What on earth has happened to Lauryn Hill? Four years ago the former Fugees singer was on top of the world, having racked up phenomenal sales and a truckload of Grammies for her remarkable album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Now, on her first release since then, she announces "I don't really consider myself to be a performer any more" - and proves it with a live acoustic performance of 13 earnest, intense and very, very long new songs. Her voice may be as strong as ever, but most of the material here is little more than self-indulgent psychobabble, complete with some of the most pretentious introductions ever committed to record. Musically too, Hill seems to have regressed, as her hip-hop roots are abandoned in favour of mundane reggae rhythms and soporific soul. MTV Unplugged 2.0 might have been salvaged by some judicious editing, but in its present form it's a rambling, inconsequential piece of work which doesn't augur well for Hill's future. Avoid.
