Liquid Swords

View Author

Tue Aug 23 2022

5

The last concert that I saw before the pandemic was Gza doing Liquid Swords. He was performing at a venue that is endearing, but far too shitty to host a hip-hop legend. Regardless of the circumstances, when Gza showed up, he brought the fucking energy. This album is interesting. It's not my favorite of the Wu-Tang solo albums (Only 4 Cuban Linx has that honor), but it's an incredible work. Lyrically deep, with Rza's characteristic sampling style that never seems like it should work, and yet always sounds amazing. The cinematic approach to making albums worked so well for Wu-Tang, and this album may be the pinnacle of that 5/5

👍

View Author

Wed Aug 17 2022

4

So good I listened to it twice in a row. Easily my favorite Wu-Tang related project. GZA sounds so smooth in his flow, everything is kind of lo-fi and straight to the point and I think that's what I like about it. Nothing but great rap songs.

👍

View Author

Wed Aug 31 2022

4

When it comes to the Wu-Tang Clan, GZA is the cool and calm master assassin. He rarely leaves the shadows, but when he does you can be sure that he's going to murder the mic, and won't break a sweat while he does it. They don't call him the Genius for nothing. This album features RZA, GZA's cousin, in full control of the production (as well as lending his distinctive lyrical stylings on "4th Chamber"). RZA defined the Wu-Tang style: layered (often eerie) samples, and dialogue from kung fu films. Unfortunately, RZA's one flaw is putting long bits of dialogue at the beginning and/or end of tracks, rather than featuring them as between-track skits. Yes, they're an essential part of his work, but most of the time you just want to listen to the tracks, not wait through 1:19 of dialogue (as is necessary with the title track, "Liquid Swords"). Despite the lengthy dialogue, "Liquid Swords" is one of the strongest tracks on the album. Other highlights include "Gold," "Labels," and my personal favorite, "4th Chamber." (What can I say? I'm a sucker for Ghostface, and RZA's medieval beat is the perfect match for Ghostface's "Why is the sky blue? Why is water wet? Why did Judas rat to Romans while Jesus slept?") An easy 4 stars, bordering on 4.5

👍

View Author

Wed Aug 24 2022

3

Wonky, woozy, atmospheric, The beats are all out of time and tune, symphonic in scale, that gives this a cinematic feel. I haven't delved much into the whole Wu-Tang genre, but I find this enjoyable. Less violent and misogynistic than much contemporaneous gangsta rap, although still somewhat preoccupied with violence. I find the lo-fi, wonky production charming (and a precursor to the rhythmic innovations of J. Dilla). I have listened to this through a few times, and enjoy the flow and the weirdly funky backing tracks. Skits on rap albums are a pet peeve of mine. The use of scratchy (and lengthy) samples from old martial arts films is a slightly better version of a skit, but still a bit annoying.

👍

View Author

Fri Jan 06 2023

5

Oh snap, solid gold five stars here, GZA one of the greatest to ever do. Everything on this album pops - RZA's grimy Kung Fu sampling production, guest stars bring their A-Game and then there is GZA's delivery: witty, elegant, incredible flow, whip smart, near unsurpassed word play. 'Labels' a brilliant idea, perfectly executed, 'Liquid Swords' an infectious, catchy album opener built around an unlikely sample ('Groovin' by Willie Mitchell) and 'BIBLE' a smart and informative closer.

👍

View Author

Wed Mar 15 2023

5

another easy five star album

👍

View Author

Wed Mar 15 2023

5

Dense production and deep lyrics. Requires repeated listens, each one better than the last. A true classic.

👍

View Author

Tue Apr 11 2023

5

Absolute banger of a hip-hop album

👍

View Author

Wed Apr 12 2023

5

One of the all time greats. I think this thing basically earns 4/5 stars just for its intro. The flow on this thing is out of control, and I feel like (being whatever the opposite of an expert on rap is) it really ushered in a new era for the genre. A favorite for many years.

👍

View Author

Mon Apr 24 2023

5

Geweldig album voor op de vrijdag. Ik hou van de mixing, de skits en de laidback manier van rappen van GZA. Soms klinkt het alsof die met een dikke sigaar op een oude bruinleren stoel z'n lines geeft. Na dit album gelijk ook weer wat andere wu tang albums geluisterd, kreeg er helemaal zin in. Klassieker en een van de beste solo albums van de groep.

👍

View Author

Mon Oct 24 2022

4

Never heard of GZA/Genius before this exercise. What I heard was some excellent flows and literate rhyming schemes. I didn't think I would enjoy all the samples taken from the kung fu movie Shogun Assassin that were laced throughout this album, but they flowed into the other music seamlessly. RZA did a great job mixing it. There is some really cool music in this album, some excellent collaboration with the other members of the Wu Tang Clan, and some stellar 90s hip hop. Favourite songs: 4th Chamber, Shadowboxin', Gold, Liquid Swords, Swordsman, Cold World Least favourite songs: Hell's Wind Staff/Killah Hills 10304 (good song, just didn't care for the long preamble before the song started) 4/5

👍

View Author

Tue Nov 15 2022

4

A very well done solo album by Wu-Tang member GZA. With the simple and stripped 90s beats GZA throws down some very lyrical raps. He does a good job in creating an atmosphere of the shaolin mixed with NY street life. GZA is a bit one dimensional which brings this album down a little but it helps he has several wu tang features and some good samples throughout. This is a strong album always worth a visit if seeking a good lyrical album. 7.7/10

👍

View Author

Sat Mar 25 2023

4

Definite method man tide rising the ship that is this album, but GZA is great at meshing some crazy samples together to make an exceptional rap album. I am not a huge Wu Tang follower but I absolutely enjoyed some tracks on this record and will revisit it at a later date. I can comprehend the gravity of wu tang and the effect the group had on rap music. Powerful and lyrical.

👍

View Author

Sat Apr 01 2023

4

Not gonna lie, after Dr Octagynaecologist I wasn't that excited by the prospect of a rap concept album starting with a minute long film sample... but this was actually really good. The flow is great, the storytelling is great, despite being of a similar era to a lot of the albums we've had the language isn't jarring or overly misogynistic. Probably goes a bit OTT with the length of the samples, and falls away a bit towards the end, but still gets a 4 from me.

👍

View Author

Sat Apr 01 2023

4

Really accomplished and has a great sound now, 4th Chamber and Swordsman stand out. Also makes me realise again that I think I prefer the East Coast sound over the West.

👍

View Author

Tue Apr 04 2023

4

Awesome. Favourite tracks: 'Liquid Swords', '4th Chamber', 'Shadowboxin''. 4/5

👍

View Author

Tue Apr 11 2023

4

If there anything that the Wu-Tang Clan were better at than music, it would have to be business. They recognized that individual success for each member would lead to increased success for the group as a whole. As such, members were free to pursue their own solo albums in between group albums. Easily one of the best of the solo albums is Liquid Swords. Hard-hitting, memorable production with peak 90's hardcore MC delivery. What this album excels in is subtly: GZA floats along RZA's beats in ways that compliment one another. Basically it's excellent.

👍

View Author

Tue Apr 11 2023

4

There's a lot of bangers in this genre and this is one of those albums that work

👍

View Author

Mon Apr 17 2023

4

Legendary. Amazing.

👍

View Author

Tue Apr 18 2023

4

Fire

👍

View Author

Thu Apr 20 2023

4

Does he have a cold? One likes the lower-key rapping style, the seeming subtlety and understatedness. The tighter, at times, minimalistic beats. There’s a drama and an eeriness, that befits a kung fu-esque, martial arts-themed record. Quieter, less boastful, with a lo-fi quasi-documentary feel at times and weird and woozy flourishes that are effective and engaging. One finds oneself a bit surprised at the burgeoning affinity for a broadening range of hip-hop.

👍

View Author

Wed Sep 14 2022

3

This album goes hard. Love the samples from Shogun Assassin!

👍

View Author

Thu Oct 20 2022

3

Apparently, only one other person who has written a review of this album on this site knows the source of the film samples that provide the album's vertebra. Yes, I know all of us can look it up on Wikipedia, or indeed just click the Wikipedia sample this site offers. But only one other person bothered to mention the actual bloody film, with a few suggesting "martial arts" (I just about agree, but not remotely the point of the original film) and occasionally "kung fu" (completely wrong: wrong country, wrong tradition, wrong plot, wrong aesthetic, wrong clothes, just utter wrongness from heel to brow). I am not a martial arts buff at all; martial arts movies leave me completely cold (it took me a decade to appreciate the now-obvious grandeur of Enter The Dragon, and no other martial arts movie has ever kept me till the end), I have no desire to learn martial arts (4 injuries a year, the average martial artist suffers), and the idea that martial arts teaches any form of profundity strikes me as just so much bullshit (will learning to kick well somehow teach you Gödel's incompleteness theorems?). But I love ultraviolent 70s Japanese samurai cinema. I love Zatoichi, I love Lady Snowblood, and above all I love Lone Wolf and Cub. Lone Wolf and Cub started as a long-running manga (I've never read it, as I have no interest in comic books of any form except for Viz, which I adore to my bones), which became a series of six films involving the Shogun's executioner Ogami Itto, whose prowess with the sword has proven the ultimate lock on power for the corrupt feudal system at play: nobody can challenge a system which has the deadliest man alive in its control. But his expertise stems not just from his finesse, but his cunning: Ogami has no qualm in tricking his fellow duellist to a beheading by shining a mirror in his eyes. A coup tries to cast Ogami as a traitor to the Shogun, thus seizing his position as executioner. Ogami's wife is murdered, and Ogami declares that he shall become a demon and wandering ronin until he has achieved his vengeance, and he racks up the body count befitting a demon. His son Daigogo is an infant at the time, and after delivering the test the album quotes, he takes his son along their chosen purgatorial path in a weapon-loaded baby cart (the films are also known as the Baby Cart series, and the kid amasses his share of corpses). Yes, the films have a touch of exploitation cinema in their indulgence of gore (people here have garden hoses instead of arteries). I can't deny my love of the Grand Guignol. But their real soulmate, like much samurai cinema, is the western. Kurosawa avowedly cribbed from Ford, and in turn Peckinpah avowedly cribbed from Kurosawa. Ogami Itto's tale has some resemblance to that of the platonic western, Shane (by the by, my absolute favourite film of all time): a wandering figure with skills and troubles and questionable morals, upon whom a kid becomes dependent. The Baby Cart films are smart and slyly political, and the ultraviolence, sometimes gleeful, sometimes despondent, sometimes stoic, is always a glorious spectacle. You know how Robocop is a genuine masterpiece? The Lone Wolf and Cub films are similarly sanguine classics. Shogun Assassin is a mutant of the original films. An American dubbed splicing of the first two Baby Cart films, with an added English voiceover from Daigoro, Shogun Assassin became a cult film in the west (and a video nasty in the UK), with Daigoro's voiceover occasionally seen as providing a greater depth to the source material. Kill Bill is practically a remake of Shogun Assassin, and indeed the Bride at one point watches Shogun Assassin with her four-year-old daughter. Personally, I don't wish to watch Shogun Assassin again. Who wants to watch a dubbed film? Also, I fell in love with the originals. Shogun Assassin has nothing to offer me. Anyway, those are the film quotes on Liquid Swords. I have been talking about Baby Cart for so long because there is almost nothing to say about this album, which is the tragedy. Having listened to a few Wu-Tang albums, I have with sadness to conclude that they all sound the same. The producer and mastermind RZA has exactly one style: the same musical austerity, the same lyrical prominence, the same and frankly tiresome east Asian film samples. It's a good sound, and I guess I enjoyed the album. But I can't recall a choice lyric from this. I can't recall any lyric from this. The Wu-Tang sound still hits the spine, but have all their albums just been variations on themes by George Clinton and the Shaw Brothers? I was expecting, hoping to laud this, but it's mainly generosity that's justifying these three stars. With Lone Wolf and Cub, stick with the originals. With the Wu, you can also just stick with the original 36 Chambers. Oh, and really don't bother with the bonus track B.I.B.L.E (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth). Insane Clown Posse's Miracles claiming more street cred.

👍

View Author

Wed Aug 17 2022

5

Very happy to have discovered this album via the 1001 challenge. The hip-hop sound of the mid-90s was fantastic and this record is an amazing representation of it. I can't wait to listen to it again and give a better attention to the lyrics and subtleties.

👍

View Author

Fri Aug 19 2022

5

Has that strong, edgy, East coast rap flow to it. Makes for a good background listen that still gets your head bobbing a little

👍

View Author

Wed Aug 24 2022

5

Tres lourd. J'ecoute absolument jamais de rap mais j'ai eu une tres bonne surprise avec cet album. J'ai adore les intros parlees au debut des chansons

👍

View Author

Fri Aug 26 2022

5

Goat

👍

View Author

Tue Sep 13 2022

5

Mračan, hladan, vožen pričom, atmosferičan album, odlični beatovi, odlični tekstovi (osim B.I.B.L.E. - nažalost, ali beat je savršen), odlična koncepcija i album koji je već godinama u rotaciji kada se ušeta hladnije vrijeme. Bio mrkli mrak, hladan ili općenito hladnije vrijeme - ovaj album je stvoren za to. U top 3 najbolja solo albuma outside of Wu-Tang. RZA je pokazao da je jeben producent i mislim da mu je ovo jedan od najboljih produciranih albuma. Definitivno bih htio ovo na vinylu, ali teško - meni se čini, ali doć ću ja po to, nabavit ću - ne brine me to! Slobodno poslušajte, možda ne bude pasalo, ali ako volite Wu-Tang i njihov stil repa i priče u early wu-tang danima, ovo je album za vas. Ne znam jel znate, zapravo kak bi znali, ali Method Man mi je uvijek bio najjači lik u Wu-Tangu - i zato sam htio da on napravi svoj solo album ovako kvalitetno ko GZA, međutim nije, iako mu nije uopće loš album, odličan isto, samo ne toliko sa strane kritike, a i te neke kontinuiranosti. Naravno, ima još on dobrih albuma (IMO) - Legend of the Liquid Swords, Beneath the Surface i Grandmasters, ali nije ni blizu nivou na kojem je Liquid Swords.

👍

View Author

Mon Sep 26 2022

5

This is one of the best rap albums i’ve ever listened to. The production from RZA and 4th disciple is on point, along with GZA and the rest of the clans lyrics. 10/10

👍

View Author

Mon Oct 10 2022

5

amazing

👍

View Author

Mon Oct 10 2022

5

indisputable. Horny god

👍

View Author

Mon Oct 24 2022

5

fresh tastes of a future in hiphop. really early hints of melodic rap

👍

View Author

Thu Oct 27 2022

5

cool

👍

View Author

Sat Nov 26 2022

5

Czarny piatek, to i czarny album wylosowalo, dodatkowo jeden z moich ulubionych rapowych krazkow, najlepszy solowy material wutangowej rodziny, plyta z chyba najbardziej zapadajacym w pamiec skitem otwierajacym w historii czarnej muzyki, zsamplowany z szogunowego zabojcy, no i dodatkowo album ktory musi byc osluchany na kazde swieta, gdy za oknem jest zimno, czyli liquid swords od pana GZA z roku 95, im bardziej osluchany material tym mniej sensu jest sie rozpisywac nad nim, bo zdanie jest juz wyrobione i utrwalone, a liquid swords to chyba jeden z moich najbardziej osluchanych materialow, bo na samym last fmie z ponad 50 przesluchan sie nabilo, wiec boje sie pomylec ile bylo jutubowych, czy niezeskroblowanych, jedyne co chce dodac, to fakt jak mocno zarysowany jest tutaj wystep pana killah priesta, bo chyba wlasnie dzieki temu nagraniu stal sie jednym z najpowazniejsyzch wutangowych okoloczlonkow

👍

View Author

Tue Dec 06 2022

5

Kickass kung-fu masterpiece

👍

View Author

Thu Dec 08 2022

5

Straight up 🙏🏾

👍

View Author

Tue Dec 13 2022

5

It sounds Wu Tan but not a Wu Tan album. This is great. Hip hop from higher levels

👍

View Author

Fri Dec 16 2022

5

Wu Tang still one of the best.

👍

View Author

Wed Dec 28 2022

5

10/10 one of my favorite rap albums the production is so goshdarn cool

👍

View Author

Thu Dec 29 2022

5

All of the Wu-Tang releases around the 36 Chambers era are just straight fire but this one might be my favorite solo release from that period. All killer no filler. Great beats, fantastic samples and biting lyricism.

👍

View Author

Sat Dec 31 2022

5

When I was little my father was famous He was the greatest samurai in the empire And he was the Shogun's decapitator He cut off the heads of a hundred and thirty-one lords It was a bad time for the empire The Shogun just stayed inside his castle and he never came out People said his brain was infected by devils My father would come home, he would forget about the killings He wasn't scared of the Shogun, but the shogun was scared of him Maybe that was the problem Then, one night The, the Shogun sent his ninja spies to our house They were supposed to kill my father but they didn't That was the night everything changed This album is crazy good. 5/5

👍

View Author

Thu Jan 05 2023

5

I loved almost every song on this album.

👍

View Author

Fri Jan 06 2023

5

LP

👍

View Author

Mon Jan 09 2023

5

THE BEST WU TANG SOLO ALBUM

👍

View Author

Tue Jan 10 2023

5

This one just gets better on every listen. Mostly just because that production is LUSH. Mmm. I love this one. It has flaws, but not very impactful ones.

👍

View Author

Tue Jan 17 2023

5

One of my favorite albums of all time.

👍

View Author

Fri Jan 20 2023

5

Love anything that sounds from NYC

👍

View Author

Tue Jan 24 2023

5

When cut across the neck, a sound like wailing winter winds is heard, they say. I'd always hoped to cut someone like that someday, to hear that sound. But to have it happen to my own neck is ridiculous.

👍

View Author

Tue Jan 31 2023

5

Such and incredible album, every track just stays with me. Amazing production from RZA, outstanding rapping from GZA and the rest of the Wu Tang Clan. To think I originally listened to this the first time because of a really stupid meme involving Joe Biden (https://amp.knowyourmeme.com/memes/joe-biden-liquid-swords-tweet). And the extended version on Apple Music has instrumental versions of all the tracks!!!

👍

View Author

Fri Feb 03 2023

5

The best.

👍

View Author

Thu Jan 26 2023

5

Not often do you get a hip hop album that manages to be both dense and icey cool. Liquid Swords is spooky, lyrical and backed up by pumping old school beats. There isn't a track on this that doesn't still stand up. RZA's production at its finest. GZA's bars are fierce, no other way of putting it. Special technique *insert eighties kung fu movie skit to make that point again*.

👍

View Author

Mon May 01 2023

5

Another stone cold masterpiece and probably one of my five favorite hip hop albums of all time. Everything in *Liquid Swords* is pitch-perfect. GZA's lyricism and his deadpan delivery--here coupled with RZA's hypnotic instrumentals--are legendary. The words hit hard, the music is cinematic... To put it in a nutshell, what you have here is hip hop heaven--even if the world it conveys sounds like hell on earth, itching, teasing and even tormenting you like few releases in the genre do. Those evocative *Shogun Assassin* samples are transporting you into another universe from the very first seconds, and what follows never disappoint. To me, this is the best Wu-Tang solo output by a very wide margin, as awesome as Raekwon and Method Man's first solo LPs were. Only the Wu-Tang Clan debut can beat that one, thanks the latter's iconic anthems. And yet *Liquid Swords* is actually more satisfying if you take into accounts the particular dynamics of going through an album in one sitting. The title track, "Duel Of The Iron Mic", "Living In The World Today", "Gold", "Shadowboxing"... They're all gems. "B.I.B.L.E--Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth" is also an exhilarating closer aptly conveying the sort of twisted mysticism only the Wu-Tang collective is capable of. And 'Swordsman" is a slap in the face, with its heavy, HEAVY beats, and its moody orchestral samples. 5/5. "The G.O.D., the G.O.D," GZA repeats. But what he meant is the *G.O.A.T.*. Number of albums left to review: 573 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 206 (including this one). Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 99 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 126

👍

View Author

Fri May 05 2023

5

Best Wu Tang solo album? Definitely in the conversation! I can listen to this all day! RZA on point with the beats and the GZA is a phenomenal emcee, really paints a vivid picture with his rhymes!

👍

View Author

Tue May 16 2023

5

Automatic five star, hell of a way to start the week. This is an album that I identified as my favorite rap album from the year of its release, 1995. I noted in my review of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx that this is my favorite Wu-Tang solo project, and that holds up. GZA's lyrical output is outstanding here, and the production (handled almost entirely by RZA) is amazing. So many excellent movie samples, the opening dialogue about the father and the samurai chills me every time. There are also just some really interesting instrumental choices throughout, not the least of which is the accordion beat on "Liquid Swords." This is just prime, old-school hip hop, with those dusty, spooky beats that we know and love from Wu-Tang plus dazzling lyricism. Of all the '90s hip hop albums that I've listened to, I hold this one way up there with the best of the best. Also, huge shout out to "I Gotcha Back," the line "trapped in a deadly video game" would later be sampled by the Molemen on their fantastic "Put Your Quarter Up." Go listen to that track ASAP. Favorite tracks: Living In the World Today, Liquid Swords, 4th Chamber, I Gotcha Back, Swordsman, Cold World, BIBLE. Interesting enough, I still have songs hearted from the last time I listened to this, and there were at least two new ones that I added to that list today. Album art: ICONIC, truly. One of the all-time great hip hop album covers, and I doubt that's just my opinion. The comic book art style has played a role in hip hop for a long time (see others from Outkast, MF DOOM, Czarface, etc.), and this is such a great one. Worth noting, too, that I'm sure this played a big role in inspiring Marvel's hip hop album cover project; comic book artists created homages to tons of hip hop albums with Marvel variants, and there are actually vinyl releases with those Marvel variant covers (I have the variant pressings of this album and Get Rich or Die Trying, another 5/5 we've had on this list). Warriors in hoodies doing battle on a chessboard. The two guys in the forefront is what always comes to mind, but there's some compelling brutality behind them, and I love the robed guy standing menacing in the back. Just an amazing album cover, deserves a place in a museum. 5/5

👍

View Author

Wed May 17 2023

5

Brap bap bap

👍

View Author

Wed May 17 2023

5

finally some good fcking food !

👍

View Author

Wed May 24 2023

5

Loved this, miss when hip hop could be this vibey

👍

View Author

Wed Aug 17 2022

4

Really good hiphop album. It bing me back to skateshop early 2000's

👍

View Author

Wed Aug 17 2022

4

Minimalistic beats, but still very efficient. The lyrics are what flows the most here and I'll definitely have to listen to it again soon.

👍

View Author

Wed Aug 24 2022

4

Very good album overall! Obviously very very Wu-Tang vibe. Perfectly dark atmosphere, RZA beat influence is felt everywhere and the Wu-Tang lyrisicm to match it. Some beats did not age too well unfortunately.

👍

View Author

Wed Aug 24 2022

4

Qualité efficace, ambiance dark qui met bien, ça sent fort le wu-tang et ça fais le taff fort ! A écouter plus en profondeur donc clairement j'ecouterais plusieurs fois

👍

View Author

Wed Aug 24 2022

4

Not my kind of music in general but I really like that it's a concept album with monologue bits, and the vibe was very chills (with hints of darkness) throughout.

👍

View Author

Wed Aug 24 2022

4

How is this the first time I hear this record in it’s entirety? GZA’s vocabulary is insane and his flow likewise. Surgical precision; nothing less. While not flashy the beats are the perfect backbone for GZA and his guests often rough, harsh and honest storytelling. The focus on extremely lyrically heavy songs ends up being almost physically exhausting. But with lyrics like these it takes a lot more to actually grow tired of it.

👍

View Author

Wed Aug 24 2022

4

A lyrical odyssey with great classic hiphop production. Storytelling at its finest and packs a great one-two punch in '4th Chamber' and 'Shadowboxin''. Impressive lineup of guests, and it's always nice to have the whole clan together.

👍

View Author

Fri Aug 26 2022

4

One of the Tangiest albums to ever Wu. Even though it's not technically a Wu-Tang album, it's got all of the Clan members on it and all of the weird kung-fu vibes of a Wu-Tang joint just cranked to 11. I enjoyed the hell out of this which is why it's getting high marks but it's still cheesy AF (like all Wu-Tang joints) which is why it's not getting a perfect 5. Still an utter blast, though.

👍

View Author

Fri Aug 26 2022

4

This is what I think about when I think about hip hop.

👍

View Author

Fri Aug 26 2022

4

Very good. Like swordsman a lot.

👍

View Author

Tue Aug 30 2022

4

Nice and smooth.

👍

View Author

Wed Aug 31 2022

4

rap很酷

👍

View Author

Tue Sep 06 2022

4

What an influential album. Great listen, totally recommend if you're looking for new sounds. God showed me a song from this album, and I never thought to look further into it. But, glad it came up for my album of yesterday, it was quite fitting.

👍

View Author

Thu Sep 08 2022

4

Try to not move your head to this engine album. You will fail.

👍

View Author

Fri Sep 09 2022

4

It was great! I love 90’s hip hop/R&B

👍

View Author

Tue Sep 13 2022

4

Dobaaaaar. Ko da film gledas. Beatovi su malo dosadni al vidi se da je veci fokus upret u tekst koji je u trenutcima wow.

👍

View Author

Wed Sep 14 2022

4

1995. Liquid Swords, 4th Chamber, Shadowboxin'

👍

View Author

Wed Sep 14 2022

4

I enjoyed the lyricism of the album, and the concept of the music was very unique, especially the overlying plotline about a powerful warlord's son. Overall a very refreshing listen after the mindless lyrics in today's mainstream rap.

👍

View Author

Tue Sep 20 2022

4

Not a fan of rap, but damn, this is good stuff.

👍

View Author

Mon Sep 26 2022

4

Very recognizable, grim sounds and great lyricism.

👍

View Author

Wed Sep 28 2022

4

I really enjoyed this album, had classic 90’s bass lines and some good listens for the ears

👍

View Author

Mon Oct 03 2022

4

Pretty good. Crass in a few spots

👍

View Author

Wed Oct 05 2022

4

Very good lyrical flow and I like the cinematic feeling that it gives the listener. Highlights are "Liquid Swords", and "4th Chamber".

👍

View Author

Tue Oct 11 2022

4

It's a great album. I had not listened to the whole thing previously, but I had heard some of the songs before. This isn't a full-fledged Wu-Tang album but several of the members make an appearance. I would listen to it again. The only reason this is not getting 5 is because I found the samurai movie audio unnecessary.

👍

View Author

Thu Oct 20 2022

4

Enjoyed the album. Haven’t realized before how great the rhymes and lyrics members of the Clan wrote and rhymes. Good album with interesting themes

👍

View Author

Fri Oct 28 2022

4

Pas décevant, meilleur que ce que j'ai écouté de Wu Tang

👍

View Author

Fri Oct 28 2022

4

Klassischer Boom-Bap-Rap mit geilen Sample-Beats!

👍

View Author

Sat Oct 29 2022

4

typically when I hear 90s rap I'm not a huge fan. but this one did it for me. I thought it was great and some nice casual listening. I might have to revisit more 90s rap with a different perspective 8/10

👍

View Author

Sun Oct 30 2022

4

notes - gza is a member of wu tang clan and this album has a bunch of people youll recognize - produced by rza, features ghostface killah, inspectah deck, method man - after wu tang’s inital success, a couple of the members went on to do sole albums and this was gza’s second - the beats on this are so great, rza really created a vibe that matches gza’s calm lyrical delivery - i would definitely need to listen to this a couple more times to get the full meaning of a lot of the lyrics on here - he throws a LOT at you fav - 4th chamber - love the fuzzy and noisy samples here, and ghostface :) least fav - labels - didnt really stick with me after hearing it 4/5

👍

View Author

Mon Nov 14 2022

4

An album so good that I'm sure it won't crack 3.0.

👍

View Author

Sun Nov 20 2022

4

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: Liquid swords, Duel of the iron lic, Cold world, Shadowboxin, I gotcha back, Bible

👍

View Author

Mon Nov 21 2022

4

Had never heard of this album, but was interesting to listen to as not what I'd ever normally put on. Especially at 6am in the morning ;-) Pretty good for not a hip-hop fan

👍

View Author

Thu Nov 24 2022

4

Relatively enjoyable - I'm a particular fan of the elliptical, paranoid lyrics and creepy atmosphere. As with many Wu Tang affiliated projects, it has the dusty, slightly uncanny feel of old found footage. What elevates this from three to four stars is '4th Chamber', one of my favourite rap tracks full stop. The sample from 'Shogun Assassin' that kicks it off is supreme, and it just gets better from there on in. Was 'Why is the sky blue?' the Wu equivalent to 'Fuckin' magnets, how do they work?'

👍

View Author

Tue Nov 29 2022

4

Great lyricism and atmosphere. Production is a bit generic wu-tangy though, which is partly great, but partly made me want something a bit different.

👍

View Author

Fri Dec 02 2022

4

Scrappy, raw, beats combine with the classic Wu-Tang flow of catchy hard-hitting truths and irreverence. designed for loud blasting, but I can't help but wonder why some of these beats have some extra layer of dissonance to 'em.

👍

View Author

Mon Dec 05 2022

4

I love Wu-Tang and the first wave of solo projects was pretty outstanding. I think it's debatable if this, Cuban Linx, or Tical is the best of that particular grouping but regardless this is damn good. A borderline 5, but if I'm being honest there are a couple tracks that keeping it from reaching that score.

👍

View Author

Fri Dec 09 2022

4

A lyrical story from start to finish

👍

View Author

Thu Dec 15 2022

4

Example of a record heralded so much in the mid-90s amongst college friends & crowds, but which I never actually listened to. This "albums generator" exercise is already more than proving its value for music listeners like me who otherwise would prbly never have inititated the investment to explore such a consequential record like this independently, particularly given that rap & hiphop, while heavily respected, has otherwise not been a genre which previously connected w/ myself in any important level. That said, this album, along with Beasties' Paul's Bputique, is dfntly a game changer for me. So many things to enjoy, respect and appreciate. Lyrics first and foremost imo. Going thru every track's lyrics, i'm not sure if you can't make an argument of greatness when comparing against a modern day Dylan, while maintaining its own total signature & tone. Samples & background. On the third listen of this record, i am left very impressed by all of the tasteful samples and background accompaniment. From a production pov, my guess is that it takes as much, if not more, talent, skill, vision and discipline to score something like this as it does a respectable independent film. Where to punch in, where to cut out, where to ride the backbeat. To the rest of us mere mortals it may sound like an easy impulsive cakewalk. My guess is that each & every beat & phrase was the result of careful debate and intentional artistic license over & over. The care & vision shows. A wild chaos is telegraphed all over these tracks which in the end is anything but wild or chaotic. It is the cold, calculated control of master artists & musicians at the helm who recognized way beforehand that they were bottling magic nearly 30 yrs before the rest of us could manage to catch our breaths to be in a position to appreciate it.

👍

View Author

Fri Dec 16 2022

4

Yes. This was the best album on here in a looong time.

👍

View Author

Fri Dec 16 2022

4

This record is a classic. Atmospheric, dark, incredible lyrics and beats. Still as good now as it was when it was released.

👍

View Author

Mon Dec 19 2022

4

Liquid Swords doesn't distinguish itself with lyrics or flows, though I think it stands with contemporaries if not far ahead of them. The happy surprise was the way this record prefigures almost all hip-hop produced afterwards while retaining the nineties-Eastern grit. A great project to break a bit of a rap fast.

👍

View Author

Mon Dec 19 2022

4

Not exactly the sort of person to listen to rap, but hey - I'm more than OK with listening to it if it means I begin to understand and appreciate what people listen to, and with this album in particular, I think I get it. Unafraid to use samples, lyrically complex, clean and sharp vocals...it's pretty good.

👍

View Author

Tue Dec 20 2022

4

Joe Biden was right, this thing slaps

👍