Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Album: “The Art of War [PA]”

After Bone created the masterpiece E.1999 Eternal, many people thought that they wouldnt be able to duplicate the effort of that album. Well, they come DAMN close to doing so, if they actually didnt, with this AMAZING 2-disc set. Though E.1999 Eternal is more solid from top to bottom, this album has more variety, and is BEAUTIFULLY constructed for a double cd. Out of the 28 songs, there are maybe 3 or 4 I coulda done without. The whole album concept is about being "mentally" superior to your oppostion or opponent, or obstacle. Layzie came up with the concept after reading the book, and Bone turned it into an album. The first disc is the light side of the album. The lyrics are very strong and well thought out. Handle The Vibe, Its All Mo Thug, Ready 4 War, Mind Of A Soulja, IICTTW, and Family Tree are all Bone masterpieces, with a sophisticated structure. Body Rott, Look Into My Eyez, and Clog Up Yo Mind are as good in their own right, but a little more hardcore. The other tracks on Disc 1 are less good by only the slightest of margins. Disc 2 (the darkside) is equally good as Disc 1. The songs on here are more eeire and thuggish than the first disc. Thug Luv features the late 2pac (rip). Then you have Bone's diss songs toward their opponents (do or die, twista, cc, etc), including Wasteland Warriors, U Aint Bone, All Original, Hatin Nation, and Neighborhood Slang. 7-Sign is a Bizzy solo, with a nice beat featuring lyrical genious, Majesty, off Bizzy's label. "Friends" tells the thin line of loyalty and betrayal of those close to you. Then their is the fantasically unique "Evil Paradise", of Bone speaking about the end of the world. The remaining tracks on Disc 2 are a little less strong, but still nice. Overall, a great album, and a must have. This epic 2-cd set is sure to please, with its great concept. Bone proves why they are the best group in hip hop ONCE AGAIN with this masterpiece. Buy it now.........

It had been 2 years since the multi-platinum, Grammy award-winning E. 1999 Eternal was released. The anticipation and hype for The Art Of War was very high, and when the often-delayed album was released, Bone did not disappoint. Continuing their line of near flawless albums, Bone released this double-disc album which was broken down into World War I and World War II. It starts of with another tight Bone Intro, which has been a trademark on their older albums. Handle The Vibe comes next and it is simply a track where Bone displays there rapid-fire flows and show that they are the best when it comes to that. Look Into My Eyez is the first single and one of the tightest tracks on the whole album. Body Rott is one of the hardest hitting tracks Bone has ever made. It's All Mo Thug is the first track featuring Flesh, and Flesh does not disappoint on this very smooth laid-back track.

Ready 4 War introduced the world to Majesty, an artist from Bizzy Bone's 7 sign record label, it is a really tight track. Ain't Nothin' Changed(Everyday Thang Part 2) is a tight track, it just isn't as good as the original Everyday Thang from the Show soundtrack, and it doesn't feature Flesh like on the original. Clog up yo mind is a decent track, but nothing special. It's All Real is a flawless Krayzie Bone solo effort. Hardtimes is a nice little interlude between the 2 solo songs on WWI. Mind of a Soulja is next, it's the Layzie Bone solo and it is the tightest track on WWI. Layzie came straight rough and raw on this song, unfortunately NONE of the songs on Layzie's solo album were as good as this song. If I Could Teach the World is next and was the perfect type of song for radio and video play. Family Tree brings WWI to a close, a great way to end the first disc.

World War II opens with another tight little intro track that is quite catchy for being so short. Next is the best song on the whole album, and one of the best songs ever made. It's Thug Luv featuring the late-great Tupac Shakur. Many people say Notorious Thugs by Biggie featuring Bone is better, but I like the harder, darker feel of Thug Luv much better. BIG, although a great rapper, can't compare to the lyrical genius that is Tupac Shakur, no one can. Hatin' Nation is next, and it is a playa hata anthem executed very well.

7th Sign is the Bizzy solo which features Majesty once again, unfortunately it is a letdown since Bizzy has the ability to make great solo songs, this is not one of them, it's good but not up to par with his other solo work. Wasteland Warriors, featuring Souljah Boy from Mo Thug, is next and is one of the hardest-hitting and best tracks, the way Krayzie opens the track is flawless and the beat is perfect. Neighborhood Slang is a short 1-verse track by Krayzie which almost seems like a poem, it's still tight and is required listening.

U Ain't Bone is Bone's dedication to all those rappers out there who tried to use the rapid-fire delivery that Bone made famous, and although many have immitated, the flow has never been duplicated. Get Cha Thug On is Wish's solo, it's the weakest of the 4 solo's but it is not a bad song, just not quite as good as the other 3. Flesh is the only Bone member that does not have a solo, and in fact, Flesh is only on a handful of tracks. All Original is another track where Bone let's people know who is the original's to do the Bone flow, very smooth beat and very smooth verses.

Blaze It is another interlude. Let The Law End is a great authority-bashing song. Whom Die They Lie sounds like it has an 80s rap beat to it, but it is still a very good track. Friends is a tight track that uses a sample from Whodini. Evil Paradise is a decent track, but one of the worst on the whole album. Mo Thug Family Tree closes WWII with the same beat as Family Tree from WWI, just this time there is no Bizzy and it features some Mo Thug artists.

DJ U-Neek produced another classic album, and Bone laid done some of their best tracks to date. Bone proved with E. 1999 Eternal that they don't need big named guest spots on their album to sell really good, but the addition of 2pac on Thug Luv certainly didn't hurt this album. Whether you are a Bone fan, or simply just a rap fan, The Art of War by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony is required listening, and if you haven't heard it yet, now is the time to do so.

I've been a Bone Thugs N Harmony fan for a while but only just bought my first Bone CD last week. The Art of War, obviously being it. This CD blew me away. This is the type of CD that doesn't contain filler in it's 28 song span. Even the intro is amazing. Heck, the intro is one of my favorite songs, and that's rare for any genre of music. This group has the talent to make a 2-disc CD and have every verse from every member be perfect. I'll admit the guest rappers aren't particularly good though. But that's dismissable because most guest rappers aren't anymore. In my own humble opinion, I think this is the best rap CD ever made. I know people will strongly disagree with me, but keep in mind that I'm not much of a fan of rap.

As I mentioned, the intro, Retaliation, is wonderful. Handle The Vibe is one of my favorite songs included in this collection. The way they rap and the beat accompanied is stellar. Definitely worth a listen from everyone. Clog Up Yo Mind is so catchy that you'll have it stuck in your head for days. The beat is great and, as always, the rapping from all is amazing. If I Could Teach The World is a touching song that follows somewhat in the vain of Crossroads. I personally think Wish Bone steals this song. With that we move onto disc two. Thug Luv is by far my favorite rap song ever. 2Pac, of course, makes any song listenable. But the fact that he joined with Bone makes the song undeniably good. The anger is in everyone's voice and that pushes this song into greatness. Layzie Bone, my favorite member, has the best verse by my judgement. Friends is yet another great song. The chorus is very catchy and just about everyone can relate to it.

Overall this is definitely worth the money. A few of my favorite songs are Retaliation, Handle The Vibe, Body Rott, Thug Luv, and Friends. Every song is great but those are the songs I listen to the most. It'd be rewarding to you, the listener, though, if you made time to listen to each CD all the way through. If you do that then I guarantee you'll be a fan of Bone for life. Their impact in the rap game will not soon be forgotten. Their rapping abilities just blow me away everytime I hear this CD. I'm sure it'll do the same for you.

This is a very good cd.At first i thought it was ok then it grew on me.This cd really worth yo money.My Fav. tracks are Thug Luv,If I Could Teach The World, Clog Up Yo Mind and family tree.A must have for bone fans.

One doesn't realize how many good songs are on this golden double disc album until one looks back and really counts. This doesn't even include the songs that are okay, only the quality ones. The sheer content of good songs really sets Art of War apart from most of the poor 2 CD efforts (and some of one CD efforts).

Another interesting point is that this album is packed with an evolved and grown form of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. They aren't the youngsters from E. 1999 Eternal or Creepin On Ah Come Up and fortunately they're not at all soft like they are on BTNHResurrection. They are so smooth, so professional, and the raps are fast. They branch out from plainly violent raps with harsh beats. The CD is smooth. The beats are polished and the lyrics are strong. They really get a lot more contemplative on Art of War. They rarely get dumb on this album and sound like the patriarchs of rap that they are. They don't point out how good they are; they simply pump out good tracks.

Art of War is simply a collection of mostly laid back and cool Bone tracks. They have it all on this CD and the number of tracks only adds to it. It has an awesome vibe throughout. It's not terribly dark, but it is somewhat mysterious. The beats are generally off the beaten path. They experiment with gun sounds in "Thug Luv" featuring 2Pac sounds awesome, and the beat in "Body Rott" has a weird, but interesting feel to it as well. Remixes and remakes of old songs are also well done with "Friends" and "Evil Paradise". Bone successfully puts their stamp on these songs that could have been horrible bull***ts.

With that said, my favorite song on the album is "Look Into My Eyes", one of Bone Thug's best works. The beat is so polished and gives you a kind of gloomy and sad feeling, and it sounds awesome. The words are SO SMOOTHLY delivered by Bizzy, Krayzie, Layzie, and Wish. You really got to hear the song to feel the smoothness. Other exquisite tracks are "Handle the Vibe", "Body Rott", "Mind of a Souljah", "If I Could Teach the World", "Thug Luv", "Wasteland Warriors", "U Ain't Bone", and "Evil Paradise".

Art of War has no specific song that represents the album, but it really has a lot of good tracks on it. When a CD achieves this type of consistency I feel the need to reward them. I can listen to this CD all the way through and keep my self paying attention, unlike albums from Master P. This was the last realest Bone Thug's album, although not everyone would agree. If you like rap at all, I strongly recommend this to you over the expensive price; it's one of my favorites.