The double-disc album was the bane of mid-'90s hip-hop. Single-disc 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 two-disc 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 double-disc rap albums, by 2Pac and the Notorious B.I.G. justified their length, since those guys were hip-hop giants, and the Wu-Tang Clan's Wu-Tang Forever more than justified its length with vision, depth, and variety. However, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's double-disc Art of War can only qualify as an exercise in pure indulgence. Unlike the aforementioned artists, Bone don't possess either a lyrical or musical vision; their most distinctive trademark, whiny 'soulful' sung vocals alternating with ragga-inflected 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 double-disc 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 45-minute record, not a 70-minute CD.
Sample | Title/Composer | Performer | Time |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 02:20 | ||
2 | Antoinette Colandreo / Bone Thugs-N-Harmony / DJ U-Neek | 04:40 | |
3 | 04:19 | ||
4 | Bone Thugs-N-Harmony / DJ U-Neek | 05:01 | |
5 | 05:12 | ||
6 | Majesty / Marilyn McLeod / Pam Sawyer / Bone Thugs-N-Harmony / DJ U-Neek | 04:36 | |
7 | Barry J. Eastmond / Bone Thugs-N-Harmony / DJ U-Neek | 04:43 | |
8 | 05:01 | ||
9 | Krayzie Bone / Bone Thugs-N-Harmony / DJ U-Neek | feat: Krayzie Bone | 05:08 |
10 | Bone Thugs-N-Harmony / DJ U-Neek | 02:49 | |
11 | 04:39 | ||
12 | 04:24 | ||
13 | K. McCord / Bone Thugs-N-Harmony / DJ U-Neek | 05:54 |
Bone Thugs-n-harmony The Crossroads
The Art Of War Quotes
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - Creepin on ah Come Up (1994) 1. Thuggish Ruggish Bone 4. No Surrender 5.
Sample | Title/Composer | Performer | Time |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 01:40 | ||
2 | 2Pac / Bone Thugs-N-Harmony / DJ U-Neek | feat: 2Pac | 05:07 |
3 | Bone Thugs-N-Harmony / DJ U-Neek | 05:12 | |
4 | 04:48 | ||
5 | 04:28 | ||
6 | 01:29 | ||
7 | 05:04 | ||
8 | 04:02 | ||
9 | 04:58 | ||
10 | Larry Blackmon / Bone Thugs-N-Harmony / DJ U-Neek | 02:08 | |
11 | 03:36 | ||
12 | Bone Thugs-N-Harmony / DJ U-Neek | 04:24 | |
13 | 05:10 | ||
14 | Tim Stahl / Bone Thugs-N-Harmony / DJ U-Neek | 04:48 | |
15 | 05:40 |