Wu-Tang Clan, Enter The Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers (1993)

We have everything from Method Man sitcoms and movies, to Wu-Tang Clan PS1 games, to RZA scoring Kill Bill and Blade Trinty, to manuals on the Wu, to shoes and ODB sour cream and onion chips, and my infamous Wu-Tang Name Generator ("Get a Wu-Name")

But a look at the monumental release that started this madness is needed. Enter the Wu-Tang.

From the first time the beat fades out and we hear the words "Ghostface, catch the blast of a hype verse!" and we get a slamming snare and finger snaps on "Bring Da Ruckus", you know its gonna be special.

And this is before we get to the whole 'nother universe that ODB is on his first appearence (at one point he rhymes "diarrhea" with "ghonorrea"), and before we hear Method Man bragging for the first time on "Shame On a N*gga".

The buzzing sounds and low basslines and the later atmospheric piano and hard break on "Clan In Da Front" continue RZA's incredibly innovative Wu sound that has basically shaped a whole 10+ years of music.

On "Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber", we hear verses from just about Wu member, including the particularly memorable "I be that insane n*gga from the psycho ward / I'm on the trigga, plus I got the Wu-Tang sword!" verse from the Meth himself.

"Can It All Be So Simple?" features a fairly minimalistic beat, keeping the particularly grimy, lo-fi sound he has established. On "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'" the vocal effects give it a particular thump accentueted by oriental keys, and we get another crazy amount of verses (even U-God and the Masta Killa rhyme on this) - including another crazy, sometimes unitelligable ODB verse ("at the party when I move my body / gotta get up and be-eeeeee somebodyyyy! / Grab the microphone, put strenght to the bone /TAN TAN TAN - enter the Wu-Tang zone!"

The anthemic "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing Ta Fuck Wit" we get a gully and completely chantable chorus over a hardcore beat. "If ya wanna brawl, then bring da ruckus / Wu-Tang Clan aint nuttin ta fuck wit."

Following up is the certifiable classic "C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)" with verses from Inspecah Deck and Raekwon the Chef and Meth on the chorus. The beat has a slow piano and certain vocal effects and strings. The song is a lament on what we do for money - funny that when you make a song about money, you can end up with great shit like this or Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid In Full" or, the tragedy known to us as motherfucking "Bling Bling".

Follwoing that we get to the slamming drums and funky piano of the self-titled anthem "M-E-T-H-O-D Man".

Next, we get to another classic, "Protect Ya Neck" where we get verses from another large group of people, including a memorable Deck verse and a nice closing verse from GZA. The rough yet funky "Tearz" follows up before the closing "Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber - Part II", which differentiates with Part I in the beat and almost nothing else (I prefer Part I).

Overall, the hype is right - this album is one of the best ever. The RZA beats all slam hard and every member has a unique style and personality that make every song enjoyable

Rating: 10 Mr. T chains
Buy or Copy: Buy it!