AEOM was the best engineered no doubt, but it definitely wasn't the best that year. It wasn't at all cohesive as an album and felt like a compilation featuring....
For production sake, the best were The Score (which I cannot BELIEVE nobody mentioned), ATLiens and my choice HELL ON fukkIN EARTH!!!
The Infamous maybe the foundation, Murda Musik maybe the most commercial, but Hell on Earth is the QUINTESSENTIAL Mobb Deep album.
I remember when I was living in Denver back in Nov. '96 and G.O.D. pt. III was 1st played at the club and I wigged out even before P started spitting like WTF IS THAT and got just hype as shyt!! There wasn't a tune out that year that had me like that. That whole album was musically CRAZY. Havoc elevated his craft to a whole next level and forced people to respect him as one of the GOAT producers.
*** side note, I'm surprised nobody mentioned It was Written either.