** Various Artists

RUTHLESS RECORDS TENTH ANNIVERSARY COMPILATION: DECADE OF GAME

(Ruthless)

**1/2 Above the Law

LEGENDS

(Tommy Boy)

In 1987 Eazy-E founded Ruthless Records for the express purpose of recording his N.W.A, a crew who were to hardcore hip-hop what the Sex Pistols were to punk rock. The enterprise became the forerunner of every insurgent gangsta-rap label to come, yet if you can imagine the inevitable ravages of bad taste, mismanagement, and petty malice that would plague any label led by someone like Johnny Rotten, you'll also get a sense of how mixed up Ruthless's history has been. The company's two-CD retrospective fares no better. It's a documentary mess, with inaccurate dates, a jumbled chronology, and crucial omissions (including most of N.W.A's biggest and baddest raps). Yet the mess actually gives the label's unsung wares room to shine, including a sharp new Eazy-E track ("24 Hours To Live''), outstanding forgotten cuts by D.O.C. and Above the Law, and a small array of numbers by one-shot female acts to balance the rampaging sexism of their male masters.

Despite the Tenth Anniversary title, the compilation actually ends just before Eazy's 1995 death (his final find, Cleveland's Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, is underrepresented). The story continues, however, on Above the Law's Legends. This trio left Ruthless two albums ago, but they're still playing like boyz of old, only with slower beats, deeper voices, and less egregious nastiness. The sole kink in their smooth display of gangsta competence is the stunning "Deep Az the Root,'' a gorgeous lament shot through with regret about a gangbanging life where setbacks "come by the millions.'' Neither Eazy nor Johnny ever said as much, but I bet they'd understand.

-- Franklin Soults