Conceptually, this is very strong. With the imprimatur of the remaining members of
War and their longtime manager
Jerry Goldstein, the group's tracks are used as samples and/or backing for some well-known and not-so-well-known rappers to pay homage to. For the most part it works, because the talent (e.g.,
The Beasties,
Ice-T,
2Pac,
De La Soul) is there. However, tracks by those artists have been available on their earlier discs...And the lesser-known material, which also comes from previously released sources, is simply not as outstanding, ranging from the lackadaisical (
Too Short) to the doggedly polemical (
Brand Nubian). The title track is a new
War number and does a great job of stating the band's significance...In fact, this entire disc is fairly remarkable in showing how influential
War has remained as a source point for rap, both in groove and social consciousness... ~ John Dougan