Lethal Injection, the new album from Ice Cube, is anything but --closer in potency to a mild shot of penicillin than the expected blast that Cube usually fires from his vocal cannon.

After the lyrical skill and focused anger showcased in such outings as AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted and '92s exemplary The Predator, Lethal Injection is a major disappointment. Here, Cube seems too relaxed and unfocused, his lyrics covering the same ground of previous works without any passion.

Give Cube credit, though, for getting the album off to a roaring start. "The Shot," a short skit with Dr. Cube administering his own "lethal injection" to a timid patient named Mr. White, hits with a sudden, unexpected blast.

Although some may interpret the skit as a violent, anti-white directive (with reason), I saw it as Cube's reaction to his ever-growing white audience -- I don't mind you coming on the ride with me but here's what to expect.

The first song, "Really Doe," acts as a fine introduction, stating in lyrical form what Cube has been up to since we last heard from him. From covering the outcome of the Rodney King beating trial (anti-cops) to the current state of affairs on the street (bleak), it's the album's strongest point. Unfortunately, the expectations brought out in the rhymes are never fufilled.

With the success of former partner Dr. Dre and his protege Snoop Doggy Dogg, it seems Cube has jumped on their bandwagon, replacing his usual grandiose beats for the laid-back funk of Dre's production. The trouble is, Cube isn't a laid-back performer --he has always been in your face with his music. Because of this, such songs as "What Can I Do" and "Ghetto Bird" lack the passion that makes Cube such an exciting presence.

The low point of the album has to be "Cave Bitch," in which Cube presents the white woman as a crafty stereotype. The song is a bothersome piece in which Cube hammers over the head his reasons why he won't let white women into his bed.

The song is devoid of any reason that usually makes his many separatist views valid. In the end, the song comes off as false, almost like a smokescreen for Cube, who seems as if he is hiding some secret desire for "cave bitches."

Yet the album does end on a high note, with Cube's analysis of religion, titled "When I Get to Heaven." It is a probing look at Christianity, and the only time since the introduction when Cube's Lethal Injection packs a passion-filled punch.