by Jason Birchmeier Ice Cube's initial War & Peace album left a lot of fans feeling disappointed, after having waited five years for it, and the concluding volume isn't any more satisfying. A lot changed in those five years, and Cube does adjust well here to the changing times. Besides, it's simply great to hear him so revived. Yet there's also an undercurrent of stubbornness here that's unsettling. The opening track, "Hello," is the first omen of what's to come. The tailor-made N.W.Areunion anthem produced by Dr. Drebrings together the surviving members of the legendary gangsta rap pioneers and hits hard, Cube proclaiming on the hook, "I started this gangsta sh*t/And this the muthaf*ckin' thanks I get?" It's a striking beginning -- hard-hitting, yes, but also openly bitter and haughty. If Cube could keep heavy hitters like this coming, it'd be easy to accept the attitude, but he doesn't. The album drops off from here. There's a lot of steam and a lot of tension, yet not much artistry. That golden touch Cube had back in the days of AmeriKKKa's Most Wantedand Death Certificateis sadly missing. There's a nice good-time diversion halfway through, "You Can Do It," but that's about it. You're then back to the tension, and it lasts for a straining 17 tracks. In the end, the net total of Cube's two-album creative burst doesn't amount to much. Amid the two-plus hours, there's a small handful of gems buried beneath a lot of tracks you'll find yourself skipping. Here on the War & Peace series the aging legend is clearly a changed man, an older, wiser one who's trying hard but ultimately incapable of grasping the brilliance of his past. But it's nothing to mourn, as Cube certainly had his moments of glory and continued to have them, albeit in Hollywood rather than Compton.