Liquid Swords

Least favorite wutang-adjacent album so far

Not a hip-hopper but can appreciate the creativity. Cool stuff - give it a try

One of the best hip hop albums ever made. Incredible work.

#298/1001 🇺🇸 Another Wu-Tang solo offshoot. I got more into this as it went on. Solid hip hop album, great beats and a calm, smooth rapping style. Best Tracks: Cold World, 4th Chamber, Shadowboxing, Investigative Reports.

Hard to find something new to say about Liquid Swords. Probably the most ice-cold album from Wu-Tang’s peak, with Wu-Tang’s coolest, most understated personality (but maybe their best lyricist?) at the helm. True classic, believe the hype.

GZA – Liquid Swords (1995) On Day 307, this album reaffirmed its status as the most razor-sharp, intellectually commanding milestone in hip-hop history. RZA’s cold, subterranean production set an untouchable standard, framing GZA’s intricate rhyme schemes, philosophical depth, and cinematic martial arts motifs with chilling precision. Standout cuts like the iconic title track and "Duel of the Iron Mic" delivered peak hip-hop synergy, featuring blistering contributions from Inspectah Deck and Ol' Dirty Bastard over gritty, uncompromising beats. The elite chemistry between GZA and Method Man on "Shadowboxin'" was nothing short of a vocal clinic, while "Living in the World Today," "Gold," and the chaotic fury of "4th Chamber" showcased unmatched thematic and atmospheric cohesion. Closing on the soulful, contemplative brilliance of Killah Priest’s "B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)," the record stands as a flawless, endlessly replayable masterpiece that set a high-water mark for the genre. A definitive 5/5.

Excellent. We as a society don't talk about Wu Tang Enough...

Would have preferred to watch the movie Shogun Asassian rather than hear snippets of it combined with so so hip hop.

First hip hop album I've got here, and it's one of the best. Some of the best beats RZA ever made, like slightly less dusty than 36 chambers, a little clearer and with more details. Obviously insane wordplay by gza here, great features and hooks. One of the best hip hop albums of the 90s

A lyrical journey through a fantasy rap samurai adventure. Fun, and crazy, and deep, and exciting. A truly great hip hop record from a true MC. Even though it’s a solo with lots of support, Wu Tang is for the children.

Pretty solid rap album!

Not my genre, but pretty cool listen.

Definitely not for me, never heard before and will probably never listen again.

Never heard of this, although do know Wu Tang Clan. Not a genre I know, and it sounded like someone chatting over some background music. 1*

Ok Wu Tang Clan member. What the hell is this intro. Maybe Wu Tang Clan is asian. What are we doing. Ok this isn't bad. Not my favourite sound but I do like the production. The backing track is really good. Do all the songs have cinematic intros? I do really like the transitions between songs. However this is kinda mid. Imo. Not my favourite. I think ghost face def has my favourite solo album from the tang. Kinda unremarkable. I do like the vibe. Stanley cup mention? Biblical reference? Hold on let them cook. Favourite: 4th Chamber Least favourite: Liquid Swords

Top 2-3 hip hop album to me. So smooth

Classic. Masterpiece. Certainly my favorite of the Wu Tang solo albums, but also up there with my favorite hip-hop albums of all time. GZA's flow is just stellar, the rhymes and lyrical wordplay are next-level, especially for 1995. This has quintessential RZA production including all of the samurai movie clips, and I can hear this as the sonic blueprint for so much underground hip-hop that I found my way to in college. Many track highlights but the title track, Shadowboxin', Cold World all stand out. Even the album artwork is incredible. Impeccable from start to finish.

Ikke min kopp te, blir for monotont.

Took a couple of listens, and I did start to drift on some of the later tracks, but all in all a pretty good listen. The production is exactly the right kind of rough, the variety of flows is as great as expected, and i've no doubt it will grow on repeated listens, but like a lot of genre classics the consistent vibe got a little monotonous after a while. I see why it's so highly regarded and if it was a few tracks shorter, it'd be up there, but as it is a very strong 4.

Slaps

Not for me, but not bad.

3.5

Good flow and nice beats. 4 stars

I'm a little shy of 5-stars on this, but I think it's great and certainly deserving of it's reputation as one of the all-time classic hip-hop albums. RZA's production is awesome as always and there's some bangers here, including the title track, "Duel of the Iron Mic", "Shadowboxin'", "B.I.B.L.E.", and my favorite, "4th Chamber". If I had to lodge a complaint, it's that I think the tracks with other members of the Wu-Tang Clan feel a bit richer than the ones where it's just GZA. Still great though. 4.5 stars.

One of the hip-hop albums of all time.

It’s tempting to lump a together the best RZA-produced first wave Wu-solo albums as a single slab of Wu lore with a laser focused agenda and purposeful brand-establishment. However, despite RZA’s formulas being prevalent across at least 5 solo albums as well as 36 Chambers, it would be unfair not to acknowledge the differences and to credit individual MCs for their craft. While there is cross-pollination across most of the albums with core (and otherwise) Wu members appearing on these solo albums, Genius/GZA here does make an album that sounds individual to itself. It may share with others some musical DNA (the toughest sounding boombap beats from the crypt and pounding dark simple basslines are a RZA staple) but like most of the Wu, GZA’s flow and timbre is instantly distinguishable from the others. Ghostface has the in-your-face impact, ODB the wildcard weirdness, Raekwon the master storyteller and so on, but GZA always comes across as thoughtful and controlled and possibly more than any of the others, makes me feel compelled to hear and decipher every word. He doesn’t bother with unnecessary flashiness, probably has a lower swear-count than any other Clansmen but delivers more grimy detail in a tone that exudes gravitas. ‘Liquid Swords’, tied together with snippets of dialogue from a Samurai movie, delivers a seemingly endless litany of hard-hitting tales with memorable hooks and quality flow. Probably rivalled only by Rae’s ‘Only Built for Cuban Linx’ as the pinnacle of those early solo albums, I would probably pick it as my personal choice and only a hair’s breadth off the debut by Wu Tang Clan themselves.

i mean it was okay but the whole thing sounded the same

First off, the way he chooses to pronounce his name is... something. Secondly, I always thought it was cool how this album heavy samples from Shogun Assassin, and in Kill Bill (Which RZA helped with the sound) The Bride and her daughter watch the same movie. I guess I should actually talk about the album, and what an album it is. It is hard to pick a favorite album out of all the solo Wu Tang members works, but this is either my favorite or second favorite. It is just soooooo good. All the beats sound great, the drums are nice and crisp, the rapping is outstanding. I love the flow on the title track. All around a great album! High 5!!!!

Classique de ce que j'attends pour du rap/hip hop. C'est bien mais je ne suis pas transcender. Il a l'air de parler de choses importantes mais n'arrive pas a ecouter. J'aime pas la pochette d'album - ca fait bd made in usa, pas mon delire.

3/5 car je ne comprends pas les paroles mais l'instru est cool.

Not a dislike per se, but not my style and didn’t catch me enough to rate it higher. 4/10

If you like repetitive background noise with unrelatable lyrics this could be for you

Fine for background music but not enough happening outside the lyrics for on each song for me.

One of the greatest solo albums by a Wu-Tang member, if not the greatest. The lyrical content that GZA lays down is good. One of my favorites is Labels, in which he manages to put various music labels into a story. The use of movie clips often gets overused or done in a way that clashes with albums, but on this album, they set a tone and the mood for the listener as the album progresses. So well done.

I wasn't sure going into this how much I'd like it, I mean it follows a formula that I like, with small radio style skits in the middle and some pretty good beats and good flow and lines. So in the end, I think I was pretty impressed.

Interesting lyrics but not exciting music

Maneirin, prefiro o trampo de grupo

I don’t see anything special about this

Thank you, I needed this today.

Good! Don’t enjoy the samples at the beginning but when it gets to the music I really like it. 3.75/5

When he’s rapping this is sick and second to almost none. It’s phenomenal. Why are there so many random samples of cartoons and movies and shows and shit man. This could have been like 25 minutes shorter.

No es mi estilo de música favorito pero estuvo bien.

one of the hardest album covers existing in my book. one of the hardest wu-tang albums out there. rap for mfs who can read and play chess. thats a 5.0/5.0!

Maybe I was a little too old in 1995, but I don’t get the Wu Tang clan

Quand Gary Grice, alias The Genius, débarque en solo à l'automne 1995 chez Geffen, le Wu-Tang Clan a déjà posé ses bottes sur la gorge de l'Amérique avec Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). Et même si Method Man avait joué les éclaireurs avec Tical et Raekwon avec son impérial Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, personne n'était prêt pour la déflagration cérébrale orchestrée par l’aîné du collectif. Avec Liquid Swords GZA s'émancipe de la meute avec une œuvre d'une noirceur absolue, un diamant noir qui, plus de trente ans après sa sortie, refuse obstinément de prendre la moindre ride. C’est d'ailleurs curieux à dire pour un album né à une époque où le rap évoluait à la vitesse de la lumière, mais ce skeud n'a pas pris une ride. Pour bien comprendre la baffe, il faut revenir à l'époque où le hip-hop américain se regarde le nombril en comptant ses biffetons entre le G-funk ensoleillé et saturé de basses rebondissantes de la Côte Ouest et les délires mafieux clinquants qui commencent à gangrener New York. Comme GZA et son cousin RZA n'en ont strictement rien à carrer, ils s'enferment dans le sous-sol insalubre de Staten Island et pondent l’exact opposé d’un disque taillé pour les clubs ou pour faire dodeliner les têtes des minets dans des décapotables. Le résultat c'est Liquid Swords, un putain de coupe-gorge auditif qui dès l’ouverture avec le sample culte de Shogun Assassin ouvre les festivités. Un sample résonne, froid comme une lame, l'histoire de ce gamin poussant le landau de son père bourreau. En quelques secondes le décor est planté, et le massacre peut commencer. Dès les premières secondes, on est face à une alchimie monstrueuse entre la production de RZA et le débit clinique de GZA. RZA était alors au sommet absolu de sa démence créative, enchaînant les classiques sans reprendre son souffle. Ses boucles de soul poussiéreuses, ses pianos désaccordés, ses sirènes lugubres et ses rythmiques qui claquent comme des tirs de calibre 38 dans une cage d’escalier forment un écrin glacial. Mais là où d’autres hurlaient pour rivaliser avec la brutalité du beat, GZA fait tout l'inverse. Pas un éclat de voix, pas un souffle de trop, une diction d'une précision chirurgicale, un flow posé, calme, presque détaché, qui découpe chaque mesure avec une aisance terrifiante. Sur le plan de l'écriture, The Genius est un joueur d'échecs qui manie la métaphore comme un art martial. Prenez une ogive comme Labels : enfiler les noms de dizaines de maisons de disques dans un texte ultra-fluide pour dénoncer l'exploitation des artistes par l'industrie sans jamais casser le rythme, c’est tout bonnement du génie pur. Prenez la noirceur de Cold World, qui détourne le Rocket Love de Stevie Wonder pour peindre les drames ordinaires d'un hiver urbain sans pitié. GZA n'a pas besoin de s'inventer une vie de caïd de cartel colombien pour terroriser l'auditeur. Il lui suffit de décrire la paranoïa des coins de rue, la trahison des faux frères et la mécanique implacable de la violence quotidienne. Le verbe est acéré, tranchant, liquide. Le titre de l'album n'a jamais menti : quand sa langue se met en branle, elle découpe les têtes avant même qu'on ait eu le temps d'entendre le sifflement de l'acier. Et puis, même si GZA s’émancipe brillamment en solitaire, la force de la fratrie Wu n'est jamais loin. Les featurings ne ressemblent pas à des ajouts contractuels pour gonfler les ventes : ils s'emboîtent avec une fluidité miraculeuse. Method Man vient poser son timbre éraillé sur un refrain d’anthologie avec Shadowboxin', Ol' Dirty Bastard ramène son grain de folie furieuse sur Duel of the Iron Mic, et le disque se paie même le luxe de révéler la plume mystique et habitée de Killah Priest sur la sublime conclusion B.I.B.L.E.. Tout ici forme un ensemble cohérent d'une noirceur hypnotique où aucun morceau n'a été jeté là par hasard. Trois décennies plus tard, quand on voit la montagne de soupe insipide et jetable produite au kilomètre sous étiquette rap, réécouter Liquid Swords tient de l'expérience mystique. C’est le vestige d'une époque bénie où l'intransigeance artistique n'excluait pas le succès public, où un disque de hip-hop pouvait être à la fois un brûlot de rue, un traité de philosophie martiale et un chef-d'œuvre de narration sans jamais faire la moindre concession radiophonique. Cet album n'a pas vieilli parce qu'il n'a jamais cherché à être à la mode ; il a créé son propre espace-temps, calfeutré dans le blizzard new-yorkais. Un classique indiscutable, impérial et intemporel, un chef-d'œuvre absolu, tout simplement.

kinda like MF doom

Bit more of me but I disnt add any more 2

I've actually reviewed this album before, just the usual boom bap but def not my fav boom bap album of all time

Subtley good ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hip hop with too many annoying spoken voice samples.

4th chamber! This is great!

Oh Boy! Another rap album. Another member of WTC. Another identikit follow the instructions disc. Another "Classic in its genre." To me...nothing special. Not good, not bad, not very different (gains an extra 0.2 stars for the samples from Shogun Assassin). Next!

Das ist nichts für mich!

LIQUID SWORDS

Hell yeah. Incredible stuff. Fun, compelling, hard-hitting, top-tier production. Wu-Tang wins again.

The opening monologue about the shogun from Kill Bill goes so hard. I think this album must pre-date Kill Bill but I am not sure where that audio originated. It just sets the stage for things to really drop but I don't feel like the album follows up the promise made by that sweet audio. I think that the way rap music has evolved from this point has made it more my speed. I just want more going on in the tracking backing the vocals. This is a very rapper focused album and I don't find it very engaging to listen to. The performance is subdued, I think a more energetic delivery could have sparked something on this album or more dynamic beats under the vocals. It's chill all around.

Story running through it was interesting 2.5

4.0/10

I know Wu-Tang was influential in their time but did I need to listen to this?

The expectable bullsh*t.

I had this on CD in the 90’s cause I’m super cool. My favorite album by one of the fully formed Voltron’s lions is Return To The 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version, but this is probably my second favorite. Everybody else seems to prefer Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... but I never got the hype for that one. But all the Wu’s solo albums lack what makes Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) so special: the mixture of all the various styles of the individual artists into a perfect melange of styles and personalities. Even when other members appear on one of the solo albums, it sounds like they are suppressing their individualism and doing a modified version of their group member’s style. That is interesting, but it’s not as compelling as their one truly collaborative album. Even on Forever, it felt like the White Album, with every Beatle doing their own songs and stitching those distinct parts together into a mixtape, instead of a real stew where all the ingredients were mixing and influencing the others and ended up weaved together perfectly like 36 Chambers. Forever is like a single sentence where metaphors for Frankenstein, stew and a tapestry appear in different clauses rather than . . . a different thing. Liquid Swords is a very good rap album, but I’m always going to feel about it the way I feel about all the other Wu-Tang solo albums: I wish 36 Chambers was on.

When I saw that there were a fair number of instrumentals tracks my hopes were buoyed however my hopeswere not to be; even the instrumentals were FUBAR (there should be a zero star rating available)

Consistent vibe throughout, raw and hard hitting with kinda haunting samples. Everything feels carefully thought out which I guess is kinda what the whole chess thing is about. Not the kinda thing I could just listen to at any time tho. Wu tang roots show heavily with the features however is distinct from 36 chambers and is definitely more experimental and a darker tone. Method man ODB and ghostface all have such distinct voices which all add a lot. The last track B.I.B.L.E seems a bit out of place with the rest of the album Highlights: Duel of the iron mic 4th chamber Shadowboxin

Decent album all together, quite grungey if that makes sense. Good vocals and instrumentals. Favorite song, shadowboxin’. Would play randomly if I’m in the mood

This was a three. You wanna fight? Fight me.

Simply one of the best hip hop albums of all time

Just a very very good album

Enjoyed this a lot. One of the best things about this project has been discovering albums from the Wu Tang Cinematic Universe, which had largely passed me by (partly due to the sheer number of albums). This has felt more manageable. 7/10 album, going to round up.

Absolutely fantastic, thanks for sharing RGP. Four of the loveliest stars❤️❤️❤️❤️ Tom.

Not crap rap.

Like all the 90s hip hop on this list, it’s tedious. The intro’s with film audio doesn’t help. At least it’s not as misogynistic as the other 90s hip hop on this list.s

Wu-Tang solo projects have various degrees of success in my eyes. This one ranks towards the top.

7/10

RZA produced one of his many gems here, and GZA's lyricism is beyond reproach. I have listened to this many times and it gets better every time, and this more attentive listen was no different. This time the insane production on Gold just blew me away. Back in the 90s too. One of the best in the Wu catalog, great contributions from all, one of the best of all time

I'm not in a writing mood, but I liked it.

One of the better Wu Tang solo albums. GZA is an impressive lyricist and the beats are awesome, but I always just feel like this album is one big song away from perfection.

A strong case can be made that this is the most beautiful record in the hip-hop pantheon, a concept album that's also & always straightforwardly rap. 'Well, what you know 'bout MC'in'? / (Yo, I know a lot).' If you like crime & storytelling, this got that, if you like boom-bap flows & battle-rap rhymes, it's got that too, & if you require geeked-out & scientific lyrics, GZA is your guy. In other words, it's never 'too smart' - it's never boring, never dull or insipid. 'Labels' goes fucking hard, as gangsta as anything from Ice Cube or Dr. Dre: 'Tommy ain't my motherfuckin' boy / When you fake moves on a nigga you employ.' +, GZA just might have the best laid-back flow this side of Guru & MF Doom. Finally, RZA is simply at his absurd, unmatched peak.

Lots of Niggas, mutha fuckers and bitches.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Det här gillade jag. Det är flow, rytmiskt gung med attityd utan att bli töntigt. Tycker albumet är jämnt och om jag vill lyssna på hip hop är detta en kandidat att slänga på, det blir en 4a. Bäst är Liquid swords, Gold, 4th Chamber, Shadowboxin', Hell's wind staff/Killah hills 103004

I really liked this. Probably my favorite Wu-Tang solo album so far

The music nerd's pick for best Wu-Tang Universe (Wu-niverse? Call my lawyer) has jumped off the page to beat me about the head and face. This is GZA's solo record, a man who I always believed was like 3rd in the Wu-Tang Clan. I think his lyrics are wonderful, but his vocal delivery conjures an image of a heavily sedated buffalo compared to the crazed hyena with a brainworm aura brought forth by Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck and even Ol' Dirty Bastard. This record takes some of the best beats RZA has put together, some of the best rap lyrics ever penned to paper and tops it off with some of the sleepiest delivery ever yawned into a plugged-in microphone. The rage is there. You can hear it laced into every snare hit, every rhyme, but not nearly enough vocal punch. If this had more of Ghostface Killah's menace, and perhaps even more obscure kung-fu samples, we may be pushing into 5 territory. Alas, here we are, dead on a cosmic chessboard, being lightly grazed by GZA microphone, as he doesn't want to disturb us. 4.5 HIGHLIGHTS: Bishop to g4. Illegal move? There's a dead janitor there? Aww man.

I remember seeing this CD cover on the stacks at stores but I had never heard it. It’s actually a pretty good album overall, though obviously reflecting a gangsta/ghetto culture. It tracks with the time of rappers like Biggie and Tupac. This album had a cacophony of collaborations that bordered on a Wu-Tang album (RZA; Ghostface; ODB). This was most evident with albums like Investigative Reports, which tells a pretty detailed story. Swordman seems like it was attempting shock rap. I think if I did have a favorite track it would be B.I.B.L.E. as it was very street existential. I respect it but don’t live it no’mo…

Random thoughts: * Listened to this one twice through. Solid rap entry. * With every East coast rap album I just keep thinking that East coast rap is all about the rhyme/flow and not about the hooks. While West coast rap is about the hooks. * Therefore most songs don't reach out and grab you but offer more for close listening and interesting lines. * I Gotcha Back was my favorite track and unsurprisingly had the best hook. * Solid choice for additional Wu-Tang exploration and getting a full picture of 90s rap specifically East coast.

One of my favorite Wu Tang spin offs. It's really a 4.5 but gonna give it a 5.

Of all the woo tang solo albums this one is one of my least favorites. It’s pretty good rapping and good beats but it’s the same flow throughout the entire album. The only time you get some variety is on a feature. I know that’s a lot of rappers but for me, if it’s going to be an exceptional album you need a curveball.

A bit old school, which I appreciate.

Pretty solid, enjoyable. Not much to say but I did enjoy it.

4.04

It’s borderline criminal how members of the Wu-Tang guys just casually drop absolute bangers solo albums, and Liquid Swords is for sure top-tier. It’s dark, moody, and super cinematic, RZA’s gritty, lo-fi beats and those old kung fu movie samples just pull you right into another world. I know the long dialogue clips from Shogun Assassin might be a bit much for some people, but I think they really nail that creepy, samurai vibe that makes the whole record feel like a classic. Tracks like "4th Chamber," "Shadowboxin'," and the title track show exactly why he’s called the Genius. It’s a total masterpiece of '90s hardcore hip-hop that just gets better the more you spin it.

I like rap and can recognize its history , but I don’t think this one’s for me

4.6/5

Distracted while listening. Chill beats, not a bad flow. Nothing stood out though, other than Martial arts references

Just a solid fucking wutangverse album with hard hitting production and hard hitting raps.

No thanks.

A really great slab of some old school New York hip-hop, supplied with great lyricism from GZA and incredible dark, moody production by RZA. GZA's verses are so dense with wordplay and internal rhyme schemes, it's almost dizzy keeping up with him, but what I love about his verses is that he does it in a way that supports and deepens the theme of each track(hear that Dax?), as well as painting some absolutely dark and vivid pictures about urban life, especially on tracks like "Cold World". The guest verses from Wu-Tang members are also incredibly welcome, as they obviously play off of each other extremely well, leading to every single posse cut on this record feeling like a battle rap where everybody is at their A-game. The only real track on here that I didn't feel as much as the rest of the tracks was "Swordsman", as while I do like the concept of it being about GZA telling the listener to open up their mind, it delves a little too heavily into 5 percenter bullshit that I don't particularly care for. While not as good as "Enter the 36 Chambers" or other Wu-Tang member solo albums like Ghostface's "Supreme Clientele" or Raekwon's "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...", this record is still quite fantastic and deserves its place in the top hip hop albums of all time.

Très bien mais trop d’interlude

It’s good

the beats are austere and ominous, but the overall production is so lyrically focused at the cost of musical progression that it loses me, and the lyrics aren't really enough to make up the gap

Every karate sample I just busted out laughing. 1/5

Weird, but not my kinda thing