And then there were two…  Jedi Mind Tricks Visions Of Gandhi not only marks the end of the crews long sabbatical, but the first real glimpse of how the group will function as a duo.   While they may have been MIA for a minute, there is still a certain amount of allure attached to the group.  Why? During their hiatus producer Stoupe put in work on Canibus’ Rip The Jacker and garnered props for creating the emotive backdrops for some of Bis’ most visceral rhymes.  Oh, and there was also the bitter departure of one of their former group members (Jus Allah) who left abruptly amongst a haze of racially tinged comments.

While JMT is lighter, are they better?  Though Stoupe continues to step up his game, Jus Allah is sorely missed as Vinnie Paz just does not sound comfortable having too shoulder the entire burden on his own.  Keeping it rough and rugged, Vinnie’s style is the essence of raw, but his delivery and lyrics at times grow tiresome. There are numerous times on the album were Paz spits aimless rhymes that have absolutely nothing in common:  “My thought process is that of the fucking loch ness.” What exactly does that mean? 

Using a sound similar in vein to what was found on Rip The Jacker; Stoupe continues to not only evolve into JMT’s undisputed star, but his sound as well and he breaks out the type ill shit on the up-tempo rushes “Tibetan Black Magicians”, “Animal Rap” w/ Kool G Rap, “Kublai Khan” w/ Tragedy Khadafi (can u say rejuvenated) and the western-Euro scented “A Storm of Swords”. Yet, Vision of Gandhi’s defining track has to be “Blood In Blood Out” as Stoupe loops a vocal sample to perfection, but Vinnie’s new solo status has a hard time holding his own – a reoccuring theme throughout. Though Visions of Ghandi is another solid release from the Phili crew, much of that is owed to Stoupe’s production, especially when the mic time is shared with the album’s extensive guest list.