The CD belongs to my brother and I jacked it from him, so here goes. My first impression was, "So that's it?" I wasn't imnpressed after my first complete listen. However, I've sat down and I'm giving it a complete listen for this review. Here we go, the usual TM review format: 1) YOU KNOW MY STEEZ- I liked this track when it was relesed. A lot of my cats were flipping over it, which I didn't understand. It was a good release, because it was typical Gangstarr quality. Guru with his unique style and Premier's patented producing style. Simple beat with a goofy, video game sound effect. Not bad, but hopefully not the best joint on the album. 2) ROBBIN HOOD THEORY- Booorrrrriiiinngggggg...I'm sorry, but I think I've heard this song before...maybe on every other GangStarr album! This is a bad omen. Guru's doing his thing, dropping somewhat meaningful rhymes. But Premier's sound is becoming lame. It's dated. I'm no expert on production, but if I can see through his style, then it must be real obvious to the pros. 3) WORK- Once agin, Premier uses his signature style. But this one is a definite pick-up from the previous track. The piano is a nice addition, but this is far from inspired. The scratching & mixing at the end add a whole lot of needed flavor to this track. Again, Guru is...Guru. 4) ROYALTY- Ahhhhh, this is *much* better. No goofy, Super Mario Bros. music here. A nice piano riff and an uptempo, smoother sound. A little twang of the bass guitar is thrown in there. Surprisingly, K-Ci & Jo-Jo don't ruin the song, although they shouldn't have been given free reign to blow at the end. The topic may be one that's heard quite often, but I like how he flips it to apply to himself and to certain ladies. "Royalty" just sounds so damned arrogant, that it's fresh as hell. Easily the best track so far. 5) ABOVE THE CLOUDS- The much-anticipated track featuring Inspecta Deck...Unfortunately, Premier slows the track down again and returns to the video arcade. Not as much as the other tracks, but once too often for me. Typical Guru product. Inspecta Deck seems like he has something to bring, but, honestly, the production drags him down. I don't know if it's because it's so slow or if I'm tired of Premier's style. This one is very average for all the talent involved. 6) JFK 2 LAX- Nice misleading tactic on the title...The music is much better here. I like the lady's voice added to the mix. Adds a bluesy, hard times feel to the song. The horns are a very welcome and positive addition. A little piano makes it a nice effort. I can see how Guru may be upset over this little episode, but he felt unusally angry on this one. 7) IT'S A SET UP- Not necessarily a video game noise, this track (like the rest) screams "Premier did me!". Not as bad as the earlier songs, but it just feels so damn predictable. I like the little guitar chords that he stuck in there thought. Some guy named Hnnibal adds vocals to this one and he's not too bad. A pretty good delivery with not bad lyrics. He might have something to show. He kinda shows Guru up on here. 8) MOMENT OF TRUTH- A neede improvement from Premier here. Once agin, this one flows along much more smoothly, without some bouncy noise. The term "bangin'" doesn't fit, but maybe "mellowed out". Guru likes the topic of overcoming pitfalls and negativity. That's what he speaks on here like only Guru can. One of the better tracks so far. 9) B.I. VS FRIENDSHIP- Featuring M.O.P., whom I have little or no patience for. The topic is balancing business dealings with friendship. Guru maintains his normal level of rhymes. Would someone put M.O.P. out of their misery? I'm sorry, but they're annoying as hell. What? The production? Well, if I didn't know better, I'd think it was done by DJ Premier. 10) THE MILITIA- Starts out with some super fresh scratching and a sweet guitar lick. BIg Shug starts this one out and does pretty good. I always thought that "Crush" was pretty good. Shug is simple, yet fresh. The hook is corny as all hell. Guru does his thing. Freddie Foxx is alright, but that Gloria Gaynor line is mad booty. Still, this is one of the better tracks on the album. 11) THE REP GROWS BIGGA- Who the hell is this chick? Do we care about her? No, we don't. Again, Primo starts with some fresh scratches and mixes some nice dialogue. This one doesn't sound like the others, but it's terribly simnply. Back & forth piano chords and a simple beat. Guru does his usual thing. 12) WHAT I'M HERE FOR- This one sounds like something I've heard, maybe from the Group Home album. A beat, covered by some piano. Still very Primo-esque, but a needed break from the rest of the album. Typical Guru. A goofy hook that Guru makes work. 13) SHE KNOWS WHAT SHE WANTS- Dear Lord, who allowed Guru to sing again?! Another super-smooth production from Primo. This one is niiiccceee...The voice addd in behind Guru's "vocals" is sweet. Good stuff from Guru & Primo. The topic, obviously, is about women and the things they do. Some advice to the fells about avoiding evil women. A really nice song, IMO. 14) NEW YORK STRAIT TALK- Hmmm...again, we have that Primo-sound, but it sounds much better than the rest of the album. He's got that kooky sound effect, but this time it's not a video game sound. I'm vibing off the fresh bassline. Primo makes the music work really well on this one. The hook is fresh as hell, with the mixes & scratches. Looks like the quality on the album is picking up (musically). Guru's topic is NY Love. 15) MY ADVICE 2 YOU- I like the beat here. Pretty simple, but it fits well with the rest of the musical elements. The guitar riff also adds a really cool effect. The piano isn't necessarily "looped", but it's more of a simple, rhythmic thing (*I apologize if that doesn't makes sense, but it's hard to describe music when I've had no type of musical training*). Guru's topic is exactly what the title says. Stay out of trouble, do your thing, etc. Again, the quality is much better on the second half than on the first (of the album). 16) MAKE 'EM PAY- If it wasn't for the beat, this would sound like some old school, soulful vocalist's track. Typical Primo hook, scratches & some dialogue that fits the title. Still, it's not bad, but not memorable. Very, very average. 17) THE MALL- OK, this is a little bit better. The music here is a little bit more urgent rather than that goofy, laid-back style. The hook is ridiculously corny, trying to pay homage to Biz's "Albee Square Mall". G-Dep & Shiggy Sha help out with so-so rhymes, nothing that would make me look for them again. 18) BETRAYAL- Guru & Scarface...both are MCs that I respect, but I never would have put them together. A *REALLY* slow musical product. But it's another smooth, easy listening type track. A nice couple of guitar chords and some piano & bells (?). Guru does the storytelling thing and Scarface represents very well. They fit together much better than I thought and it may be because of the music. Both MCs come off really well and the production fits both MCs. Nice work on this track. 19) NEXT TIME- Starts out with some super-fly horns...the beat drops and Guru flows and I'm loving it. Man, this is what we needed more of. The horns *REALLY* set this track on fire. And Guru feels extra dope flowing over them. This is one of the better tracks on the album. Nice use of LL's verse with this track. Very simple formula for the music, but not the usual, predictable, played-out stuff. 20) IN MEMORY OF...- Shout outs to the dearly departed, friends and families. It's hard to be too critical of a song that has such a personal meaning that most of us can't feel, because we don't know those people. How eerie is it that they use BIG's voice saying "Rest In Peace"? Guru takes it and turns it into a warning about living foul. Musically, it's the usual. Not bad, but not really good. Overall, I was disappointed in this album. Maybe it's because of my personal experiences with Gangstarr. I always thought they were cool, but I didn't really discover how dope they were until "Hard To Earn" (an overlooked classic, IMO). I've heard various cuts from all the previous albums, but I haven't completely listened to any of them. Maybe this has something to do with how I listen to them, I don't know. I had often seen cats on RMHH refer to Primo's signature style and once someone actually pointed out what to look for, it became ridiculously obvious. Even I ( with no production knowledge) was able to recognize his stuff. And this album beats that style into the ground throughout the first half. He picks it up on the second half, but nothing really blows my mind like it did on "Hard To Earn". And Guru is as Guru does. The man hasn't really deviated from his style since the get-go. Consistency is his middle name. Nothing super-duper dope, but he maintains his usual level. On a scale of one to ten, "Moment of Truth" gets a 7. Persoanlly, "Hard To Earn" was their defining moment. But what do I know? Peace, *** MARBLES ***