devote the lines to follow to. The opener, "Chemistry", is a grandiose trip-rock instrumental and... Actually, that's what we get from all the 14 tracks on the current creation by the gentlemen Lavelle and File - trip-rock from A to Z, with an accent falling on "rock" and the beautiful and extremely diverse arrangements and ideas. We've got simply everything here - from the orchestrated "Price You Pay" and the Pink Floyd flavoured "hidden" track "Tired of Sleeping", through the mid-tempo wave-ish "Keys to the Kingdom" and "Broken", both featuring Gavin Clark of Clayhill, or the dreamy "Persons & Machinery" (with Autolux) and "Twilight" (reigned by Robert Del Naja), going on with the typical vocals of The Cult's Ian Astbury streaming from the beautiful balladesque "When Things Explode" and the somehow The Doors reminiscent single "Burn My Shadow", on to the catchy "Restless" with Josh Homme at the helm, "Mayday" (featuring The Duke Spirit), and "Lawless"... And, of course, let's not forget the bouncing "Hold My Hand" and "Morning Rage", which happen to be the first songs recorded with the voice of James Lavelle himself. To sum it up, UNKLE's "War Stories" is doubtlessly one of the most variable albums that have emerged lately... and that's actually the only tiny problem of the CD - maybe it seems toooo variable... every now and then...