Created by Skater

[ Type     ] Archive Music Mp3
[ Artist   ] Wu-Tang_Clan
[ Album    ] The W
[ Ripper   ] Skater
[ Group    ] Black.Flow.Team
[ Source   ] Compact Disc
[ BitRate  ] 128kbps
[ Freq     ] 44.1kHz
[ Label    ] Wu-Tang-Records
[ Date Rip ] 13/04/03
[ Date rls ] 14/04/03

-= TRACK LIST =-

1  Intro (Shaolin Finger Jab)/Chamber Music (4:26)
2  Careful (Click, Click) (4:56)
3  Hollow Bones (4:56)
4  Redbull (3:53)
5  One Blood Under W (4:11)
6  Conditioner (5:32)
7  Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off) (3:58)
8  Let My Niggas Live (4:29)
9  I Can't Go to Sleep (3:35)
10  Do You Really (Thang, Thang) (5:22)
11  Monument (2:38)
12  Gravel Pit (4:51)
13  Jah World (7:36)

Album Review  top

After a host of disappointing solo albums and quickly diminishing celebrity (most of the latter devoted to the continuing extra-legal saga of Ol' Dirty Bastard), Wu-Tang Clan returned, very quietly, with 2000's The W. The lack of hype was fitting, for this is a very spartan work, especially compared to its predecessor, the sprawling and overblown Wu-Tang Forever. While the trademark sound is still much in force, group mastermind RZA jettisoned the elaborate beat symphonies and carefully placed strings of Forever in favor of tight productions with little more than scarred soul samples and tight, tough beats. The back-to-basics approach works well, not only because it rightly puts the focus back on the best cadre of rappers in the world of hip-hop, but also because RZA's immense trackmaster talents can't help but shine through anyway. Paranoid kung fu samples and bizarre found sounds drive the fantastic streets-is-watching nightmare "Careful (Click, Click)."

Unfortunately, though, The W isn't quite the masterpiece it sounds like after the first few tracks. It falls prey to the same inconsistency as Forever, resulting in half-formed tracks like "Conditioner," with Snoop Dogg barely saving Ol' Dirty Bastard's lone appearance on the LP, a phoned-in vocal (in terms of sound and quality). When they're hitting on all cylinders though, Wu-Tang Clan are nearly invincible; "Let My Niggas Live," a feature with Nas, isn't just claustrophobic and dense but positively strangling, and singles material like "Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off)" and "Do You Really (Thang, Thang)" are punishing tracks. Paring down Wu-Tang Forever -- nearly a two-hour set -- to the 60-minute work found here was a good start, but the Wu could probably create another masterpiece worthy of their debut if they spent even more time in the editing room. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide

Album Credits  top

RZA  Vocals, Producer, Mixing
Ol' Dirty Bastard  Vocals
Method Man  Vocals
Wu-Tang Clan  Main Performer
Raekwon  Vocals
Ghostface Killah  Vocals
David Bett  Package Design
Michael Lavine  Photography
Dennis Coles  Executive Producer
Robert Diggs  Executive Producer
Oli Grant  Executive Producer
Cappadonna  Vocals
James Cruz  Mastering
Monica Morrow  Stylist
Liz Hausle  Product Manager
Dylan "3-D" Dresdow  Track Engineer, Mixing Engineer
Jose "Choco" Reynoso  Engineer, Mixing
Genius  Vocals
Junior Reid  Performer
Snoop Dogg  Performer
Busta Rhymes  Performer
Isaac Hayes  Performer