Both are masterpieces, but Tigermilk would be in my top ten if not for Sinister, where as Wu-Tang's debut is something that will probably make my chart eventually but isn't there right now.
Wu Tang's debut is something that I've recently been a bit obsessed with, it also recently made it into my top 30. It's truly a masterpiece. Tigermilk, on the other hand, is merely a pleasant listen.
SingingPeasant96
Coming-of-Age
Gender: Male
Age: 28
Location: In the aeroplane (maybe it's over the sea)
Ah man, two of my favourite four or five albums in the whole tournament, and they couldn't be more different either. Tigermilk is stunning, but not quite as focused or as heavy on great songs as If You're Feeling Sinister, but it's still one of my favourite albums ever. 'The State I Am In', 'Expectations', 'She's Losing It', 'We Rule The School', 'I Could Be Dreaming', hell, even 'Electronic Renaissance' are all some of my favourite Belle & Seb songs, and this was still in the days before they tried (or, rather, were able) to add all the production flourishes that made the likes of Dear Catastrophe Waitress and The Life Pursuit a little too polished.
But 36 Chambers is #1 on my chart, it's the best album ever. I once described RZA's beats as sounding "like he'd taken a sledgehammer to a pile of old soul records and then shoddily glued them back together, beats that were ominous and menacing and exactly like how I imagined the music of New York housing projects in winter should sound", whilst the sheer personality that shines through on the microphone has never been matched in hip-hop (or any other genre, for that matter). Everybody has a favourite rapper, a favourite song, a favourite verse, a favourite line. This album is capable of switching between effortless, mindless fun and touching poignancy so easily - for every 'Bring Tha Ruckus' there's a 'Tearz', for every 'Shame On a Nigga' there's a 'Can It All Be So Simple?', for every 'Wu Tang Clan Ain't Nuthin' To Fuck Wit' there's a 'C.R.E.A.M.'. And that's to ignore the greatest posse cut of all-time, the incredible 'Protect Ya Neck', not to mention 'Method Man', which is my go to drunken singalong ("poetry's in motion, coast-to-coastin', rub it on your skin like lotion"). It's been 20 years since this record was released and, despite a host of imitators, there's still nothing else that sounds quite like it. It's raw passion and energy in musical form, and the group's enthusiasm more than papers over any cracks there might be (e.g. they were hardly the most polished rappers). As if by accident, they helped to usher in the cult of the personality in hip-hop, and there's never been a more entertaining selection of voices on an album than on 36 Chambers, be it Ghostface's emotive squeal, Method Man's buttery, elastic flows, ODB's unforgettable sing-songing, Inspectah Deck's internal rhymes and ability to accentuate a punchline ("swingin' through your town like your neighbourhood Spiiiiidermaaan"), the GZA's weird little hood Yoda thing he has going on - everybody here has their own distinct character (and often two or three). It's banger after banger, and it never gets old. The best album of all-time.
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