Honestly....the 3 singles are my least favorite tracks.......
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Honestly....the 3 singles are my least favorite tracks.......
Inspectah Deck is the MVP for me on this album. His verse on Miracle, Ruckus in B Minor and Pioneer The Frontier, Keep Watch and Ron O Neil are stellar. Method Man was my 2nd favourite on the album. He killed a better tomorrow. They brought their A Game in my opinion. I love the album overall. I give it a 8.5/9 out of 10. It's a mature album with great production. Only gripe the album could of had more GZA on it and I'm still pissed off with the way Rae and Ghost act all difficult towards doing Caln albums.
I'm surprised so many people on this site didn't like Iron Flags. Had some Wu Bangers on it-Iron Flag, Babies, Uzi, In The Hood, Rules, Y'all Been Warned, Back In The Game.
Mistaken Identity - Written by E. Turner, J. Hunter, R. Diggs, P. Charles, L. Hawkins, C. Smith
Yes streetlife is there doing the chorus
i wouldn't pay much attention to what those other forum guys say, i've been reading a lot fo comments saying Wu is too old, etc. it's basically a lot of young guys that dig Maybach Music, ASAP Rocky, Kendrick Lamar (no diss, i love Kendrick's stuff), etc.
as someone pointed out, "Wu-Tang Forever" was universally hated pretty much, despite it selling so much but the general consensus was that the Wu had fallen off hard. this is an album that will grow.. a whole lot better than "Legendary Weapons" and "Chamber Music". it's definitely better than "Iron Flag" too, though it has many similarities with it, it's a bit like "Iron Flag" if that wasn't rushed to death. on the few listens i had i think the production on "8 Diagrams" is better but that's no suprise since i absolutely love that album... lyrically this is the stronger LP tho.. if this is the Wu's final album, they went out on a great note!
The W was constantly shit on what are you talking aboutQuote:
Originally Posted by ShaolinDarts
Tekitha with the background vocals on A Better Tomorrow track. Should have used her in Forever-style though.
Most of the internet in 1997?Quote:
Originally Posted by talassi
I've listened to the album front to back about 5 times now, over the course of a couple of days. Maybe a 7.5/10.
The fact of the matter is, you never know what to expect with a Clan album - they're always so unexpected and RZA does not give one flying fuck about the musical trends of the day. The man just does what he wants (whether or not the clan agree with him).
Wasn't really feeling 'Keep Watch' when it dropped. Thought 'Ron O'Neal' was a bit of an improvement, but wasn't totally blown away. But these are both slightly better in the context and feel of the album, than as stand alone tracks.
'Felt' is an interesting track. Not your typical wu-shit, but still kinda haunting, in a similar vein to 'The Projects' or 'Older Gods' with the piano loop. Strange drums, but it just about works.
'40th Street Black' is a curve ball I wasn't expecting - the cheap sounding, fast paced drums remind me of Bobby Digital's 'So Fly ft. Division'... but whatever.
'Mistaken Identity' is bananas, 'Hold the Heater' is a grower, 'Crushed Egos' is damn good, 'Miracle' is decent, 'Preacher's Daughter' is kinda corny but could've been worse.
Now.... 'Pioneer the Frontier' and 'Necklace' back to back... yes!!!
'Better Tomorrow' is a cool uplifting track, 'Never let Go' is dope - I like the vibe of this, prticularly the horns. 'Family Reunion' is worth it for Ghost's short verse and ODB shout out, but the drums sound like they were done on a $150 casio keyboard default setting...
Overall: more good than bad and a very enjoyable listen overall.
needed a lot more genius
have anyone of you.. listened while blazed.. could be better rather than
keep comparing it to past albums. with all the hate y'all must of had high expectations.
"Miracle": Aladin kinda ruins this song for me, but entire concept is superior to any Disney chorus so I'll go with 9/10
LMAO @ Aladdin
There alot of good opinions from board members i agree with in regards to the new LP but there are also some i dont agree with.
I was thinking about this "wu sound" that ppl are sometimes talking about. its just a description. you may come to me tomorrow and tell me ayo this group right here got that wu sound and i can agree with you or not.
Rza created the Wu-Tang Clan through his vision his concept his SOUND. this "wu sound" alot of us always talking about. No matter what he puts out it automatically has the "wu sound". RZA = WU SOUND ALWAYS.
Im glad not all the wu lp's sound anything alike. Rza is an artist and if its for good or worse he keeps evolving. I hope he drops 10 more wutang albums.
I used the words ''wu sound'' alot in this post and that shit get old doesnt it?
At the end of the day we all have our right to opinion or description of something or sound.Thats why this forum is great.
This ABT lp is a great album i give it a 8/10 . I would have preferred that Nathaniel vocals were not on the tracks tho. Happy Listening.
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Originally Posted by Pattch82
Campfire, Take it Back, had nothing classic Wu sounding and they were boring. Gun Will Go definitely didn't have a Wu vibe (besides the beat being okay). The overall feel of the track sounded like they were tryin to make a catchy gangsta track to compete with the likes of G Unit back then...that wasn't Wu. And there was nothing "masterpiece" about The W (besides maybe Hollow Bones). It was a decent album, definitely not a masterpiece.
I think it's pretty dope. First listen was great, 2nd & 3rd not so much but I've let it sink in since then and it's not my favorite WU album but pretty dope regardless.
I think you have to listen to this album as a whole and not go in expecting it to be ENTER. Like someone said, Rza and the rest of the WU are humans and they do change with the times just like us. I think this sound is more mature...if you take it for what it is instead of what you want it to be I think it's dope.
Time will tell with this album, we can't really judge it that much right now. I saw a "review" on an official site that was like a 10 line paragraph and said nothing yet this particular author thought the album was "a fail". This is one of the problems with the digital age, we hear an album and if it doesn't impact us instantly we throw it away and move on to the next one. The ADHD generation...
PS...if Rza's sound were a character in a movie people would be talking about a dope character development. He went from sampling dusty records to basically having a whole orchestra to sample...
RZA & GZA both had 6 verses, Deck had 8, GFK and Uey had 7, Meth MK and Cappa had 10 verses while Raekwon had 5 only
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Originally Posted by TheWuCepticon
Campfire isn't Wu sounding?!! Dark, ominous beat, awesome sample and dope verses (even Cappa!)
Same with Gun Will Go, dark beat, dope verses and ill beat switch up when Masta Killa comes in. Totally Wu sounding.
Take It Back is not necessarily Wu sounding but it's bangin none the less, and everyone rips their verses.
8 Diagrams is so much more together as an album. It's got the dark vibe running right through it apart from one or two missteps (Starter!)
And, The W is one of the most cohesive dope albums in the entire Wu catalogue. RZA in 2000 was on some shit, he had just done Ghost Dog OST which was ill and Supreme Clientele and The W carried on that dope streak!
Maybe I just like the darker sounding Wu shit like The W and 8D. I will continue to spin this new album to see if it grows on me but so far it ain't hitting me.
Necklace is ill though.
Peace!
8 Diagrams dark? LOL besides a few tracks that album was not dark at all. Most of that album is so dull. There is nothing distinctively Wu sounding about Campfire because its forgettable and generic...it being dark doesnt save it. Tracks like Unpredictable was horrible, overproduced and horrible singing or whatever it was by Dexter Wiggles (LOL that fuckin name smh). Gun Will Go was generic and did not feel like Wu. It felt like them tryin hard to make a basic gangsta anthem. And no, there more than a few missteps on 8D. Weak Spot was properly titled because it was mad weak. Heart Gently Weeps was a snooze fest. Get Em Out Ya Way Pa, zzzzzzz. Stick Me For My Riches? What the fuck was that?? That ain't good Wu shit. Windmill was dope however, I always liked that. The W's production wasn't that great, besides a few cuts. Just because some shit was dark doesn't mean it was great. The W could've been a classic had the Ghost Dog beats been used for it. Because GD had a lot of classic, and properly dark Wu production. ABT could've been better, of course, but definitely shits on 8 Diagrams.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pattch82
Some of the singles (strangely) sound better in the context of the full album - but that is just how I feel. Those wack choruses seem to be bother me a bit less now. It'll be interesting to find out how you feel once you've listened to the whole album. I was very critical of the album because of the first two singles, but to my surprise this is quite a cohesive album. Corky's right, some of the singles don't do the album any justice.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mumm Ra
Peace.
What about GZA? Thanks for the review.Quote:
Originally Posted by SL33
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Originally Posted by Mumm Ra
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheWuCepticon
Agree to disagree I suppose... You're feeling it, I'm not.
I agree about the Ghost Dog beats though... I wish RZA would have kept some of those beats for The W. Imagine the Clan spitting over beats like 4 Sho Sho or The Man. And Fast Shadow is ill. Also, Buck 50 off Supreme Clientele has the same kinda feel.
Peace!
I went into this album really really really wanting to like it. I loved Ruckus in B Minor, Necklace, and A Better Tomorrow but I have to admit:
It's their worst album by a large margin. The production is the biggest letdown, honestly. Some of the hooks are so bad that they almost made me skip the track. The verses were mostly sleeping inducing too. I'm actually shocked at how bad this album is. There are maybe a grand accumulated total of two minutes where it's listenable.
The beats on the 2nd and 3rd tracks sound like they're remixes done by Swedish hip hop fans.
The WORST random Wu cousins album that dropped in the 90's are better than this. Immobilarity is better than this.
There are like 3 sample based songs that work on this album, but RZA's shitty band handles the rest of the production and it sounds like some Sublime cover band garbage.
What the fuck are you on about? At the time the W had two major hit singles and was very well received.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Hound
No idea what Wu dorks are jerking off to nowadays but at the time no one was complaining when it came out. In fact it was regularly called a modern day 36 Chambers.
The Aladdin section might be the worst part of any song this year. Are you fucking kidding me?
It's a good album. I am a son of the 90s, don't like the 21st century sound at all. My favorite hip hop albums are from the 90s and in my top 10 you can find albums like : OBCL, Enter the wu, "Midnight marauders" (ATCQ), "temples of boom" (Cypress Hill), "The infamous" (Mobb Deep), "the main ingredient" (Pete Rock and Cl Smooth), "Lalcabincalifornia" (The Pharcyde), "Aquemini" (Outkast), "One day it'll make a sense" (Common sense), "the chronic" (Dr Dre)
I didn't expect much from the wu tang clan in 2014. I think their time is over. But I am curious and they are talented dudes ! And I know one thing, the talent doesn't die. I know they have grown but I think they can produce better music than the awful shit we hear in radio nowadays. So I tried to empty my mind before listening to this new album. After listening to it 5 times I can say it's not a great album. Like "8 diagrams", it's a strange experience by Robert Diggs. As I said many times the guy wants to become a musician, but he is not. Yeah he said he read stuff about the music theory or things like that. But music is not a theory, you feel it, you live it, it's something alive. Before reading this stuff he was able to produce dope music. Because he didn't give a fuck and knew by instinct how a dope music sounds. He should understand one thing, good music is good music. I don't give a fuck about live instrumentation ! I love all kinds of music ! Rock, Techno, Russian, Chinese, African, European, Soul, Jazz etc... My concern is about the melody and the energy of the music. And the first wu albums were very powerful and like movies. They were alive ! They were spontaneous ! Rza just let the things flow naturally ! Now Robert Diggs want to control everything and his beats are artificial. And the hooks.. Don't like them at all. I don't understand that ! Where are Blue, Tek, Allah Real ? Where are they ? Nathaniel sucks ! But as I say these guys r talented, their talent saves the album. Robert wants to add to many thing to his music so he lost his way. There are good songs in this album like :
Miracle, Mistaken identity, Necklace, ruckus in B minor
The majority of songs lack something. "Preacher's daughter" could be a dope song but it's boring. And the hook ruins the entire track. "Pioneer the frontier" is a good song, but after listening to it many times I think it lacks something to and too many unnecessary noises ruin it. So with better hooks and more beats from wu elements, the album could be better. I don't think it's better than 8 diagrams, it's just different.
7/10.
Lmao gravel pit is one of the most hated songs by Wu fans the fuck you doing using that prove a pointQuote:
Originally Posted by ShaolinDarts
Nathaniel does suck and you are def right about Blue Raspberry and Tekitha but getting Allah Real on a track isn't really uptrading in my book. Nathaniel, Sunny Valentine, Allah Real, pretty interchangeable to me but I'm not well versed in RnB I have to admit that.Quote:
Originally Posted by The blackma
Yeah, I mean even the tracks that RZA didn't produce on SC still had a Wu vibe. And RZA's executive producing really came into play on that album because he made the album cohesive. Like he said in The Source back in 2000, he pretty much needled and threaded that album together. Hence the cohesiveness, despite the beats having different styles, still sounds part of one body of work. And yeah, Rae has been the main one departing from the Wu sound since the 90's, starting with Immobilarity. The only track on there that had a strong Wu mafioso sound was The Table with Masta Killa.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Hound
Wasn't it always RZA's plan the generals would branch out productionwise for their second round of solo albums after Forever? Cuz everyone had to stand on their own two for their solo careers after RZA had established them with one album each? Or did I get that wrong? Of course in Rae's specific case, he emphatically wanted to prove he did not need RZA on his follow up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 5th state
I don't remember RZA distinctively saying that, because it's been a while. I just kinda thought it was something that happened involuntarily on it's own. Because RZA had put too much on his plate at that time with all the new Killa Bee additions, and plus he was stuck on his Bobby Digital shit. But even still, Rae didnt even use True Master, Mathematics, and of course 4th Disciple (with whom he already did great work with, "Nasty Immigrants"). At least Deck had majority Wu production on his debut, and Tical 2000 had some RZA beats, and other Wu-Element production. Rae has been departing from the traditional shit for years on his own, and the result has been less than stellar.
Modern day 36 Chambers??? LOL I definitely don't remember it getting that kinda praise. I personally remember being sorely disappointed, from some weak beats, some dumb downed lyrics, and ridiculous features (Snoop should never be on a Wu-Tang album, ever!). It wasn't a bad album, sure, but certainly not great. And I bought it when it was released, and 14 years later it still hasn't grown on me much. If it hadn't been for Supreme Clientele and Ghost Dog OST earlier that year, it would have been a total loss for the Clan in 2000.Quote:
Originally Posted by ShaolinDarts
I gotta agree 100% with that statement.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheWuCepticon
Quote:
Originally Posted by WuZapatista
The constant use of the phrase "Wu sound" doesn't mean sounding the same on every album. What it basically refers to is, the vintage classic vibe from the 90s. All of the albums that RZA produced from 93-97 have the "Wu-Tang sound", because it was being born and evolving through those albums during that time span. And none of those albums sound anything alike, but still carry a certain sound (or vibe) that RZA managed to maintain for 7 albums ...without once being redundant. RZA has always been diverse, but before he was able to diversify within the realms of what made Wu Tang's sound appealing. Nowadays, he goes in places musically with Wu's sound that just isn't as hard hitting and addictive.
Best use of green screen in years.Quote:
Originally Posted by RUSHING PLATYPUS
While we're at it, any word on thorazine aka billy analogue aka powdered toast aka big baby jesus 666 aka meds aka more meds aka frank the lyrical tank?
Guess that evil wall slaughtered him in the end after all.
Ok after hearing it a few times I honestly don't even know exactly how I feel. Surprised to like it the 1st listen but there's definitely something disjointed about it. Even though they claimed some actually were in the studio together and stayed on a topic it doesnt feel like a group effort but just a bunch of different tracks. It's also a little weird there's three or maybe 4 times Rza uses techno like sounds on tracks, although i think it works on Miracle
Ruckus in B minor -Like it a lot, great intro track and love the ODB. Also love the beat change with Cappa's verse
Felt- Nice track I think they pulled off the concept
40th street black- ridiculously out of place on here it just takes you out of the zone, although it now it starts sounding nice towards the end.
Mistaken Identity - great song
hold the heater -really good song flows well after Identity
crushed egos -average, good title for a rza, rae song but why just them on a track?
keep watch - I actually like the beat, hook is the opposite of good.
miracle- this is actually beautifully pulled off, I know some will hate the singing but it really works.
preacher's daughter - actually like it, it would be even better if the chorus was just toned down a little
pioneer the frontier nice, not great but had the old wu sound
necklace- really like it
Ron o'neal -dont like it
A better tomorow- great track, really feeling it
never let go-seen it being called filler a lot, i think its one of the better tracks
Wu-tang reunion- hated it when i first heard it but it does fit here after the rising positivity of the album
I've listened to this a few times and it has a handful of good songs where the beats and rhymes come together, but its probably the groups weakest album.
RZAs beats range from good-ish to boring indistinctive jams and the best songs are produced by others. My overall impression is that the group is done. RZA thinks his new production style is something impressive and it just isn't.
Mistaken Identity is my favorite track, the beat goes hard (the baseline, piano sounds, and guitar riffs remind me of some 36 Chambers shit), and the cast on there did great, including Streetlife on the hook. Would've been nicer with Ghostface and Rae for sure tho. Fuck em both for not participating on it.
My one problem with Fast Shadow's production, was that it was basically the Shadowboxin' beat sped up (hence the title). But yeah, it would've been great to hear them over those raw Ghost Dog beats. The beat on East New York Stamp with Jeru and Afu Ra, was literally an extension of the Sub Crazy beat on Tical ... the eerie singing part. So yeah, if those beats were on The W, it could've been great.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pattch82
RZA is out of touch with his listeners, in his own little egocentric world. He knows what we really wanna hear but feels the need to force his new shit on us ...just to prove some sort of point that he's "matured" or whatever. I still think he did some good work on this lp, but he still doesn't get it, or should I say he doesn't want to get it. His new fro hawk hairstyle and weird way of dressing is visual proof of how out of touch he is with his fans.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sun Tanama
Miracle is a dope track, beat wise, the atmosphere, and everybody's verses (except I hated when Ghost's part changed the beat to some electronic rock shit or whatever). The singing isn't that bad, but it's the dude's voice, he makes it sound cheesy. If it's gonna be a male vocalist, he needs to have singing chops like a Michael Jackson, Luther, Marvin Gaye, Bobby Womack or Curtis Mayfield in order to pull off a chorus like that, and not sound cheesy. This guy, like Nathaniel (assuming this was a different guy), are very mediocre, and annoying. The female vocalist that was already present on the song, should've sang the entire part, or better yet, it should've been Tekitha or Blue Rasberry. I don't get why RZA felt the need to force no name subpar male singers on us, with this album.