N.W.A - The Best Of N.W.A: The Strength Of Street Knowledge (2006)

The world's most volatile hip-hop group gets compiled again with the 2006 release The Best of N.W.A. The straight-ahead collection differs just a little from 1996's Greatest Hits, although it does contain better liner notes and a worthwhile essay from hip-hop historian Soren Baker. The problem remains that you can't call yourself an N.W.A fan without owning the Straight Outta Compton album, and once you own that, you're overlapping six of the tracks included here. Plus, they're the best tracks. What The Best of N.W.A. does right is scatter the Compton tracks about the collection and make the whole thing flow with a running order that feels right. Priority could really do the world a favor and release something like The Best of the Other Two Albums, but seeing how that's not going to happen, this is the most convenient way to cover the rest of their career once you've done the necessary groundwork and devoured their masterpiece.~ Review by David Jeffries