Search - Wu-Tang Clan :: Enter the Wu-Tang 36 Chambers (Vinyl Classics)

One of the Finest Rap Albums ever made...(No Question!!!)

fetish_2000 | U.K. | 01/19/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The band may have all released a bewildering array of solo albums, and possibly weakened the brand with offshoot merchandising, but the group hailing from Staten Island..N,Y dropped this debut, in 1993, that not only completely put East-Coast Rap firmly on the map, but this was a collective of 9 members, with a Shaolin / Martial Art fixation, that put such a ominous & thuggishly confident album together, it still to this day ranks as one of the finest Hardcore Rap albums ever made.



"Bring da Ruckus" is the sort of street-smart & confrontationally raw track that brought the clan to fame, minimal beats & complex wordplay are the order of the day, and set a running theme throughout the album, as virtually all the tracks on Enter the Wu-Tang is packed martial arts metaphors, pop culture references, that would take multiple listens to fully digest.



"Can it Be All so Simple"...leads with a marvellous northern soul sample before breaking into a fusion of strings and horns, and off-kilter menace, (RZA the production genius behind the album, blends a sublime fusion here). And yet the production is never allowed to overshadow the lyrics, with self-introspection rhymes such as: "Yeah, my pops was a fiend, since sixteen Shootin' that (that's that sh***!) in his blood stream", meant that this wasn't an album all about needless gun posturing.



"C.R.E.A.M"...pushes RZA production to the forefront with menacing minor-key piano, ominous string arrangements and subtle clipped beats underlayed over the whole thing, that remarkably became something of a 'Wu-Tang' trademark, but the tales of money related crime make for thrilling listening, and when this lyric is dropped: "But it was just a dream for the teen, who was a fiend Started smokin woolies at sixteen, And running up in gates, and doing hits for high stakes, Making my way on fire escapes!!"...this is as lyrically tight a rap Collective as there has ever been.



"Protect Ya Neck"..is arguably my personal favourite, and shows the group in a united stance, with the gorgeous muted Horns, schizophrenic surreal beats, sounding like a brooding soundtrack to a horror film. And its here, that I feel the interwoven rhymes between the members is at it's most impressive, with each member not only being cerebral storytellers, but lyrical technicians as well, each member having a very distinctive lyrical rhyme passage, on the mic, before handing over the Mic to the next member. And the track is rounded out perfectly with 'The Genius' (aka "GZA") stealing the show with this lyrical rites of Passage: "First of all, who's your A&R??...A mountain climber who plays an electric guitar??...But he don't know the meaning of dope, When he's lookin for a suit and tie rap, that's cleaner than a bar of soap, And I'm the dirtiest thing in sight...Matter of fact bring out the girls and let's have a mud fight!!!".



If you have even a passing interest in either (A) The Wu-Tang Clan, or (B) Hardcore/East Coast Rap, you owe it to yourself to (at the very least), give this album a whirl. Not only did it set the bar for the majority of rap albums that followed, but it is here, that the Clan not only provided their most impressive performances & (thanks to RZA), often imitated production. This is truly a landmark album, and one of the (very few) rap albums that ever makes those "Best albums ever" list, when people lists their favourite ever albums....truly astonishing."

Wu tang Clan: Rap napalm

cacophonous_A | london | 05/14/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Where there is monotony and 2-D artists there will be the 4-D ingeniuty that break way from false contract images and dead end lyrics. This is the highest most praised and the utmost ultimate example of this. At the time of the early 90's rap had got too happy. With gold chains and laceless adidas sneakers putting smmiles on the world's faces, the rap artists had forgotten their roots where there was discrimination, random assaults and always the s£%! end of the stick in life. Where rap was the only exhalation in the suffocating enviroment of urban life. It seemed that the west coast picked up on this before the east, Ice Cube, Dre,2pac, Snoop, warren g and death row were dominating the rap scene with all the ferocity,originality and gangsta assertiveness that the rap audience hungered for. The east coast were dying although the quiet few were steadily rising e.g. nas, black moon they did nt reach the worldwide platinum sales the west coast had achieved, yet.....'93: Rza, Gza, ODB, Meth, Rebel INS, U-God, Raekwon the Chef, Masta Killa and Ghostface Killah spelled earth shattering rap for the nation. THE group that would balance the scale of the West-East rap game. THE music that would bring forth legions of cult rap fans spewing forth highly intelligent hords of lyrics to backslap the commercial scene to h--l.
How did they do it. I would have to say they are truly genius artists. To further define this there system of kung-fu cuts, grimy stringz and piano keys and pulsating basslines would lay the foundations of how the new rap music was to be created. Unformulaic and different, when I first listened to it I was like "What the F%$£ is this?" After the 2nd listen the music consumed me, I fell into the wing chun nun chuck swingning beats and indulged in something highly original. It's just the way the whole thing is composed, it sounds as if it was created in someones bedroom under the influence of genetically enhanced drugs and a truckload of malt liquor. But it all links, the distorted backing tracks contrast with the terrifying battle raps, the martial arts cuts sluice the liquified quiet piano riffs and morphed strings e.g. Bring Da Ruckus, Wu tang clan aint nuthin to f wit. This all drags the listener further into the teachings of the 36 chambers beacuse everyone wanted something different and the WU were delivering it in truck loads. I aint got nuttin else to say except every artists were at they top game on this album, they were all starving so they had to put their heart and soul into this. It shows so much check C.R.E.A.M. where Rae and Deck bare their souls on life. And Protect Ya neck, without a doubt the best song on the album, HIgh voltage ryhmes and pure KUNGFUISM. This is the first album of Wu u should buy, believe me. DISGUSTING.Rap never knew what hit it when the hooded swordsmen hit the streets with ENTER THE WU TANG: 36 CHAMBERS. If you need refreshment from bling bling, mercedes benz and gun toting strip club lovin' retards then
pick this megaton up real quick and filter out your grimed out earz with a new type of grime....Fave songz: 4th Chamber, Protect ya neck, C.R.E.A.M., and Tearz.I finish as usual with some words from the artists. The wise high exhalted Raekwon ".... The wu the WU got suttin that I know everyone wanta hear coz i know i bin waitin to hear, but straight up and now till we gotta go we gonna keep goin...."Keep the Wu-Tang Dynasty alive my people and keep HIP HOP."