Crown Royal
For Run DMC--the band largely credited with merging rock and  hip-hop--Crown Royalmust seem something of a vindication. When  they hit the skids a decade ago, the hip-hop community rallied around  with contributions to 1993's evangelicalDown with the King.  Eight years on, the old-school triumvirate returns with another album  built on collaborations, but this time largely from a bunch of noisy  young rockers keen to pay their dues and boost their credibility. Step  upThird Eye Blind,Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst,Kid Rock, andSugar Ray. And to think Run DMC had to be talked into teaming up withAerosmithto record "Walk This Way" back in 1986. Of course, hip-hoppers are represented,  too, withMethod  Manguesting on the impressive "Simmons Incorporated," andNasandMobb Deep'sProdigychipping  in on the jumping "Queen's Day." Pride of place, though, goes to "It's  Over," a throbbing electro beat twinned with a stirring Russian choir  sample that's produced by Jermaine Dupri.--Mike Pattenden