Gang Starr - Moment Of Truth

Guru made Moment of Truth with real stakes hanging over him. Facing a gun charge that could have meant five years in prison, he channeled the pressure into the most reflective writing of his career, and the title track is the sound of a man taking stock of everything he could lose. DJ Premier met him with some of his richest production, and the result is widely regarded as the high point of the duo's catalog.

"You Know My Steez" opens with supreme confidence, "Royalty" brings in K-Ci & JoJo for a soulful turn, and "Above the Clouds" with Inspectah Deck is one of the great late-'90s rap collaborations. "The Militia" with Big Shug and Freddie Foxxx hits as hard as anything in the group's catalog, and "Betrayal" brings in Scarface for some of the record's darkest storytelling. Twenty tracks long, it never loses its focus.

It was also a commercial peak, reaching number six on the Billboard 200, topping the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and going gold within weeks.

This edition gives the album's full twenty-track run plenty of room, spread across three LPs of black vinyl and six sides.