Bone Thugs-N-Harmony E. 1999 Eternal CD

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony: Krayzie Bone, Layzie Bone, Bizzy Bone, Flesh'n'Bones, Wish Bone.
Recorded at Trax Recording Studio, Hollywood, California.
"Crossroad"--re-titled "Tha Crossroads" when it was released as a single--won a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group.
E. 1999 ETERNAL was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. "1st Of Tha Month" was nominated for a 1996 Grammy for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group.
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony: Krayzie Bone, Layzie Bone, Bizzy Bone, Flesh'n'Bones, Wish Bone.
Recorded at Trax Recording Studio, Hollywood, California.
"Crossroad"--re-titled "Tha Crossroads" when it was released as a single--won a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group.
E. 1999 ETERNAL was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. "1st Of Tha Month" was nominated for a 1996 Grammy for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group.
Following the surprise success of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's summer 1994 anthem "Thuggish Ruggish Bone," the group returned a year later with E 1999 Eternal, an impressive debut full-length that dismisses any notion that the group was merely a one-hit wonder. From beginning to end, the album maintains a consistent tone, one that's menacing and somber, produced entirely by DJ U-Neek, a Los Angeles-based producer who frames the songs with dark, smoked-out G-funk beats and synth melodies. The Bone Thugs interweave their voices well, trading off verses and harmonizing on the choruses. There are a few standout moments, most notably the Grammy-winning ballad "Tha Crossroads" and the feel-good welfare ode "1st of the Month," as well as, of course, some obligatory blaze-some-to-this tracks, "Budsmokers Only" and "Buddah Lovaz." The intermittent tracks are good old-fashioned gangsta rap about murder, drugs, and money. In the end, E 1999 Eternal stands as one of the most accomplished, unique hardcore rap albums of the '90s, one that's often unfairly overlooked, if not dismissed entirely, because of the group's subsequent unraveling. [The original release featured a different version of "Tha Crossroads" titled simply "Crossroad" that was quickly replaced by the radio-aired, Grammy-winning "Mo Thug" remix.] ~ Jason Birchmeier
Perhaps Bone Thugs-N-Harmony have created a new genre of music and should no longer be considered "rap." No, they're not singing over a rap beat, or rapping over an R&B tune or sampled loop; so what exactly are they doing? What Bone Thugs-N-Harmony are doing is fascinating the industry with an idiosyncratic vocal style--call it harmony hip-hop.
E. 1999 ETERNAL, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's first full-length release, further displays the trio's Cleveland-born music, and continues to concentrate on their thuggish-ruggish lifestyle. While Bone touch on the same themes as the bulk of gangsta rappers, they transform their world into a horror-filled fantasy. Thus, "Crossroad" deals not only with the reality of death, but with the inevitability of meeting the "missed ones" on the other side; and "Down '71 (The Getaway)" tells a tale of the group's escape from an execution.
Not only are Bone Thugs-N-Harmony vocally unique (the a capella "Me Killa" is the rap equivalent of doo-wop), but the beats represent both the East and West coast rap schools. On E. 1999 ETERNAL, D.J. U-Neek controls the boards, and helps Bone establish a Midwestern brand of hip-hop.
Perhaps Bone Thugs-N-Harmony have created a new genre of music and should no longer be considered "rap." No, they're not singing over a rap beat, or rapping over an R&B tune or sampled loop; so what exactly are they doing? What Bone Thugs-N-Harmony are doing is fascinating the industry with an idiosyncratic vocal style--call it harmony hip-hop.
E. 1999 ETERNAL, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's first full-length release, further displays the trio's Cleveland-born music, and continues to concentrate on their thuggish-ruggish lifestyle. While Bone touch on the sameQ (3/00, pp.116-7) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...nobody...could do what they do....rapping at breakneck pace either against or with each other, underpinned by Armageddon-fixated spirituality....just doo-wop interplay, jazz-style scatting and staggeringly tight harmonies. Truly extraordinary."
Q (3/00, pp.116-7) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...nobody...could do what they do....rapping at breakneck pace either against or with each other, underpinned by Armageddon-fixated spirituality....just doo-wop interplay, jazz-style scatting and staggeringly tight harmonies. Truly extraordinary."
Vibe (9/95, p.188) - "...bridging decidedly West Coast, bumping beats and harmonizing choruses with complicated Eastern-style flows, the quintet illuminate[s] the possibilities of mid-western hip hop--married to neither coast but obviously inspired by both..."
Vibe (9/95, p.188) - "...bridging decidedly West Coast, bumping beats and harmonizing choruses with complicated Eastern-style flows, the quintet illuminate[s] the possibilities of mid-western hip hop--married to neither coast but obviously inspired by both..."
The Source (9/95, p.98) - 3.5 Mics (out of 5) - "...Bone offer so much complexity and cleverness that you rarely catch...due to the flow and style...along with Prince (circa 1979) type melody...is just a sample of what to check for..."
The Source (9/95, p.98) - 3.5 Mics (out of 5) - "...Bone offer so much complexity and cleverness that you rarely catch...due to the flow and style...along with Prince (circa 1979) type melody...is just a sample of what to check for..."
NME (Magazine) (8/19/95, p.50) - 7 (out of 10) - "...their ability to ring some supernatural changes on the silky Warren G/Montell Jordan formula...has produced a darker, more deadly cocktail..."
NME (Magazine) (8/19/95, p.50) - 7 (out of 10) - "...their ability to ring some supernatural changes on the silky Warren G/Montell Jordan formula...has produced a darker, more deadly cocktail..."