Big business, in the the past few years, has taken to corporate mergers and then using their pooled resources in order to trump their competition. Taking a page out of Forbes, The Wu-Tang Clan seems to have discovered the secret to success: they've found a unique style that works, and they've farmed the hell out of it. After a wildly successful debut album (_Enter the Wu-Tang; Return to the 36 Chambers), the 9-member super group took a time-out and went out and did their best to take over the world. Besides starting everything from their own clothing line (Wu-Wear) to their own bevy of 1-900 numbers, they also managed to release five solo albums, which were all produced by the leader of the Wu-Tang, the RZA (pronounced Riz-uh).
The Clan is officially comprised of 9 equal members, but it's easy to see two levels emerging within the Wu. RZA stands supreme over all, because without his production and business abilities, the Wu would be just another rap group. The primary group of rappers are coincidentally the same group who have all released solo albums: Method Man, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Genius, Ghostface Killah, and Raekwon. Each MC has his own distinct style and an instantly recognizable voice. The remaining members (U-God, Inspectah Deck, and Masta Killah) are kind of like the substitutes on any championship team - they may be second string on the team they are currently on, but on any other team they'd be the go-to guys.
Wu-Tang Forever, the Clan's sophomore double-CD sold more than 600,000 copies in its first week of release. Clocking in at just under a mind-numbing 2 hours, the Wu-Tang uses their first group effort in three years to make a statement: they're back.
The first disc starts with the Wu-Tang mission statement, "Wu-Revolution", that lays down the Wu-Tang ideology: a hodge-podge of 5% Nation credos, professional wrestling references, and Numerology superstitions. The following track, "Reunited", sets a great standard for the rest of the album, as RZA builds a platform using only drums and a whining violin. The violin starts building on itself, as it eventually becomes a full violin section, sawing away.
Particularly mind-bending is RZA's production on the song "For Heaven's Sake". Built around a simple bass and high-hat drumbeat, RZA takes a piano line and loops it on the verses, and then speeds it up and flips it into reverse for the choruses, all without altering the tempo of the backbeat, providing a fabulously flexible background.
Also standing out on the first disc is the song "A Better Tomorrow", notable for not only its smooth jazzy sound, but also for the Wu-Tang's espousing of a positive message, as the Clan discourages the gang-banging and blunt smoking behavior that is glorified in most rap music.
The second disc is a little more experimental. Given that, its few shortcomings are understandable. The lead track on the second CD is RZA's "Intro", a spoken word gauntlet where RZA disses all the other MC's who have tried to dip into the Wu-Tang well of tricks. "Intro" is followed by the first single off the album, "Triumph". "Triumph" gives every member of the Clan a chance on the mike, with ODB acting as the ring master directing traffic. The song "Impossible" is also ingenious through its simplicity. The bass line never changes throughout the song, but the overlaying piano chords carry the melody.
Towards the end of the second disc, the material starts to get a l ittle old. On its own, the last few songs have phat tracks behind them, but the lyrics are not very inspired. 2 hours of straight Wu-Tang is a *lot* of Wu.
If the Wu-Tang clan is really as strong and unified as they claim to be, I hope they realize that it is the skills of the RZA behind the production boards that makes them special. The fact that RZA produced the solo albums of every member of the Clan shows how trusted he is, and well he should be. His work on tracks such as the aforementioned "For Heaven's Sake", and his instrumentation on songs like "Black Shampoo", where he combines a piano, a drumbeat, and a harmonica to form a thick backbeat for the love song, are better than any of the recycled crap Puffy Combs keeps trying to pass off on us.
The voices of Method Man and Raekwon both have a strident urgency that form a nice counterpoint against the aptly named lyrical flow from Genius and the urban legends of Ghostface Killah. Ol' Dirty doesn't get too many chances to expand past his usual court jester persona. The other three Wu-Tangers never rap with much regularity. Guest rapper CappaDonna returns on 5 tracks, and there are also appearances from Street Life and Tekitha.
Included on the double CD is an enhanced multimedia section that is playable on Mac or Windows. I ran it on a Power Mac with 32 megs of RAM, and it was still pretty slow and generally unresponsive. It's too bad, because it's a great looking program. You get to go inside the Wu-Mansion and look around. There is a room for each member of the clan (ODB has a padded cell, Method Man has a leather and cigar filled library, etc.), and after visiting all the rooms, you are allowed access into RZA's chamber. I got bored waiting around and didn't make it all the way through, but it looked visually interesting.
As an overall entity, the Wu-Tang Clan has built up such a strong fan base that no matter what they put out there, it will sell. Wu-Tang Forever shows why they have such die-hard fans, and it also shows us the genius that is Wu-Tang. Wu-Tang Forever? I hope so.
