Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - Art of War (Reissue) (Sony) (CD)

All Music Guide

The doubledisc album was the bane of mid'90s hiphop. Singledisc albums tended to be overlong in the first place, but double discs were even worse, since it required artists incapable of successfully filling out a 70 minute disc to produce twice as much music. And it wasn't a question of the twodisc set being an artistic statement as if the rappers had so much to say they couldn't contain themselves to one disc it was purely a commercial decision, so they could take home more royalties. It could be argued the first two doubledisc rap albums, by 2Pac and the Notorious B.I.G., justified their length, since those guys were hiphop giants, and the WuTang Clan's WuTang Forever more than justified its length with vision, depth, and variety. Next up was Bone ThugsNHarmony with their doubledisc, Art of War. Unlike the aforementioned artists, Bone don't possess either a lyrical or musical vision; their most distinctive trademark, whiny "soulful" sung vocals alternating with raggainflected raps,... was lifted from Snoop Dogg and Dre productions. While the group is capable of producing a catchy single, they don't have the personality to sustain an album, much less a doubledisc set. By the end of the second disc, they have repeated all of their ideas at least five times apiece, and only a few of those ideas resulted in actual songs in the first place. Even hardcore fans will find Art of War to be an endurance test. As the cliché says, it's a double album that would have made an excellent single disc and in this case, that means a standard 45minute record, not a 70minute CD. - Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide Read more Less