Hip-hop has few sons more prodigal than Houston's Geto Boys, who set new standards of violence, misogyny, nihilism and controversy on their 1990 album. But they redeemed themselves in '91 with the brilliant, harrowing single "Mind Playing Tricks on Me," a redemption extended by Willie D's work both as a solo act and with the rapper Sho.

The Resurrection reunites Willie D with partners Bushwick Bill and Scarface on an album that stretches the moody feel of "Playing Tricks" across an hour-long CD, with spare music backing the most richly textured, authoritative voices this side of the original N.W.A. Where Geto Boys' early work showed no artistic distance or visible consequences, The Resurrection explores the flip side of ghetto life – from a killer facing his victim's mother and wishing he himself were dead to gangstas examining the ugly political realities that breed violence and nihilism – from a more sophisticated outlook. On The Resurrection, rap's prodigal sons return to the hood with a keener eye and healthier attitude. (RS 734)

EDDIE HUFFMAN