When you're dealing with 2 disc efforts it's always a delicate balance. You always have to appreciate the extra songs, but then you dread the filler material that had to be inserted. The Art of War is one of those 2 CD efforts, and one that comes off quite well. The Art of War gets no press. It's a disc that nobody ever talks about, but a great one nonetheless.

The disc some of my personal favorites: "Handle the Vibe", "Look Into My Eyes", "Body Rott", "Mind of a Souljah", "If I Could Teach the World", "Thug Luv", "Wasteland Warriors", "U Ain't Bone", "Friends", and "Evil Paradise". This is almost a full disc full of songs that I really love. One doesn't realize how many good songs are on here until one looks at the back and really counts. This doesn't even include the songs that are okay. The sheer content of good songs really sets Art of War apart from most 2 CD efforts (and one CD efforts).

Another interesting point is that this stage is a sort of half evolved Bone Thugs. They aren't the youngsters from East 1999 Eternal or Creepin on ah Come Up and fortunately they're not at all like they are on BNTHResurrection. 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. The Bone Thugs trade in their glocks for books on this effort. 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 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. 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 horrid flops.

The downside is that there is no crescendo on the Art of War. There isn't a song that really personifies the album or that brings it to the most elite level. Top 10 hits simply aren't here. The CD sets a tone and basically does not change throughout both discs. This isn't really a bad thing, unless you strictly aren't feeling it from the start.

This album reminds me of Cube's War and Peace Vol. 1. It has no signature song 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 not fall asleep. This is really the pinnacle Bone Thugs album, in my view.

First of all, i dont understand how anyone could ever diss this cd! This was my first bone thugs cd and i bought it for "look into my eyes" and "thug love" instead of just gettin those songs i was introduced into a whole new style of rap. I have a long commute everyday and i just put in disc 1 play it threw then disc 2 and play it threw and repeat. THIS CD NEVER LEAVES MY STEREO! Another plus about this cd is the quality of the music, havin subs in my car really shows the skills of bone, they have real sharp and deep bass, tightest music to chill to.

there is no need to rate any of the songs, they are all perfect! BUY THIS CD

The Art of War. Double disc- 28 song masterpiece! But lots of people don't really know what this particular bone album is all about. Well I'm gonna tell'ya. So READ up and learn something new (if you didn't already know)

This album was made when Bone & 3-6 mafia beef was in its prime. If you listen to the hot intro track "Retaliaton" you'll hear DJ U-neek yell out " old playa hatin ass niggas, you know my little niggas brung this style to the table, first" well he's talkin about the tong twist style. It's "Retaliation" on 3-6. Wayyyy back when they were underground in 92' and 93' is when the beef began, Bone disses triple-six on a HELLA TIGHT track called "Hell Sent" on their first album "Faces of Death". After proceeding with next two famous albums "Creepin On Ah Come Up" and "East 1999", bone disses the whole city of MEMPHIS labeling them a " bunk ass town" among other words, in the famous vibe magazine(Feb. edition 95) and the beef only got bigger. 3-6 at this point retaliates on Bone wit a RIPPIN track known as "Live By Yo Rep" On there first album "Mystic Stylez" which could be considered a lyrical dismantling of bone. On this album, the smooth track "Hatin Nation" is directed towards 3-6. In fact, most the album disses them if you listen well; Bone was being smart by not mentioning names. If they did, that's makes you say "well let me go buy 3-6 and see what there sayin about bone on there albums" in which the thugs don't want and it's a fact other rappers don't realize. 3-6 claims that Bone bites there style and they came up wit it first, which is some shix I refuse to believe (and you shouldn't either) because Bone does it so natural and bout all the time. Out of the 6 original members 3-6 (Juicy j, DJ Paul, Gangsta Boo, Koopsta Knicca, Crunchy Blac, and Lord Infamous) Lord infamous is one that tong twists the MOST and the rest don't really do it that much. Koop does a little bit on mystic styles. Other ol' Prophet Posse members that kicked the gangsta twist was Kingpin Skinny Pimp and Indo G, who can found disses bone some tracks called "Lay it Down"(VERY TIGHT, hard to find, download if ya can ) and "straight outta TN"(tight). And you see how bone drop a double disc with this, 3-6 matches it with two CDs in one year! "The End" in March 97' then "World Dominion"in Nov. 97. It really is a year of war!

Bone brings it original but not everyone, as seen in there eyes, is a bone clone. Twista came in like 91' with his very first album "Runnin off at da mouth" which is his BEST album to date to me. He was known as Tong Twista back then. There no way twista couldn't have been bitin the style because bone and him didn't know each other (How 3-6 and Bone knew about each other when they were underground in different places I'm not sure, maybe they ran into each other at a talent show or something?)This album shows way twista beat krayzie bone's record. Rappin REAL fast on there, so get if ya can, don't miss wit anything new from him cause he not as gangsta no more.

continuing on the so called "bone clones" another Memphis maniac Tommy Wright III made the most direct bone diss of all called "Thuggish Ruggish Bustaz" on his album "On The Run" This songs lyrics are more directed towards Bone (he gets on them pretty serious) which kinda makes it more crucial than live by yo rep. Tommy's twists pretty tight as he put together a well organized rap empire of his own. The very tight track "U Ain't Bone" is, of course for perpetrators of the style, but more aim at Tommy Wright.

Besides tong twista, chi town has a whole GROUP of rappers on the speed dial. Crucial Conflict is some very tight rappers who Bone also includes on this album as copycats. In fact, listen to the HELLA TIGHT "Ready 4 War" track, you can hear the guest star Maje$ty disses'em very directly. Man, he's really rippin them APART with his in-depth lyrics. Maje$ty comes back on the World War II disc for the "7 Sighs" track and gets a bigger part with Bizzy Bone, Both KILLS IT so lyrically. The flict also had bone diss track called "Back Against The Wall" which is a very tight posse cut on the album "Good Side, Bad Side." (Best album they did) There was no big beef wit them like wit 3-6 though.

Another rapper I MUST tell`ya about is the Sandman and his album "No Secrets, No Lies." MAN!! HE IS LYRICALLY RIPPIN! He sounds exactly like one of the Bone Thugs rappin HELLA fast on most the tracks in which some call him a SUPER BONE. Don't get me wrong, he's tight and one my favorite rappers, but I don't know WHAT he thinking makin this when he already knows BONE got it on lock. He is what I would consider a BONE CLONE but as bone clones go, he's one of best and good rapper period. they sell his album here on Amazon, I Suggest ya pick that classic up.

Before I give a quick review of the songs, I liked to look at thugz individually and there status on this album.

Krayzie Bone: Rippin tracks as usual. The talented lyrically loco Krayzie Bone puts its down on all the tracks and sometimes leaves ya waiting for MO!

Bizzy Bone: My favorite thug and he really TEARS IT UP on this album. to me these are bizzy's best verses (hard to chose because there was so many) the light skin high pitch maniac goes HELLA FAST on tracks like "Body Rott" ta let those other tong twisters know that they can't touch him

Layzie Bone: the 1 assassin comes VERY correct here. His verses on "wasteland warriors" and "Hatin Nation" are some of his best. Good performance by lil lay.

Wish bone: This is the album where Stratejacket lyrics started lack. Some tracks would be tight and others would just be good. On there albums before this ALL of his lyrics were tight just like the other thugz. A good example of this is on "Thug Luv" he's VERY TIGHT on there. Then there's "Handle The Vibe" EVERYONE ELSE tears up except Wish. (Still good though) This where Flesh-N-bone would have came in handy, speaking of him...

Flesh-N-bone: the 5th dawg and underrated thug. Some People don't realize he's ah HELLAVA rapper wit tong twist down pat. He was never sighed to ruthless record (I don't know how, when he there when Eazy-E sighed them all) which explains his many absences ASWELL as his constant troubles wit the law. Threatening his neighbors, the fire cracker incident, packin semiautomatic weapons... ya know, just being a true thug.

Flesh has some tight verses on "It's all Mo Thug" and "Whom Lie They Die" very tight tracks.

The most GANGSTAFIED/HARDHITTIN tracks are:

Disc 1: 1,2,3,4,6,11

Disc 2: 1,2,4,5,6,7,8,9,11,12,13,14

The smooth R&B/make ya feel good tracks are:

Disc 1: 5,7,8,9,10,12,13

Disc 2: 3, 10, 15

Some people may put it together a little different

All the other rappers I mentioned are VERY TIGHT ARTISTS, but in the eyes of bone just clones. Out all of'em, its bone first always cause there the original and perfected the tong twist. The track "thug Luv" wit 2 pac alone is enough reason to get this album. I see that someone diss this album that particular track. This guy is NO RAP LISTENER! JUST SOME WHACK WHITE BOY DISSES RAP AS WHOLE! STOP RATING CLASSIC RAP ALBUMS YOU KNOW NOTHIN ABOUT AND STICK WIT YO COUNTRY (see his reviews) GARBAGE LAME ASS BUSTA! For the REAL bone fanz, pick it up if have not heard it yet. You'll love it. PEACE!

On the Art Of War, Bone showcases their entire arsenal of Thuggishness and Harmony, resulting in a beautifully crafted double album. This might be the best double hip-hop album ever. Disc 1 brings out many magnificent trax, such as It's All Real (Krayzie solo), If I Could Teach The World, and Family Tree. Not to mention possibly the best track on the whole album, It's All Mo Thug, which even features Bizzy on his only track ever having anything to do wit Mo Thugs. It's VERY smooth, definitely one of the smoothest Bone trax ever. Disc 2 features a little more of the thuggish side of Bone, as displayed on the shotgun-blast filled Thug Luv featuring 2Pac. One of the most hardcore Bone trax ever. Wasteland Warriors, 7 Sign (Bizzy solo), U Aint Bone, & Evil Paradise also display the thuggish-ruggish side of Bone. On the mellifluous tip (look it up yall), Hatin Nation is a nice laid back joint, and so is Mo Thug Family Tree, which features the same beat as Family Tree, but features Mo Thugs along wit Bone. And then we have the obligatory weed track, Blaze It, which is short but still showcases smooth harmonizing, perfect to spark one to. All in all, this features very little filler, AMAZING considering it's a double album. A well-crafted DJ Uneek produced classic. If you don't have this by now, you're definitely missin out.

I'm only make this review because of Thug Luv. Not to take anything away from the other tracks which are also very good, but Thug Luv is it. Before a couple of months ago, I haven't heard this song in 4 years. What got me to remember Thug Luv is what else, the gun shot beat. The sound of gun shots as the beats, the fast lyrics by Bone Thugs(especially Bizzy's at the beginning), and 2Pac all in one song. I consider this song the greatest gangsta rap song of all time, and my favorite. This is also the best Bone Thugs N Harmony song ever.