The hip-hop shot heard 'round the boroughs. The solo albums may have given guys like Ghost, Method, GZA and Raekwon a chance to show off their vocal talents to greater extents, but Enter the Wu-Tang is still the best in terms of synthesis (every track is essentially a posse cut. this should not work under any circumstances, but it somehow does, and how!) and production.
I disagree. I think both Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... and Liquid Swords scrape this album in terms of production and cohesiveness. I don't think it's out of bounds to say that Linx is even more ambitious than the group's debut, in fact.
Swords does come damn close, and Fishscale and Linx may top it for ambition, but I'll always hold 36 Chambers in higher esteem. Unlike the mentioned solo albums, excepting Swords, it has no skits or filler, each track is an essential showcase for all of the 'Tang's rappers, each providing some of the best verses on "7th Chamber," and "Chessboxin'," and RZA's spotlessly filthy production. Every track on the album is an iconic hip-hop standard, from "Shame" to "Tearz."
Arguing about quality differences between 36 Chambers and the solo albums is really splitting hairs though, because they're all fantastic. Fishscale is only a single spot behind 36 chambers on my overall chart, at 11 and 12 respectively, and Liquid Swords definitely ought to be higher than 92. I have never been able to get into Cuban Linx the same way I got into the rest, though that may be the fault of more cursory listening. I've been meaning to return to it for a while now.
The hip-hop shot heard 'round the boroughs. The solo albums may have given guys like Ghost, Method, GZA and Raekwon a chance to show off their vocal talents to greater extents, but Enter the Wu-Tang is still the best in terms of synthesis (every track is essentially a posse cut. this should not work under any circumstances, but it somehow does, and how!) and production.
I disagree. I think both Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... and Liquid Swords scrape this album in terms of production and cohesiveness. I don't think it's out of bounds to say that Linx is even more ambitious than the group's debut, in fact.
Swords does come damn close, and Fishscale and Linx may top it for ambition, but I'll always hold 36 Chambers in higher esteem. Unlike the mentioned solo albums, excepting Swords, it has no skits or filler, each track is an essential showcase for all of the 'Tang's rappers, each providing some of the best verses on "7th Chamber," and "Chessboxin'," and RZA's spotlessly filthy production. Every track on the album is an iconic hip-hop standard, from "Shame" to "Tearz."
Arguing about quality differences between 36 Chambers and the solo albums is really splitting hairs though, because they're all fantastic. Fishscale is only a single spot behind 36 chambers on my overall chart, at 11 and 12 respectively, and Liquid Swords definitely ought to be higher than 92. I have never been able to get into Cuban Linx the same way I got into the rest, though that may be the fault of more cursory listening. I've been meaning to return to it for a while now.
That's a respectable position, and I respect you for it. _________________ I love all music. It makes you feel like living. Silence is death.
To be honest, I've never quite understood this record. I've thought that hip-hop should have these smooth beats and conversational vocals to make you feel comfortable (which is why I consider the PharCyde's debut to be one of the greatest hip-hop records ever made), but these nine guys here seem to be intentionally doing the exact opposite.
Because of that, I've never been able to get passed the first few songs. Maybe I'll try again in the next week or two.
I briefly was able to give Liquid Swords a listen a few days ago, and found that to be pretty good, though not Biggie-quality or anything.
36 Chambers > Liquid Swords > Supreme Clientele > Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (Never got the appeal of this one at all but the first three are all classics)
Link _________________ "I would expect something wrong with the poll if the chart favorite was not the poll winner" - naples 12-8-11
"I was hoping he was gone for good, guess it was just too much to ask" - polythene pam 05-10-12
"Nickelback > Radiohead" - bork 05-14-12
Overrated but still pretty good. I think a lot of the individual members have gone on to do better than this.
this...Ghostface, Raekwon, Meth, GZA and even Inspectah Deck (with his often overlooked Uncontrolled Substances album) have released projects as good as or better than 36 Chambers.
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