Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

Cleveland's most thuggish-ruggish are back—minus a member or two but with plenty of guests—with what shakes out as a solid effort from a group that many have written off multiple times since their 1995 Grammy-winning smash E 1999 Eternal. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's latest, Strength and Loyalty, sees the brothers at three: Krayzie, Layzie and Wish, without the services of Bizzy (who left the group to pursue solo efforts and battle substance abuse) and Flesh-n-Bone, who went down after breaking his parole in 2000.

Whether or not loyal fans cotton to the chart-climbing lead single, "I Tried" with Akon, or the popular-talent-stacked "Lil Love," produced by Jermaine Dupri and featuring Mariah Carey and Bow Wow, Bone's soul shines through, strong as ever, in the rest of the album. "Wind Blows" continues in the group's tradition of choice sampling and collaboration (remember "Home" with Phil Collins on Thug World Order?), plucking liberally from Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" from the intro guitar riff to the thumping chorus and breakdown bassline. Twista guests on "C Town," a pan-Midwestern paean titled after the group's native Cleveland. Gospel singer Yolanda Adams stretches out on "Order My Steps" and the brothers wax spiritual, while The Game and Will.I.am lead the gun-clapping rhetoric on "Streets."

Along with the next two, "9mm" and "Gun Blast," the meaty middle of the album is the closest the group comes to the dusty hustling that's classic Bone. From there on, it's gravy. Swizz Beatz, co-executive producer and Full Circle labelhead, produces the car jam with an acid racing stripe, "Candy Paint," while "So Good So Right" makes way for a family reunion on a sunny Saturday vibe. The stronger of the two Akon tracks, "Never Forget Me," closes with its straining chorus. Though it's far from perfect, Strength and Loyalty leaves us confident that if, as rumored, Bizzy rejoins the group when Flesh is paroled in 2008, the gaps the two would fill could produce a very special album.

- Nick Parish
05.17.07

The title to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's 2007 comeback album, Strength & Loyalty, must be a reference to their fans. Despite handing in some forgettable efforts, emptying fans' wallets with too many solo and side projects, and promising new product and not delivering repeatedly, Bone always got a pass from faithful. Strength & Loyalty is also too heavy a title for an album so light and slick. Big names like Mariah Carey, Akon, the Game, Swizz Beatz, and Twista all command their tracks, unknowingly stealing from a group that used to be instantly identifiable because of their unique sound and style. This 2007 edition of Bone is missing members Flesh-N-Bone (thanks to incarceration) and Bizzy Bone (thanks to his being Bizzy Bone) and it shows. As a trio Krayzie, Layzie, and distant third Wish are a solid crew, able to deliver good weekend numbers like "Bump in the Trunk," "Lil Love," and "C-Town" (they never forget Cleveland) along with polished gangsta tracks like "I Tried." In the big picture, Bizzy and Flesh are missed, but what's remarkable about Strength & Loyalty is how it makes the listener forget they're missing while in the moment. Numerous melodious hooks in the easy-rolling Bone tradition fog the memory, and guest stars are brought in at just the right moments. Mariah speaks to the commercial possibilities Bone always had, while the Game speaks to how they seemed to never leave the streets. Every song is at least solid and the album flows very well, making it one of the better-built efforts from the house of Bone in nearly a decade. Problem is, this album could have twice the star power and it wouldn't make up for how important Bizzy's strange voice was for the overall chemistry. Strength & Loyalty doesn't overcome its challenges; it just sidesteps them and works hard to reward fans for a decade of patience. It's as good as it can be, and better than expected. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide