This album came out two decades ago. Here’s what I had to say about it back then (with some minor editing):
Just what the doctor ordered — Dr. Dre, that is.
West Coast rapper and former Alkaholiks sidekick Alvin (Xzibit) Joiner is the latest rhymer hoping to benefit from the Midas touch of the legendary gangsta-rap pioneer and superstar hip-hop producer. And benefit he does on his third solo joint Restless, which bounces along to Dre’s knee-deep head-nodding beats and features a supporting vocal cast straight from the V.I.P. lounge: Along with Dre hisself, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, Kokane and King T watch Xzibit’s back while he spits his rhymes in his urgent, big-dog bark. KRS-One is also in the house on the old-school Kenny Parker Show 2001. But the life of the party has gotta be Eminem, who pops in to drop one of his finest rhymes, a pair of typically frank verses about his screwed-up existence (“I just got in a feud in some parking lot with a dude over Kim and she just slit both of her wrists”) in Don’t Approach Me, the album’s standout track. With help like this, Xzibit and Restless is doubtless headed for a perch high up on the charts.
