Enter the 36 Chambers: My Lifelong Obsession with the Wu-Tang Clan

[The Questyen]

67. "Afro Samurai: Resurrection Soundtrack"

The followup to the first Afro Samurai Soundtrack was released in January 2009. It featured appearances by RZA, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, Kool G Rap, Rah Digga, Sly Stone, Suga Bang Bang, P. Dot, Reverend William Burk, Stone Mecca, Tash Mahogany, Thea Van Seijen, Rugged Monk, Boy Jones, Black Knights, Dexter Wiggles, Sunz of Man, Shavo Odadjian, Ace, MoeRoc, Infinite, 9th Prince, 60 Second Assassin, Leggezin, Crisis, Christbearer, Tre Irie and Beretta 9. Production was all handled by the RZA.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/0iIxRfVEWU4&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/0iIxRfVEWU4&rel=1</a>

If you're looking at this above list of guests and saying I don't know who half these people are I'm with you. The fact that there are plenty of quality Wu emcees available and RZA continues to put out the absolute lowest rung ones on his solo albums and soundtrack stuff baffles me. Obviously the songs with the actual quality rappers on them are the highlights. Kool G Rap appears on two songs and both are great (one with Inspectah Deck, one with Ghostface Killah and RZA). Rah Digga also appears on two songs (one ruined by a bad chorus one merely hampered by it) and delivers solid but unmemorable verses. I hadn't really heard anything from her since her first solo album and I was a big fan of her and the Flipmode Squad so it was good to hear something from her. The RZA production on this album is actually pretty good and even though I never watched the Afro Samurai sequel fits in well with the tone of the show it's too bad that most of the time you're left with people you don't want to listen to rapping over them. So to sum it up a couple of good tracks, quality production and a lot of rapping you don't want to hear. It's slightly better then the first Afro Samurai album.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/3TY6vyo2AEM&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/3TY6vyo2AEM&rel=1</a>

Highlights: "You Already Know", "Whar", "Bitch Gonna Get Ya", "Bloody Days Bloody Nights"

Review: C

[The Questyen]

68. Method Man & Redman - "Blackout! 2"

Method Man & Redman released their follow up 10 years after the original "Blackout" album. It features guest appearances by Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Streetlife, Saukrates, Keith Murray, Poo Bear, Bun B, Erick Sermon, Ready Roc and Melanie Rutherford. Production was handled by Mathematics, Havoc, Pete Rock, Erick Sermon, Redman, Swiff D, Rockwilder, Nasty Kutt, Ty Fyffe, Buckwild, Vinny Idol, DJ Scratch, Bink!, King David and Chris N Teeb.

Like I mentioned in my original "Blackout" review I have a hard time reviewing Method Man & Redman stuff because while I liked them together for a short time back when they originally teamed up I quickly soured on them. This album doesn't change my feelings. The production is all over the place with a bunch of talented producers bringing mediocre beats. For some reason they also decided to jump on the auto tune bandwagon so a few songs feature this on them and it's as terrible as it sounds. Method Man who showed he still had his talent on "8 Diagrams" must have lost it again because he's completely forgettable here. Redman comes off slightly better but not by much. Thankfully Ghostface and Raekwon show up on "Four Minutes to Lock Down" to bring some Wu-Tang style to the album with a decent Bink! beat. And Havoc's production on "I'm a Dope Nigga" helps elevate it. But otherwise "Blackout! 2" is a snoozer.

Highlights: "I'm a Dope Nigga", "Four Minutes to Lock Down"

Review: C-

[The Questyen]

69. U-God - "Dopium"

U-God released his third solo album in June 2009. It featured guest appearances by GZA, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Method Man, Killah Priest, Scotty Wotty, Mike Ladd, Slaine, Y-Not Da Best, Sheek Louch, Jim Jones, Leathafase and Large Professor. The production is handled by Teddy Ted & J. Serbe, 4th Pyramid, Da Beathoven, Hakim Ali, Large Professor, The Twilite Tone, Andre Clarke, The Bloody Beetroots, Yuksek and Felix Cartel.

"Dopium" has 14 tracks with the last three being "electronica style" remixes.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/rGT6B1mZ_gs&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/rGT6B1mZ_gs&rel=1</a>

Still not up to his first album's standards "Dopium" is a step back in the right direction after "Mr. Xcitement". U-God still needs to work on getting some decent producers because that is the main problem I have with this album. The production by Large Professor on "New Classic" is the only song I would consider to be top quality. U-God's lyrics are decent but not his best work with GFK and Raekwon bringing the only real fire to the proceedings. I actually think the remixes aren't that bad and they are big improvements over the regular versions. So yeah, another mediocre Wu-Tang solo album.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/r71ELEuQpCs&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/r71ELEuQpCs&rel=1</a>

Highlights: "Train Trussle", "Coke", "New Classic", "Stomp Da Roach (Remix)"

Review: C

[The Questyen]

I figure I'd post here also that I just watched a DTV movie called The Mortician which came out on dvd a couple weeks ago. It stars Method Man playing a timid mortician in a decaying gang overrun city. I was pleasantly surprised by it. I watched it based on a review over at dvdtalk which mentioned Method Man playing a kind of weird non-comedic role and he delivered a pretty good performance especially since he is carrying the whole film by himself (besides the flashbacks to his childhood he is on screen for 99% of the movie).

[The Questyen]

70. Wu-Tang Clan - "Chamber Music"

This is a compilation album a precursor to the recently released "Legendary Weapons" I previously reviewed. It features appearances by every member of the Clan except Method Man, GZA and Masta Killa. Other appearances are by Masta Ace, AZ, Cormega, Sean Price, Havoc, Tre Williams, M.O.P., Kool G Rap, Sadat X and Thea Van Seijen. The album's production features live instrumentation by Brooklyn soul band, The Revelations, directed, edited, and produced by The Revelations, Bob Perry, Andrew Kelley, Noah Rubin, M.O.P.'s Lil' Fame (also known as Fizzy Womack), Josh Werner, and Gintas Janusonis.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/cNYXj9ujVNw&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/cNYXj9ujVNw&rel=1</a>

This was actually the first time I listened to "Chamber Music". I had heard about it but after being blown away by "Legendary Weapons" which used the same production team I was greatly anticipating listening to it. To start off the album has 17 tracks but only 8 of these are actually songs. The other 9 are RZA spoken word skits or kung-fu samples. Ghostface does great work on "Evil Deeds" which is unfortunately followed by a weak RZA verse. Inspectah Deck and U-God team up on two songs and bring high quality verses on both "Kill to Hard" with Masta Ace and "Sound the Horns" with Sadat X (I had forgotten about him). The production is solid and being done by the same group throughout the album it definitely has a cohesive feel. Compared to "Legendary Weapons" though this album is slightly a disappointment. Besides the fact of there only being 8 tracks, I think they upped the ante on the production in the followup and the guest verses were overall stronger on that album. But still "Chamber Music" is worth picking up and better then the majority of the Wu-Tang library.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/GIKAbHIFv8Y&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/GIKAbHIFv8Y&rel=1</a>

Highlights: "Kill Too Hard", "Radiant Jewels", "Evil Deeds", "Ill Figures", "Sound the Horns"

Review: B

[The Questyen]

71. Raekwon - "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Pt. II"

Raekwon released his fourth album in September 2009 six years after his last album. It featured appearances by the whole Wu-Tang except U-God, Cappadonna, Jadakiss, Styles P, Beanie Sigel, Slick Rick, Busta Rhymes, Popa Wu, Suga Bang Bang, Tash Mahogany, Blue Raspberry, Lyfe Jennings. Production is handled by BT, J Dilla, Pete Rock, Marley Marl, Icewater Productions, RZA, Necro, Erick Sermon, The Alchemist, MoSS, True Master, Dr. Dre, Mark Batson, Scram Jones, Allah Justice, Mathematics. The bonus track songs add appearances by The Game, Bun B, Travis Barker, Thea Van Seijen and Stone Mecca.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/JzS2dN99KxM&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/JzS2dN99KxM&rel=1</a>

Damn this album has a lot of songs on it. The regular album has 22 tracks with the only skit being the intro. I have the gold deluxe version (only released on itunes) which adds another six songs (two new songs and four remixes) not to mention the regular album has a itunes bonus track and their is a UK bonus track which brings my number up to 30 tracks for "Cuban Linx Pt. II".

"Cuban Linx Pt. II" is a huge step up from Raekwon's last two albums and it boils down to one thing....production. If you look at the credit list above this album is stuffed full with top name producers. I like Raekwon but without quality production his very specific rhyme style and subject matter can start to run together which was the problem with "Immobilarity" and "The Lex Diamond Story". He also brings together a lot of guest stars here with all the Wu-Tang members bringing strong appearances with Method Man and Ghostface Killah being the standouts. The weakest guest appearance is Slick Rick disappointingly. He phones this one in just doing bits from "Children's Story" and switching the chorus from "We Will Rock You" to "We Will Rob You". It's pretty lame.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/l2EB9hIKKho&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/l2EB9hIKKho&rel=1</a>

Besides the skippable intro there is not really a bad track on the album. The bonus tracks are all fairly strong also even the remixes.

Highlights: "House of Flying Daggers", "Black Mozart", "New Wu", "10 Bricks", "About Me", "Mean Streets", "Kiss the Ring"

Review: B+

[The Questyen]

72. Ghostface Killah - "Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City"

Ghostface released his eighth album in September 2009. It featured guest appearances by Kanye West, Ne-Yo, Shareefa, Raheem "Radio" DeVaughn, Jack Knight, Vaughn Anthony, Estelle, Fabolous, John Legend, Adrienne Bailon, Lloyd & Ron Browz. Production was handled by a bunch of different people that you don't care about.

I knew very little about this album before I listened to it. All I heard was Ghostface had made a R&B album and I assumed he was singing on the record which had zero appeal to me. Turns out he does not sing at all on "Ghostdini". What we have here is Ghostface making a modern R&B album which is unfortunate because the thought of him making a classic style R&B album with songs in the style of  "I Can't Go to Sleep" off "The W" is promising and we don't get that here. Instead we get Ghost rapping tired sex rhymes with tired R&B choruses. The types of song that I've mentioned hating on almost every Wu-Tang album well "Ghostdini" is only those. He also puts the "Back Like That (Remix)" on this album which is the same exact remix that was on his sixth album "More Fish". Do yourself a favor and skip this album. There's not a single track that I would ever want to listen to again on it.

Review: D-

[EMAnderson]

I love, love, love Cuban Linx 2.  Hi relistenability!  So many great tracks on there.  Easily in the top 5 Wu solo albums of the new Millenium.

No I always wondered about Ghosts r&b album.  It always sounded like the worst stack of crap ever, and you confirmed my suspicious. I may someday track it down from the library and listen to it out of pure curiosity and laughablity.  Thanks again for the reviews.

[The Questyen]

Glad to see someone reads this thread! I'm getting near the end.

[EMAnderson]

Glad to see someone reads this thread! I'm getting near the end.

And I will see it to the end!  This has been a great validation of my obsessive memory and interest in Wu Tang albums and obscure tracks.

[The Questyen]

73. Inspectah Deck - "Manifesto"

INS released his fourth solo album in March 2010. It featured guest appearances by Raekwon, Cappadonna, Kurupt, Cormega, Billy Danze, Planet Asia, Termanology, Carlton Fisk, AC, Fes Taylor, Ms. Whitney, Meshel and Pleasant. Production was handled by J. Glaze, The Alchemist, MoSS, Dtox, Inspectah Deck, Lee Bannon, Y-Not, Mental Instruments, Khino, Mike Cash, Flip, Shorty 140, K. Slack, Cee the Architect and Agallah.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/qdtUvdOE1Ow&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/qdtUvdOE1Ow&rel=1</a>

Another one of those middling solo albums. The production is nothing special except for a few tracks and I don't know what happened to Deck but there's none of the excitement (or talent) that was shown in his early Wu appearances or his first solo album. The album's only single The Alchemist produced "The Champion" is by far the best track and decent guest appearances on a few other tracks move "Manifesto" from being a crappy album up to a merely mediocre one.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/mhHHGNNLJ_o&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/mhHHGNNLJ_o&rel=1</a>

Highlights: "The Champion", "Serious Rappin", "Gotta Bang", "Brothaz Respect"

Review: C

[The Questyen]

74. Meth/Ghost/Rae - Wu-Massacre

Method Man, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon released an album of their own in March 2010. This album featured guest appearances by Streetlife, Solomon Childs, Sun God, Inspectah Deck, Trife, Sheek Louch, Bully and Kevin Cossom. Production was handled by RZA, BT, Mathematics, Ty Fyffe, Digem Tracks, Emile and Scram Jones. The cover art was done by comic artist Chris Bachalo.

This album is boring. It's barely 30 minutes long and it feels like all three members are going through the motions. The majority of the album is left over verses from unused tracks or in the case of Smooth Sailing (Remix) they took a song by Broccoli Rob removed all the verses, left the Solomon Childs hook and used a new beat and called it their own. The cover art and the first two tracks which are barely two minutes each are the best thing about "Wu-Massacre". I'm gonna imagine this will be the first and last time Hakim Warrick is name checked in a song.

Just Barely Highlights: Criminology 2.5, Mef vs Chef 2, Gunshowers

Review: C-

[The Questyen]

75. Masta Killa Presents - The Next Chamber

Masta Killa released this compilation album in November 2010. This album is basically a mixtape of unreleased tracks, freestyles and lesser known songs with Masta Killa on them. It features guest appearances by RZA, GZA, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Pete Rock, Prodigal Sunn, Killah Priest, R.A. the Rugged Man, Timbo King, Buddah Bless & Icarus. I can't find complete production info anywhere online for this album but for the songs I do know the incomplete producer list is RZA, DJ Muggs, Pete Rock, Mathematics, Masta Killa, No I.D., Prefuse 73 and Ayatollah.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/QV9Vcc1j0EQ&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/QV9Vcc1j0EQ&rel=1</a>

This was my first time listening to "The Next Chamber" and really didn't have any expectations for it but it wasn't bad as far as Wu-Tang compilations go. The freestyles are nothing special except for "Brain" which loops the Pinky & the Brain theme as a beat. Out of the few songs I had already heard "Unstoppable Threats" (off the GZA & DJ Muggs Grandmasters album) is still great as is "Metal Lungies (OG Version)" (track off Ghostface's Pretty Toney album with Masta Killa on it instead of Sheek Louch & Styles P). "Fam Members Only" (off GZA's Legend of the Liquid Sword) is ok but this version cuts off a RZA verse from the original and is still edited. And for my first listen stuff I really liked the production on "Just a Thought" (a shortened version of a song off Prefuse 73's album Surrounded by Silence), and great verses on "Chains" (off R.A. the Rugged Man's Die, Rugged Man Die album). The only song on here I don't care for is "Black Mamba" (off the Kill Bill Vol. 2 soundtrack) which is less a song and more nonsense chanting by RZA and ODB. So overall an above average album with enough good stuff that I hadn't heard before to be worth a listen.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/4PTYM9dX7ac&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/4PTYM9dX7ac&rel=1</a>

Highlights: "Unstoppable Threats", "Just a Thought", "Chains", "Armoured Truck", "Metal Lungies (OG Version)", "Brain"

Review: B

[barrow]

This thread might honestly be the most impressive thing I have ever seen.  I wish I following it from the beginning.

I wanted to share a couple pictures.  Anyone who has seen my Facebook picture has seen me holding up a WU-TANG CAKE.

Here's are better pictures of the cake:




WU-TANG CAKE AINT NUTTIN TA FUCK WIT

[The Questyen]

That Wu-Tang cake is fire!!

[The Questyen]

76. Ghostface Killah - "Apollo Kids"

Ghost dropped his ninth solo album in December 2010. It featured guest appearances by GZA, Raekwon, Method Man, U-God, Killah Priest, Cappadonna, Busta Rhymes, Trife Diesel, Joell Ortiz, The Game, Black Thought, Jim Jones, Shawn Wiggs, Sheek Louch, Sun God and Redman. It features production by a ton of different producers with Frank Dukes being the only one who does more then one track (he does three).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf1f5Pe8xGc&feature=related

"Apollo Kids" is not a top tier Ghostface album but it's still a huge step up from his last few albums. The problem with that being that Ghost feels like a guest on his own album here. Out of the twelve tracks he's only by himself on three and the majority of the songs feature multiple guest artists. The production is mixed. It starts out strong with "Purified Thoughts" which is a killer track with a great Frank Dukes beat featuring Killah Priest and GZA. I had never heard of Frank Dukes before this but he produces the three best songs on the album. Black Thought brings what is probably the best performance in "Apollo Kids" on "In tha Park". A lot of lackluster guest spots though with Jim Jones and The Game being the worst offenders.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA46JGZavxI

Highlights: "Purified Thoughts", "Black Tequila", "2getha Baby", "In tha Park"

Lowlights: "Handcuffin' Them Hoes"

Review: B-

[The Questyen]

Only one more album left!

[The Questyen]

77. Raekwon - "Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang"


Raekwon released his fifth solo album in March 2011. It featured guest appearances by Method Man, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, Nas, Black Thought, Busta Rhymes, Rick Ross, Lloyd Banks, Jim Jones, Estelle, Kobe James and Raheem DeVaughn. Production was handled by Scram Jones, Oh No, Cilvaringz, Bronze Nazareth, Bluerocks, Selasi, DJ Khalil, Sean C & LV, Kenny Dope, The Alchemist, Mathematics, Xtreme, Evidence and Tommy Nova.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFgjYZQW7EM

This is a pretty lackluster end to my Wu-Tang reviews! Not a bad album but a step down from OBFCLII. Ghost, Nas, Busta Rhymes and Black Thought shine in their verses but the rest of the guests bring nothing to the table. The production is solid but nothing too exciting which is a good description of the entire album. Raekwon is on auto-pilot throughout "Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang" and the only time my ears perked up is when one of the aforementioned guests showed up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMENfyBLkg8

Highlights: "Every Soldier in the Hood", "Silver Rings", "Rich & Black", "Masters of Our Fate"

Review: C+

[The Questyen]

I'll have some lists up soon.

[barrow]

Hah that last review was a lackluster way to finish but it's going to be excited when new records eventually drop.