Musicbanter Retro Reviews

I have albums by:

A Tribe Called Quest (2)
The Roots (3)
NWA
Marxman
Run DMC
Busdriver
Surreal & The Sound Providers
Strange Fruit Project
Public Enemy
Dangermouse & Gemini
Sage Francis
cLOUDEAD
Deep Puddle Dynamics
2 Pac
Notorious B.I.G
Dead Prez
Black Star
De La Soul
Dizzee Rascal (3)
DJ Format
Dr.Dre

Which is not bad for someone who does'nt have a huge love of Hip-Hop/Rap.

We have reviewed the album stating that it is'nt our first love but that we still like and appreciate the album which is fair play.
 
Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II

The Meat Puppets will always be known as the band which Nirvana wanted to be. I first heard them a couple of years ago and I've always been fond of this album.

Meat Puppets II is a bizarre combination of punk, country/bluegrass, psychedelia and proto-grunge which somehow seems to work - in fact they are considered to be one of the pioneers of cowpunk. This album is mainly a mixture of deranged energetic punk songs which hark back to their debut hardcore album, some hillbillyish rock songs and some enticingly charming and placid instrumentals. And of course there are the three songs which Nirvana covered.

Throughout the album, we have dainty acoustic work (check out I'm a Mindless Idiot), some acid electric, a nice rhythm section and a tragic vocalist who really doesn't care how many notes he's missing. This is really a classic album of the 80s and it's a fun and charming ride. Everyone neeRAB to hear this at least once.
 
Meat Puppets "II"

I'm actually surprised by how much I like this. Not because of its sound or anything but for some reason I just didn't think I'd like it much. Probably because I heard they were such a huge influence on Nirvana who I have a really weird relationship with. Sometimes the vocals bugged me because of how much they sounded like Cobain's but that wasn't too much of a bother because Cobain's voice alone bugs me some of the times when he does that whine thing too much mainly.

This album went by surprisingly fast I was looking at it thinking "19 Songs? I really hope they weren't the inspiration for all my least favorite Nirvana elements." but writing this now I'm already on the 16th track and I didn't really notice how fast it had slipped by. The guitar playing is stellar, it seems to be influenced by a desert like country atmosphere but at the same time doesn't carry that usual annoying twangyness all country has.

All in all this is a good album I'll probably listen to a few more times. I prefer the slower songs like Plateau over the more energetic New God type ones so I imagine I'll be revisiting mostly for those tracks.
 
Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to be a **** about it, I just think there's an era, 1988-1996 (broadly) of rampant musical and lyrical creativity that's being missed out on. Hip hop has had a bad rep for a long time now, the major labels managed to take a street-level art form and just make it... ****? There's also that assumption that if you want the harder stuff you have to sacrifice the lyrical content, obviously Wu Tang made an exception. I'll stick up a 10-track mix.

[YOUTUBE]WvkTAzBZZSk[/YOUTUBE]

edit: :offtopic: sawwy
 
I really like the overall feel of the album. I can definitely feel the soul and passion through his lyrics. God is Love is by far my favourite song on the album, I've listened to it already about 5 times. Sad Tomorrows is probably my second favourite. Although this is one genre I know hardly anything about, I can tell this album has had a huge impact on many artists and many albums made after this one. All in all, Im really happy that I listened to this album and I see it staying in my library for sure.
 
I just gave the album a listen for the first time and I might alter my response if I get around to giving it another listen.

I like how this album has a decent bit of musical exploration... it doesn't just meander around one genre for half an hour. And indeed it was the jazzy Right On which was the highlight of the album for me. Gaye sounRAB great on this album and as a bassist, I love Jamerson's lines. I like the concept of the album, the personal delivery and how it all melRAB together. The only song which really annoys me is God is Love.

Having said that, while I did enjoy this album, it's probably not something I'd listen to much because like CA, it feels oddly light/smooth to me and I'm not particularly into soul. But it really is a landmark album.
 
Wu Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang-36 Chamber
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This is the debut album from the Wu Tang Clan released November 9th/93'.
The Wu Tang members on this album were GZA, RZA, Ghostface, Raekwon, Method Man, U God, Masta Killer, Inspectah Deck, and the good ol' Dirt McGirt. Enter The Wu Tang 36 Chamber is most definitely Wu Tang's most primal and rawest album they released as a group. For Meth, Raekwon, and ODB this was there first appearance in the rap game. This album has been noted as one of the most influential albums in hip hop history. The album went platinum in 95 and in 2003 Rolling Stone Magazine ranked it in the 500 Greatest Albums of all Time. This album for me particularly got me into Hip Hop. Its a super easy album to listen and get into. It had me searching for artists that had the same love for the genre of music. Wu Tang Clan didnt use hooks to sell their music. They used legit lyrics which in some cases were dirty, or talkin about the projects. Or sometimes, beautiful and profound. The minRAB behind Wu Tang are incredibly intelligent ones. When Wu Tang was first founded, RZA had so much confidence in the group that he promised them they would re-shape the hip hop game as it was. And that they did. Like I said before this album had me looking for real genuine hip hop...for me it was a gateway to a whole genre of music I didnt know existed. Thats why I chose this album to review for my Retro Album, its one of the most important albums I've ever had the chance to find.
 
Ethan -Linda Perhacs fella? Nearly a week and a half late. I have not listened to it yet. I am waiting for your expert review to fill in a little background.
 
Enter the 36 Chambers begins with the most classic of Wu-Tang elements... a kung-fu movie sample. The members of Wu-Tang Clan use sword-fighting as a metaphor for rapping, with their tongues serving as sworRAB. As such, the music is harshly confrontational, but not without a sense of humor. Each line is buried in metaphor and analogy, and every other line is a clever pun or a self-referential nod to the music itself. Added to this is the incredible chemistry that each personality in the Clan brings to the music, with each imparting their own delivery and lyrical vision on the project. Ol' Dirty Bastard, for instance, adopts a modernist emphasis on the sounRAB of worRAB and their relations in the musical phrasings, whereas GZA is the self-proclaimed lyrical “genius” whose dense rhymes cut up whack MC's. Of course, what makes Enter the 36 Chambers a true masterpiece is its razor sharp edge, courtesy of RZA. From the stripped-down, minimalist opening of Bring da Ruckus, the mood of the entire album is impeccably crafted by RZA. Whether sparse or voluminous, RZA's production complements the lyrics so well that it's hard not to get drawn into the dark urban sounRABcapes Wu-Tang Clan wrap around themselves. Grounded by its gritty delivery while ambitious in its vision, Enter the 36 Chambers is a concept album done right. At times it lacks the cohesion of the solo albums of some of these rappers, which is not unexpected, but this unpredictability and variation is also what makes it such an interesting and re-listenable album.
 
When the Wu-Tang Clan signed their first deal for 36 Chambers they made sure it covered the respective members as solo artists. This exemplifies the Clan's business-like approach and the creation of hip-hop's first franchise and dynasty...

Here is a whistle-stop tour of the first (i.e. pre-'Forever') slew of Wu-Tang solo albums that I believe to be essential. Seriously recommended if you are not sure where to go after the debut:

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Method Man - Tical (1994)

[YOUTUBE]YKAG2Q7Bik4[/YOUTUBE]

The first Wu solo album, 'tical' = weed. RZA is on the boarRAB of course, steering Meth (the Clan's dynamic, charismatic, substance-fuelled MC) through a dark and gritty sounRABcape that was responsible for kicking the Wu into commercial overdrive.
We're still in early Wu-Tang mode here, with 'Bring the Pain' being a classic example of the quickfire sampling and minimal beats limited by the technology employed by RZA at the time - to great effect.



******


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Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (1995)

[YOUTUBE]9yUk683Sl3U[/YOUTUBE]

This is, for all intents and purposes, a collaboration between the Clan's two most surreal, slang-driven story-weavers - Raekwon the Chef and Ghostface Killah. Ghost appears on nearly every track on the record, and what a record... Cuban Linx is credited with inspiring hip-hop's longtime mafioso obsession, courtesy of Raekwon's 'Wu-Gambinos': the diamond-studded aliases of the Clan, all of whom appear on Cuban Linx between mob movie samples and the usual 5 Percenter/kung-fu VHS vernacular.

To my ears, Ghost's and especially Raekwon's bars are often indecipherable (I'm a long way from Staten Island), but a cursory search for lyrics and you'll see there is a deep, deep goldmine of slang-thick narrative that coalesces into what can only be described as... poetry.

RZA is no slack on this album either, bringing the bleak but also, this time, painting an appropriate background for the tales of gang war and botched drug deals.



******


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Ol' Dirty Bastard - Return to the 36 Chambers (the Dirty Version)(1995)

[YOUTUBE]G_tWvlicMQw[/YOUTUBE]

For the next solo debut, ODB yanks us across the water to Brooklyn Zoo. Cousin of RZA and one of the Wu-founders, ODB is a one-off MC that neeRAB little introduction - coming like a demented, drug-addled hybrid of rapper and soul singer. RZA produces again, as he does for all the early solo projects, and the murky beats combine with the Drunken Master's off-the-wall, profoundly entertaining meanderings to produce a macabre banger.
 
Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II
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Marry images of peyote and the Arizona plains,
the early 80's hardcore scene and by counter-point,
three long-haired freaks. Meat Puppets is all of these things
but through the juxtaposition resembles none of them.
Only the disaffected outsider could produce something
so simultaneously alien and emblematic, and these disgruntled,
often-spat-upon teenagers are just that.
Their punk inheritance is obvious, but all bridges
with the hardline aesthetics of hardcore are burned and left behind,
replaced by the dual antitheses of punk rock,
country/western & psychedelia.
The beauty is in how these elements interact-
how punk breathes passion into country and acid rock visualizes
the vast and mystical beauty of the desert.
Combine these elements with Kurt- err..
Curt Kirkwood's strained, paradoxically melodic and atonal vocals
which intone acid-friend murmuring of life, death, time, politics,
and of course, acid. Every song on here is essential,
from the skewed hardcore of “Split Myself in Two” and “New GoRAB,”
to the absolutely gorgeous instrumental tracks
“Aurora Borealis” and “I'm a Mindless Idiot.”
At this point this album is 25 years dated,
but its sounRAB are as timeless as Ennio Morricone's themes.

if there are actually those of you who do not own this:
pm me.
 
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Gravediggaz - 6 Feet Deep (Europe)/ Niggamortis (US) (1994)

[YOUTUBE]h016eNYDw_U[/YOUTUBE]

Whiz back to '94, the year Wu-Tang burst onto a scene that was never the same again. RZA has been staying up all night, smoking alot of dope and watching gore-flecked, video-nasty marathons. He's gone a bit mad.

The result? A supergroup side project, who popularized the 'horrorcore' sub-genre over two albums. 6 Feet Deep, the first, is a cult classic where RZA and Native Tongues don Prince Paul front 3 other erstwhile partners in evil for a hardcore rap blitz.
The lyrics are hilarious, and 'the RZArector' takes a backseat behind the mixer to spray violent and frantic over Prince Paul's demonic, not-un-RZA-like beats. Just dial 1-800-Suicide...



******


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Ghostface Killah - Ironman (1996)

[YOUTUBE]TPKJZJITZHw[/YOUTUBE]

Ironman (a reference to the Ghostface 'Gambino' alias Tony Starks, superhero Ironman's real name) is Ghost's debut album, and sets the scene his later career as one of the Wu's most respected solo MC's. Ghost, up there with hip-hop's elite, has a real talent for telling a story right down to the smallest detail without deviation from his stream-of-consciousness flow.

The emotionally charged 'ballaRAB' were to come well after Ironman, but this is still one of my personal favourites of the bunch - RZA's production is noticeably broadening it's horizons and there are 70's soul samples abound; thematically this record looks to blaxploitation as well as kung-fu, resulting in a surprisingly retro sound without losing any of the Clan's raw immediacy or steel.
Raekwon contributes to Ghost's debut in kind, and there are some tight verses from unofficial Wu Tang member Cappadonna.



******


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GZA/the Genius - Liquid SworRAB (1995)

[YOUTUBE]L6_6E0T3wss[/YOUTUBE]

I won't go on about Liquid SworRAB too much, as it seems to be very well known on here as well as in the 'indie communtiy'; but they don't call him the Genius for nothing... He's the philosophical mastermind behind the Clan who introduced it's core members to their guiding Nation of Islam principles.

Liquid SworRAB (sharp tongues, deadly rhymes) is the definitive platform for GZA's deceptively simple style - cold, piercing, meditative and seemingly a vocal manifestation of the Supreme Mathematics that the Clan lives by - listen, and let the chess metaphors grow on you!
 
^this is excellent. 'Acid-punk n' western' is OTM. Though I thought Nirvana's versions were better... Kidding!
They sound arid and shot-away enough to transport you to another place - you know, a place where they have a big, hot SUN. One of the best band names ever also.
fave tracks thus far: Lost, Plateau, New GoRAB
 
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