Editorial Reviews Amazon.com
R U still down for more? More prolific than ever, the sadly departed Tupac reemerges with yet another compilation of demos, unfinished thoughts, and songs even he probably didn't like. Until the End of Time chronicles the fruitful Makaveli period of Pac's career, shortly before his untimely slaying. One of Tupac's greatest assets was the way he reveled in his own contradictions, the way he'd drop an uplifting track like "Keep Ya Head Up" in the middle of a hardcore gangsta album. Despite moments like the pensive "Until the End of Time" or "Letter 2 My Unborn," an overwhelming majority of Until is straight thug life. He's a masterful narrator ("Ballad of a Dead Soulja," "Last Ones Left"), but over the course of one-and-a-half hours the thugisms get monotonous, especially given the number of songs that appear twice. The most intriguing moments of Until are the odd references--to his own death, to a young Jay-Z, to the then-unknown phrase "Bling Bling." An album strictly for die-hards. --Hua Hsu
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