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

[eRUTHLESS666]

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.

[ShaolinDarts]

The W was constantly shit on what are you talking about

What the fuck are you on about? At the time the W had two major hit singles and was very well received.

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.

[eRUTHLESS666]

The Aladdin section might be the worst part of any song this year. Are you fucking kidding me?

[The blackma]

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.

[The Hound]

What the fuck are you on about? At the time the W had two major hit singles and was very well received.

Lmao gravel pit is one of the most hated songs by Wu fans the fuck you doing using that prove a point

[Rev Jones]

Where are Blue, Tek, Allah Real ? Where are they ? Nathaniel sucks !

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.

[TheWuSepticTank]

SvW was classic Wu sound lmao I love this website

I don't know if Rae ever said he wants to bring the Wu sound back I'm just going by somebody in this thread that said that and besides the OB4CL classic that RZA made for him Rae if anything has gone the opposite to the Wu sound

You can't claim "Wu sound" for a clan album if you're releasing gay R&B songs and working on a "grown man" commercial album smh



How some of them could release a classic album each with RZA and then basically kick him out on future releases and go in their own direction is beyond me. None of them released an LP without RZA input that is comparable to their RZA produced classics, even SC at least had about half the album produced by RZA

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.

[Rev Jones]

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.

[RUSHING PLATYPUS]

[TheWuSepticTank]

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.

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.

[TheWuSepticTank]

What the fuck are you on about? At the time the W had two major hit singles and was very well received.

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.

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.

[Rev Jones]

IBut 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.

I gotta agree 100% with that statement.

[TheWuSepticTank]

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.

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.

[Rev Jones]

Best use of green screen in years.

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.

[Dissonance]

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