[Album Stream] WU-TANG CLAN "A BETTER TOMORROW"

[MASTER PAI MEI]

I can understand if people were thrown back by the Disney-esque vocals on Miracle, but it doesn't kill the entire fucking song. I personally love it, I have no problem with Disney, Pocha muthafucking Hontas had some bad ass songs, can't front. And that's not Nathaniel, it's a guy called Will who works a lot with RZA. It's well sung and the lyrics is tight. It's minor key, it's dark, it's 4th Disciple shit. Like someone said before, if Blue Raspberry sung the shit we'd be all over it. Me personally, I would've called Blue and Tekitha as well, I love their shit, but I'm sure RZA had his reasons. On OATIS we used Blue, Tekitha and one other vocalist. But i honestly don't get the hate.

You can't convince me that Wu-Tang Clan has ever made a wack album. The problem is, they have done so much incredible shit that a dope album, or even an averagely dope album is labeled a failure. You either produce greatness or it's a fail. It's like Jordan scoring 20 points instead of 50. It's still better than most players, but because it's Jordan it's considered a bad game.

That's the gift and curse of Wu-Tang I think. You can't tell me 8D was wack, nor Iron Flag and definitely not The W. The problem is that expectations are so high when it comes to the Clan, that 90% of the time you're going to have to deal with disappointments, and then months later the albums start growing on people and start making more sense. Not everybody, but a significant amount of nay sayers.

Trust me, I'm one of yall Wu-Tang die hards, as I have always been. But the thing I'm starting to see reading everybody's opinions and reviews, is not that it's bad album at all, it's that maybe it was the wrong album to drop at this time, and that its different approach is not easily accepted because of the negativity that surrounded the making of the album. If this was a live type of album Wu-Tang had made in between while working on a sample based album, nobody would've been mad. Matter of fact, everybody would've been jumping on the positive aspects of this album and not so much on the negative. But because that wasn't the case, because it could likely be the very last Clan album, because it sounds different (certain songs), because it was flaunted by negative press and stories, it became something you looked at differently. But in all reality, the album is great and far greater than a whole bunch of shit released this year.

I agree. The reasons for so many back n forth critiques is the structure of some of these songs. RZA is trying to gain mass appeal with these RnB hooks. That kind of comes out of left field when RZA was the First to say "this hip hop this isnt RnB." But I digress, people grow music becomes more polished, taste changes. etc...


Good Album. Different Album./ It sounds so much different on my system at home compared to head phones.

[Sparrow Daene]

anyone read that recent article that called 8d the long lost wu masterpiece? i co-signed every word. the author said that was rza's "acid samurai" phase, which is iiillll, b. i have to agree here. the only song that makes me go "meeeeehhh. maybe not." is the 'gently weeps' one, for the same reason a lot of these new songs dont do much for me: the incredibly generic [it's almost a joke to call it 'live'] live instrumentation. it is so flat, so bland and doesnt move. it is like it is behind glass, and cant be expected to move the listener, either. (somehow, "reunited" had the opposite effect. hmmmmm)

i still think they've all got it in them. ghost might need to go on vacation in 2015, recharge his batteries. he sounded stretched thin on this (but was somehow still good). his new album sounds so good, and shows how the wu style can be done very effectively using a band.

i would even say rza still has it in him. unless "pioneer the frontier" is the best 'classical rza track' he has in his arsenal, then I'm wrong. when 8d came out, i wondered why he didnt use all the shit (except for the intro to one song... from afro samurai. he needs to stop playing to his weaknesses as a musician and as a producer and go back to playing toward his strengths, and doing very interesting things with samples; whether they come from instrumentation he's put together, or from older records, i dont care. now that this abt thing has fucked off out of his system, maybe he can read the writing on the wall and go back to doing what it is that people love (or loved) him for.

also, hopefully this will 'iron flag' a few dope releases from meth, rae and others, to prove something to their audience. people have been excited about new wu stuff for awhile in recent years. i really hope this album doesnt kill all that.

[The Hound]

I want to read this article about 8D throw a link up. I went back and listen to it the other day and enjoyed it a lot more than when it first dropped

[Sparrow Daene]

ok - i'll look around for it

by the way, nothing i said above applies to "mistaken identity". all the way down to the jackhammer in the background that somehow pops up toward the end of the song as the guy is singing. it played in the background in the intro for a reason, but it coming back in the song later is just one of those weird rza moves that you have to love him for.

i have to disagree with a few things that cilvarings said there. if we're both thinking of the same person, that's not who is singing the cringefest on "miracle"

[WuZapatista]

Abt > 8d

yep i agree.

[Sparrow Daene]

"More than The W or The Pretty Toney Album or No Said Date or the instrumental version of the Ghost Dog soundtrack, 8 Diagrams stands as the great lost Wu-Tang masterpiece. It’s dark and woozy and all-over-the-place. There’s no center, but there are so many magical moments"

http://www.stereogum.com/1722423/alb...m-of-the-week/

[Punch]

I agree, Sparrow,about the instrumentation. I feel like it has limited RZA's sound more than it's expanded it.
I'm going to start taking about he positives though. Felt is incredibly dope, that's the track I've played the most. Meth sounds great on it. Also Ron O'Neal is really dope too, I don't get why so many people are so down on it. It's a great
mix of that old Wu sound with the new RZA style.

[Sparrow Daene]

yeah, punch. definitely. felt, ddespite rza's dumb intro, is a real highlight. so is mistaken identity. necklace is dope, but they needed to spend more time on it, putting it together. having that sample interrupt between verses kinda kills the momentum (kind of like the other 4th disciple track on there errrmmm..... what's it's name??) crushed egos sounds like every other fuckin thing adrian young has ever done and it just zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. again, the revelations show how cool it can sound. they do it right. adrian young places unnecessary restrictions on his own shit out of pure fetishization of an era and its technology. just because you choose to lock yourself within a certain 6-year period doesnt mean you have to lock your songs into a less than 6-instrument producdtion and into the same 2-3 chords. damn! but whatever, raekwon sounds good over that track and breathes some life into it.


to me, ron oneal and ruckus are a little too similar. ron probably doesnt deserve the hate it gets, but it was the second fuckin nathaniel song in the row people were exposed to, and people were starting to get a little worried

[fortyglock]

I think most people on here agree that the main fault with Ron O Neal is the hook. The actual verses are cool and the beat is aite as well.

[Punch]

I agree about the vocal sample interrupting the flow of Necklace, especially since the "brother" sounds so good with the beat behind it before GZA's verse. Otherwise that song is near perfection, the twinkling piano that comes in every now and then really puts it over the top.
I like Crushed Egos, it would probably sound even better if it wasn't surrounded by similar sounding beats,same goes for Hold The Heater. Both Rae and RZA sound great on it. It also contains the best hook on the album imo.

I like Ron O'Neal better than Ruckus. Not that Ruckus is bad but it's really all over the place. I don't even mind Nataniel's hook on Ron O'Neal.

[TheWuSepticTank]

"More than The W or The Pretty Toney Album or No Said Date or the instrumental version of the Ghost Dog soundtrack, 8 Diagrams stands as the great lost Wu-Tang masterpiece. It’s dark and woozy and all-over-the-place. There’s no center, but there are so many magical moments"

http://www.stereogum.com/1722423/alb...m-of-the-week/

No, 8 Diagrams is not anywhere near a masterpiece. There's nothing exciting on that LP. It's a snooze fest. Sunlight is good, Wolves, Windmill, I liked Starter's beat (reused from Certified Samurai), other than that, ugghchk, just a boring album overall.

[TheWuSepticTank]

I think most people on here agree that the main fault with Ron O Neal is the hook. The actual verses are cool and the beat is aite as well.

Yeah I'm cool with the track until corny Nate comes on with his generic ass "gettin chedda no matter tha weatha" hook.

[Sparrow Daene]

No, 8 Diagrams is not anywhere near a masterpiece. There's nothing exciting on that LP. It's a snooze fest. Sunlight is good, Wolves, Windmill, I liked Starter's beat (reused from Certified Samurai), other than that, ugghchk, just a boring album overall.

okay, the vibe of the album overall is much more subdued. maybe that's not your swerve, but you can't deny the cohesion and that it never falters in maintaining a certain vibe that is true to the visionrza had for it. that sound may not be for you, but there are plenty of songs on forever that arent exactly exciting.

-

did anyone else notice mef rhyming like killer mike at the end of 40th st. black? he also makes a reference to URL and smack on (i think) mistaken identity. 'yoU aRe a L - what's good smack?' there's also a totally pointless reference to pusha t , just because"? meth seems to be actually aware of what's doing in hiphop at the moment. i ddont want to hear the rest of them if they dont care to be there and are only there just for some aniversary or whatever the fcuk lured them into the booth. when i first listened through this i was like 'this is just as good as their 2nd album!!' it isnt. on principle, there are things i will never like about the w, but that album has really really grown on me in recent years (i still want to hear all the songs scrapped from it to put fucking snoop on that shit - we've only heard one so far). iron flag, same shit. no good reason to have that beat produced by nick loftin. trackmasters?? naaahh. saying 'yall niggas aint 'bout it 'bout it'? 3 years after even master p was like 'who says that anymore'?? fuckouttahere. a song called chrome wheels? on a clan album??? the song itself?? kill yourself. anyway. what were we talking about?

[TheWuSepticTank]

okay, the vibe of the album overall is much more subdued. maybe that's not your swerve, but you can't deny the cohesion and that it never falters in maintaining a certain vibe that is true to the visionrza had for it. that sound may not be for you, but there are plenty of songs on forever that arent exactly exciting.

-

did anyone else notice mef rhyming like killer mike at the end of 40th st. black? he also makes a reference to URL and smack on (i think) mistaken identity. 'yoU aRe a L - what's good smack?' there's also a totally pointless reference to pusha t , just because"? meth seems to be actually aware of what's doing in hiphop at the moment. i ddont want to hear the rest of them if they dont care to be there and are only there just for some aniversary or whatever the fcuk lured them into the booth. when i first listened through this i was like 'this is just as good as their 2nd album!!' it isnt. on principle, there are things i will never like about the w, but that album has really really grown on me in recent years (i still want to hear all the songs scrapped from it to put fucking snoop on that shit - we've only heard one so far). iron flag, same shit. no good reason to have that beat produced by nick loftin. trackmasters?? naaahh. saying 'yall niggas aint 'bout it 'bout it'? 3 years after even master p was like 'who says that anymore'?? fuckouttahere. a song called chrome wheels? on a clan album??? the song itself?? kill yourself. anyway. what were we talking about?

Lol yeah I agree, wtf was RZA thinkin with a track called Chrome Wheels on a Wu album? Idk, and that's what I've been saying, Snoop should never be on a Wu album, his style doesn't go with theirs in anyway. If they were gonna cast a west coast emcee should've been someone who would compliment their styles and sound, like Ras Kass (who could easily be a west coast Wu member). The Snoop feature just seemed forced to have a bit more of a commercial appeal for the Double U.

But about 8 Diagrams. I have no problem with it being subdued, but to me the album started out lazy. Campfire wasn't a strong opener in my opinion. All previous Wu albums (also ABT) have had proper openers. Subdued tracks on Forever, are more towards the end of the album, after they given you a shit ton of bangers. Tracks like Bells of War and Duck Season were towards the end, and a lil more calmer in energy. And they were still great tracks, where the Clan continued to display lyrical excellence. Which is more suitable, but songs like Take it Back and Get Em Out Ya Way Pa, were zzzzzzzzzfest, and they're at the beginning. And the album doesn't get much more interesting after that, a bunch of forced random topic songs. Wolves was good overall, and had good energy. Windmill sounded classic Wu with all the familiar samples and guitar baseline. Unpredictable could've been sick, but Dexter Wiggles fucked it up for me, Stick Me For My Riches didnt sound like anything that Wu should ever do, ever. Sunlight was dope, it sounded almost like it could've been left off Forever, RZA's lyrics and delivery reminds me of his 97 style on there. Gun Will Go sounded like a generic gangsta anthem, not very Wu. When Wu does gangsta shit it's some dope mafioso shit, layered with intricate story telling, not simple shit like that. And the rest like I said before, zzzzzzzzzz. This LP just lacked good energy, and felt forced, because of their hiatus. I think ODB's passing took a big toll on all of their mental states at the time.

[Emperor Les]

This album is beer. You have to acquire a taste for it. You're most likely not going to like it the first time you hear it. Afterwards, you get used to it and it's okay. Imagine how much better the album would be without the singing though.

And I swear to God, Method Man keeps getting better year by year. That dude can fucking rap. To this day I don't think he has ever spat a whack verse.