Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

Bring the motherfucking ruckus 🙌🏻

I was starting to get worried they weren’t gonna have any black ppl on this list.

In 300 years, when future civilizations sift through the wreckage of our society, this album will be treated as one of the foundational building blocks of a global culture. People will analyze the lyrics of the GZA like Shakespeare and the production of the RZA like Mozart, they'll probably even think ODB was a genius! The fact that a group of teenagers from the worst areas of New York were able to combine a few snippets from soul records from the 70s, culture and dialog from martial arts movies from Hong Kong and Japan, and a kick and snare to make something that will still be banging in car stereos and block parties 300 years from now is what music is all about. Wu Tang forever!!!

WU WU WU WU WU! These guys are fantastic! 9 skilled rapper taking turns, each with your own personality, a unique style and rhyme you can't resist getting attached to. Theme continues hardcore gangsta hip hop but marks the East Coast Renaissance. Sound is much more minimalistic than we're used to, placing more of an emphasis on what the rappers can show us. The raps are really smart, like insanely smart. These are model raps I look to for inspiration how to rhyme. I love how the samples evolve as the members swap, making each track feel longer and more rewarding. Samples are minimalistic, feels inspired by the jazz rap but low key and fun. Nice kung fu clips. I'm usually not a fan of skits, especially when so often they glue in with the track themselves and last two minutes. But these were fun with all the different characters. Nothing like Biggie and his friend taking on all their roles. GZA the poet and philosopher. Ol Dirty Bastard with the ol loco wubudub voice that sounds like he came from the dentist. Ghostface Killah with his high, loud, and crazy voice, reminds me of Flavor Flav. U-God with that rough almost Jamaican voice that rolls off the tongue. Masta Killa the guy who only showed up for a minute and called it a day. Inspectah Deck the energetic one with the accessible voice. Raekwon the young, slick voice with the heartbreaking stories. Method Man the mature, collective one who really sings in some of his verses. RZA the strong and aggressive leader who incites the audience. There's a strong momentum with "Da Mystery of Chessboxing" that carries to the rest of the album. The songs before them are amazing too, but the long skits more than often serve as a distraction. "Bring Da Ruckus" and "Shame on a Nigga" set up the mood for the album. "Clan in Da Front" is a display of GZA's poetry and highlights his character, also reinforcing RZA's status. "7th Chamber Part I" gives us an overview over the majority of the clan members and their unique styles. "Can It Be All So Simple" is where I start paying attention to the samples, love the stories built. "Da Mystery of Chessboxing" really kicks the album into gear, with "Wu Tang Ain't Nuthin ta F' Wit" carrying that momentum and energy. "C.R.E.A.M." is a natural hit with an often misinterpreted message. "Method Man" highlights the titular character's talent with some awesome samples. I love the way he sings... he changes his tone so much, sometimes you want to sing along. "Protect Ya Neck" has some of my favorite lines, especially GZA's. "Tearz" has my favorite samples, a highlight of RZA and his intense emotional storytelling. Wear protection kids. "7th Chamber Part II" is a fitting closer. Nice mixing and samples.

Does it count as a listen when you skip every track within the first 30 seconds?

I appreciate the influence this album had on music but do I need to listen to it again? No, I do not. If I want to hear that much swearing I'll go to a Trump rally about vaccine mandates.

Best hip hop album of all time? Easily top 10. 5 Stars.

I know that Wu-Tang is like, rap royalty. They're boom-bap kings. But ... I kinda hate 'em. The lyrics are trash. Content and delivery. All pointless. The beats are repetitive and unimaginative. The whole kung-fu flavor just comes off goofy as hell. Every single member of Wu-Tang went on to make music that was SO MUCH BETTER THAN WU-TANG. Two stars for cultural importance only.

This might be the Platonic ideal of hip hop.

It’s for the children

Not only is 36 Chambers the best Wu-Tang album, but it’s one of the best hip-hop albums ever. Can’t think of a better ensemble album. Original sound, good flow, dope rhymes and a variety of themes. Started multiple legendary careers. A couple sounds tell a great story/have a good msg. This album has been in my regular rotation for years fir a reason. Easy 5.

Nah. Some tunes were ok, but not my bag baby!

I get why this was a huge album. But I just don’t care for it.

Very few hip hop groups, very few musicians, in fact, very few artists of any persuasion manage to create their own universe and invite their fans to live in it as Wu Tang did here. Kung-fu fighting, Five Percenter quoting, chess playing, street thuggin', hardcore hip-hop straight outta Shaolin (a.k.a. Staten Island). The 36 Chambers is a fantasy universe cut through with the grim reality of the violent street lives most of the Clan were living in the early '90s. RZA's red raw beats and nine unique voices, each with a story to tell, came together "like Voltron" to create something that still sounds utterly vital nearly 30 years later.

This is an undisputed classic of hip-hop. I'm amazed when I read about how this album was recorded that it even came together the way that it did. Usually too many cooks spoil the meal but with this it just worked and MAN did it work. I would say that this is one of the most influential albums of the 90s.

My familiarity with the Wu-Tang Clan is limited exclusively to their appearances and association with prestige HBO programming. First they appeared on "The Larry Sanders Show", where a befuddled Hank Kingsley (played to perfection by Jeffrey Tambor) tells the band his favorite song is "Shame On A Nigga". The second moment came on an episode of "The Leftovers" where Nora Durst (in a star-making performance by Carrie Coon) covered up the names of her departed children she had tattooed on her arm with the Wu-Tang Clan logo. Only she referred to them as "the Wu-Tang Band". That episode also made me familiar with the Wu-Tang name generator, which reminds me that I should really start Romanticist Visual as my pen name. If that doesn't scream "Middle Aged White Male", I don't know what does. And this middle aged white male known forever as Romanticist Visual quite enjoyed this album by the Wu-Tang Band. Lower your expectations. It's a fine mess. The Wu got somethin'.

A vulgar lo-fi kung-fu album with moments of brilliance.

Aiming at once for total unity and individual identity, everyone and everything is vying for space. Two skits introduce ‘Method Man’, for heaven's sake. But even when they’re bickering (“Is he dead? What the fuck do you mean ‘Is he dead?’”) they hold each other up. Meth’s introduction of each member is lovingly done, and it speaks to the respect they have for each other’s skills that they leave the compèring to him. When someone interrupts his flow, they ask permission, before letting him back in for the punchline: “We form like Voltron and the GZA just happen to be the head.” Maybe on another album the skits would be de trop, but because RZA chops and slices the beat, samples and sequencing in equal measure, it just about fits together. Just about. The slightly jagged, off-kilter part of "just about" is where the magic happens. It’s often unclear if a skit is part of a song or a song part of a skit, whether they’re talking or rapping, if a song’s ended or started. It’s seductively menacing, especially as RZA’s fascination with the esoteric means his production is littered with whatsits—piano tinkles, talk of chess, sweet soul samples. They boing off the Clan’s collective rap style of eschewing smoothness and attacking the beat. In between the mysticism, torture fantasies, samurai flicks, street tales, and bravado, you get sight of the horrifying poverty they came from (listen to Ghostface’s ‘All That I Got Is You’ a few years later if you want a good cry) and understand why the Clan was essential for their survival.

This album seemed repetitive and boring. I admit that most hip-hop is just not my thing with only a few exceptions, and this one didn't cut it. I found the skits annoying and for me, where is the actual "music"? Just a boring beat. 2

Do like me some hip-hop, but many of the tracks here have either aged like milk or were puerile to start with, and it's another culprit for pre and post-fixing tracks with skits which add little or just detract completely. Probably went down better in a cow-hide Chrysler Fifth Avenue, discussing your gang issues, at the time of release.

From the slums of Shaolin, Wu-Tang Clan's back again. The RZA, the GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Inspectah Deck, Raekwon the Chef, U-God, Ghostface Killah and the Method Man.... a seismic shift occurred in hip-hop when the Killa Bees were on the swarm. We've seen solo rappers, duos, trios and quartets but never a ennead. Nine hungry dudes, some of whom were burned by the industry beforehand, storming through with innovative soul samples, endless nods to kung-fu movies of the 70s and a keen eye out for the the bigger picture. One of the most consequential, influential and greatest albums ever.

Rap so dope, even Congress said this is a must listen.

An iconic album for hip hop. It's fresh, grimy, hard hitting, and fun. The production is amazing, I love the jazz and so samples. All the members come through with great verses and the variety of voices this provides keeps every song exciting. A bonafide classic.

This is a classical album that deserves 5 stars for the influence. Any modern hip-hop could not be the same without this album and, also, it sounds so new even today. Classical is classical for one reason!

Absolute classic that defines a great group of artists. Explains to you as you're listening the power of hip-hop and the connections to Eastern cinema make it a great blending of cultures and ideas into something new

So good. Surprisingly so. Was never into them when this album came out, and they’ve sort of passed me by a bit, whilst also enjoying most of what I did know of them. But I was always into bands like J5, Pharcyde and The Roots over Wu Tang. Really enjoyed hopping along to this album. Also way less aggy than I assumed it would be.

Confrontational and catchy.

Bright and tight. Still not the kind of album I’d just put on for fun.

Nothing like getting into the hard swearing right off the bat. It’s getting better as it gets further into the record. There was definitely a point where there was just so much swearing that I wasn’t sure I wanted to listen to the rest of it. I like the sound, and some of the content is appealing to me. Other parts of it, I don’t like as much, but…it might be a cultural thing?

I was pretty determined to give this a high rating given its a seminal album in hip hop and music in general, but I feel that would be overly performative. I do like some wu-tang.. particularly protect ya neck but this really doesnt do it for me overall.

62 minutes might be three songs too long, but 36 Chambers was near-religion in my crevice of Cheshire in the mid-90s. I preferred some of the records that followed, but the scrappy, too-loud, raw and heavy qualities that the collective left behind with this stand out, along with the profanity, the sampler’s ear for minimalist earworms, and the violent surrealism of the lyrics delivered by some of my favourite voices in the genre. The songs are distinct, the album sequenced to bring out clashes, quite unlike the relatively polite wash of samey hip-hop this list mostly celebrates: the first half of the album flips mood, tempo and voice between every track. Even the skits feel more considered in their placement. This is a bleak, loud and oblique masterpiece, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, often brutal. It’s better than I remembered, and

I don't listen to The Wu-Tang Clan very often, but it's always a good time when I do. Gritty, serious but also lots of fun, with quality structure and delivery. Love it (periodically!) esp. ODB's contributions PSA: despite their claims to the contrary, Wu-Tang is not for the children. I had to turn it off 30 seconds into the daily school run

"Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" is the debut album by American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. Wu-Tang Clan was composed of a collective of rappers (nine on this album). This album was produced by member and de facto leader RZA. Due to a small budget, the studio was small, members had to fight for rap time and the cheap production outcome was a gritty sound all resulting in a landmark album. Harcore hip hop. East Coast hip hop. Alternative hip hop. Yep. The music was a collage of soul samples and clips from martial art films and lyrical themes included urban life, martial arts movies, comic books, drug use, violence and rap battles. The album was a critical and commercial success despite no pop radio or MTV play and was very influential for the renaissance of East Coast hip hop. It was put into the National Recording Registry in 2022 by the Library of Congress for its excellence and importance. The album begins with "Bring da Ruckus" and back and forth and in your face rapping by multiple rappers. A laid back groove. Various kung fu movie samples. An aggressive start. "Can It Be All Simple" samples Gladys Pipp. The hardships of growing up and wanting to live the life. Talking about all the Clan members. "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'" is worth the listen if just for its subject matter, chessboxin' which is playing chess, then boxing and back to chess. The competition continues until a knockout or a checkmate. Well, maybe back in the day that would have peaked my interest. "C.R.E.A.M." was the second single and uses great sampling from the Chamels "As Long as I Got You." The struggle of poverty and the desire to earn money. The first single "Protect Ya Neck" highlights their use of free associative rapping in essentially a battle rap. Another great soul sample in The J.B.'s "Grunt." "Tearz" has two stories going on. RZA describes his brother getting shot and Ghost Face Killah tells of a guy getting HIV. The melody is from Wendy Rene's "After Laughter (Comes Tears)." This album was loud, in your face and aggressive. The combination of all the rappers showcases their different personalities and styles. Many of these guys would have very successful solo careers. The sound is definitely gritty and I really liked the use of some pretty obscure soul songs in their sampling. A hip hop classic.

My cousin Matt showed me Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) when I was way-too-young, and the opening aggression on Bring Da Ruckus has not left my mind yet. The beats are low key, the martial arts references (literally in sampled movie dialogue and figuratively in lyrical references) are plentiful, and the nine-man assault weapon of rapping and rhyming is some of the best of all time. This album is #27 on the RS Top 500. I enjoyed this paragraph from the Pitchfork review: "36 Chambers directly paved the way for harder-edged New York rap and provided a hardcore hip-hop blueprint that’s been followed by rap purists and collectives for nearly three decades. It began the Tao of Wu, bonding nine Staten Island dreamers (RZA, GZA, U-God, Ghostface Killa, Method Mad, Inspectah Deck, Old Dirty Bastard, Raekwon and Masta Killa) by philosophies of the mind and the scents of the fried food wafting past Brooklyn’s Palmetto Playground. But more than anything, it’s a testament to pop culture’s power to create and forge brotherhood. In 2004’s Wu-Tang Manual, just over 10 years after the album’s release, RZA broke down the significance of its title as only he could: “You have the thirty-six chambers, and there's nine members of the Wu-Tang Clan. Each member of Wu-Tang has four chambers of the heart. And what's nine times four?”

It's 29 years ago that my brother, who curated the hip-hop part of our teenage years, walked into my room with his new discovery I had to listen to. Re-listening this now, all these years later, I notice that none of the raw, unvarnished grit has worn away from this album. It has fully stood the test of time with its minimalistic samples, spooky piano riffs and most of all the incredible quality of all 9 MC's. A stone cold classic in its genre. And my first 5* for a hiphop album on this list

Can't beat that review that said this "might be the Platonic ideal of hip hop". That reviewer is right on so many counts. If only because this album sounds as if it was recorded in a cave dug in the middle of projects, and yet is never ashamed of what it is, even developing a whole mystique around its lo-fi beats and minimalistic piano loops, or around its soul samples and rough rapping about destitute parts of New York. Shadows and light create a mesmerizing spectacle on the walls of this dark, dark cave. Each rapper in the collective effectively displays a specific personality or an idiosyncratic style (nicely expanded in each one's first solo forays) and RZA has a flair for catchy hooks drawing on a very *idealized* vision of eastern culture--mostly through kung-fu movie samples, but also through its ascetic ethos and borderline-zen aesthetics. The end result is as pure as it gets. Distinctively from its day and age and yet timeless--which is where you recognize a true masterpiece, whether it is in rap, rock or any other style of music. Even the overlong skits are bringing something that's actually relevant to the table--being part of what makes this record a quintessential one in the whole hip hop genre. A Platonic ideal indeed. Word. Number of albums left to review: 751 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 124 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 62 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): 64

Speaking as someone who once breastfed a flamingo to good health, I feel that I have the authority to make the ultimate judgement on this magnificent record. Wu-Tang Clan deliver a sumptuous, sexy, deadly fucknugget, that really makes me want to bend over and devour a watermelon with the lips of my anus. It's not often I say that. Such high praise indeed. What a brilliant man I am. Wu-Tang are very good, but not a patch on me. I'm so successful and awesome, that I make lesser men want to die. I am solely responsible for the rise in suicide rates amongst young males and it's entirely down to their jealousy of my incredible life. Catch me on the flipside, bitches, I'm off into town to capture myself a bride and some chicken wings. Ooooooh.

One of the greatest albums of all time. A top 10 in Hip hop a blueprint for current rap. 10/10

I’m not gonna sit here and act like I haven’t listened to this album since I was 13. This album is easily in my top 25 of all time. Every track is a hit for me. Couldn’t have gotten a better album on this day. Wutang is for the children

Man what a treat. This is one of those classic, Mount Rushmore kind of hip hop albums, right up there in contention with Illmatic and others as the greatest of all time. It's one I've listened to before, but at a time that I definitely didn't appreciate it. Hearing it now, it's incredible. The beats are so sinister, the raps are dark and heavy, and the little interludes of dialogue say a lot about the burgeoning future for Wu-Tang, storied as it would eventually become. It's crazy that this came out not only in the same year but on the same day as Midnight Marauders by A Tribe Called Quest, my favorite hip hop album ever. And honestly, this one is really high up there too. Obviously I need to spend more time with it to call it a favorite at any level, but listening through it this time is enough for me to know it deserves five stars. Perfectly dusty, spooky beats, gritty kung-fu samples, and hungry lyrical performances from everyone involved. The East Coast really did have something to say. Favorite tracks: 7th Chambers pt. 1 and 2, CREAM, Protect Ya Neck, Bring Da Ruckus, Da Mystery of Chessboxin. Album art: Honestly, this may have been what held me back from relistening to this or truly appreciating it. I can't say that it's a bad album cover, and it's obviously very recognizable, but it also just seems blurry and indistinct. Looking at it closely now, it's definitely cool, all the masked faces. But it still doesn't really catch my attention the way a lot of others do, including from solo Wu Tang member projects. Perfectly spooky though, so it fits. 5/5

Oh my days, best news ever! This is going to get five stars. I'm digging out the LP now, and I'm excited to listen to it again, even though I listened to Protect Ya Neck last Friday. Listened to it. It's still like the difference between Batman and Robin (the Joel Schumacher film) and Avengers Endgame. It was a leap forward, and features a group where every part improves the whole (even U-God). So many bars on this are just pure poetry. And that's before you even consider RZA's inspired 'dark soul' production and the Kung Fu symbolism. If you don't love it, I can't even help you, soz.

Wu-Tang is for the kids! This album is lightning in a bottle, never captured before or since. While other hip-hop groups have brought their A-game (Sugarhill Gang, N.W.A., Brockhampton, etc.), only the Wu-Tang Clan have delivered an album so hardcore, so tight, and so impressive. Not a second is wasted with every member giving their all, from RZA's beats to every MC featured. Also worth noting that this album would launch successful solo careers for several members, including GZA, Ghostface Killah, and of course Ol' Dirty Bastard who passed too soon. There's not a bad song on here. People who bought this cassette back in the 90's got 100% of their money's worth this one. I can't say enough thing about Wu-Tang's untouchable debut. Enter the 36 chambers....

Okay, a fantastic album by one of the most talented acts of the 90s. I have previously said that the dominance of gangsta rap help back hip-hop, yet here we have the greatest gangsta rap of them all. Now, it's interesting to compare this to Tupac's All Eyez on me. With that, there was the constant sense of a punch being pulled, of someone playing at being a thug, and playing at being a poet, and fallaciously assuming that the logic would make him a thug poet. With Enter the Wu-Tang, we have proper thug poets. We have such uncompromising music and such uncompromising lyricism, and both beguile. One will love the dark laughter. If people tolerated gangsta rap as it gave the promise of an eventual wonderful act, this is that promise being fulfilled. The mysticism is piffle, but that's in no way a dealbreaker: it's nice to have an east-coast hardcore rap outfit culturally appropriating kung-fu movie lore.

Yo my name is Wu-Tang and I’m rizzety-rappin’ The Armenian genocide didn’t happen

No idea how such sweary, angry, mysoginistic, self aggrandising can feel so mellow and welcoming. Well done.

Rousing debut, shock the world, revolutionary

It's always fun to listen to something that you've already heard many things influenced by.

About two-thirds of the way through this debut that changed the whole game, there's a skit which sees the Wu-Tang Clan try to one-up each other with methods of torture, involving bedposts, spiked bats, hot pokers, rusty screwdrivers, and more. On a first listen, it's crass, shocking, horrific. By the tenth listen, I was laughing along, shouting "Go on, Method Man! Sew his mother-fucking ass closed!" Such is the immersive world of "36 Chambers": the repartee of the Wu-Tang Clan, the "don't-look-away" sense of vitality and urgency pumping through this record. Thirty years after its release, "Enter the Wu-Tang" is an undisputed classic of its genre, its tense and gritty sound embodying 90's East Coast hip-hop. It's unpolished, rough around the edges, like a live open mic session in a basement as the Clan spar off each other. On first listen I was underwhelmed, but I've come to really appreciate the "liveness" of it. The Wu-Tang world is a harsh, brutal place bristling with violence, injustice and brotherhood. I had to get used to the lyrical content: there's not really any narrative or journey here, but a cycle of braggadocios and grim landscapes of inner-city New York. The songs focus on what the Wu-Tang Clan know about life: hustling, looting and shooting to survive in an endless cycle. This is partly expressed in hard-edged, aggressive tracks and partly through more lush, introspective numbers ("C.R.E.A.M" ought to give a lot of pause to any white listener bemoaning violence in hip-hop). Even the skits, distracting and annoying in most hip-hop albums, only serve to bind the group together and give us context on who they are. One of the main joys of getting to know "Enter the Wu-Tang" has been gradually piecing together who is contributing what, how the group fit together and where each member excels. The Clan trade verses on the mic throughout each song, their features being won against each other through a series of rap battles in a small cramped studio. To my ears, the most distinctive voices are Ol' Dirty Bastard (whose gravelly, gritty intonation carries tracks like "Shame on a N*gga") and Ghostface (theatrical, higher-pitched, yelping urgency- his best verses for me come at the very start of the album, and then in "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'"). And RZA is the mastermind, producing the majority of tracks and splicing together the kung-fu samples which give the record such a distinct flavour. (Other production stand-outs include the sample of "After Laughter" in "Tearz"; bringing in superhero theme "Underdog" to provide the "woo's" in "Wu Tang Clan Ain't Nuthin to F' Wit"; the snare being hit at the bottom of a stairwell in opener "Bring da Ruckus". That's some Led Zeppelin shit.) But it's Method Man I'd reserve the biggest praise for on this record: he's the only member to carry a whole track (fittingly enough, named "Method Man") and it's packed with razor-sharp wordplay and dense allusions. His vocals are smooth and measured throughout, effortlessly spitting out humour and horror in equal measure. His solo track is the high point of the record.

Love this album, when Ghostface starts on ‘Bring Da Ruckus’ you’re in for a wild ride. The group helped make New York Hip Hop and this album is some of the best. It shows with tracks like ‘Method Man’, C.R.E.A.M. and ‘Da Mystery of Chessboxing’, these should be in any Hip-Hop Playlist. Method Man and Raekwon are especially good in this album along with Ghostface and GZA which are always consistent. The only issue I have found with this album over time is that I normally skip some tracks for example ‘Can It Be All So Simple’ seems out and place, it by far the weakest track/skit. It leads to the album feeling especially long with the skits before or after some tracks. Overall, this album will always be one of the best Hip Hop albums along with Wu-Tang as they have a unique style.

An amazing debut with at least three indisputable all-time hip hop classic tracks on it (more if you're a fan). I remember some friends going bonkers over this record when it initially came out (and I wasn't into it). Later, I warmed to it, but I've always sort of held Wu-Tang Clan at arms length.

It was good. Rap isn’t really my thing, although I am starting to like it more. This is definitely better than the stuff that’s out today, that’s for sure. I really like that C.R.E.A.M song.

I always find this a strange listen. It's ok but never fully grabs me but everyone else loves it. 28 years old? I guess I was still going through my grunge phase? Tell you what I did love at this time - The Disposable Heroes of Hypocrisy. 1992's 'Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury' still sounds more vital than this. Shame Franti decided he wanted to be reborn as the new Bob Marley.

There are some good beats on this album which helped me make it through the album. The lyrics and content --> this album is not for me.

Not work appropriate!

-Just not the biggest fan of most of the flows/styles -there were bits of good flow in "Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber," "Mystery of Cheeseboxin'," and "Protect Ya Neck" -I did like Method Man's style, all of his stuff was nice

I tried - but it’s not really my thing

Not available for streaming

Not much of a lyrics person, but a certain usually-unflappable wife just called what she heard ‘grotesque’. These guys have gnawn a cult following over the years, but haven’t gotten into them.

It's pretty good as far as hip hop goes, but at the end of the day I just don't enjoy this genre much. Although Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing ta F'Wit is stuck in my head I have to admit. 2 stars.

Absolute and complete shite

I've heard this described as one of, if not THE, greatest hip-hop album of all time. Well, if this is the definitive, then I'm prepared to write off the genre as a whole at this point. I'm sorry to say that I hated this. I went in with an open mind and listened to the full album, watched a review of the album that provided a lot of context, but I just simply did not enjoy this. I won't be listening to this again. Sorry to all Wu-Tang Clan fans out there, it's just not for me. At least I can say that with confidence now having given it a real chance.

I really disliked this album. One of the songs - C.R.E.A.M. made me so uncontrollably angry because of the same repetitive screech sound I couldn’t bare it. Nothing good came from this album.

J-Roc is my favorite Wu Tang Clan member.

EASY 5 STARS GTF OUTTA HEEAAHHHHH

Classic. 7th grade me bopping down the street to Bring the Ruckus. Smooth transitions and lots of strong standalone tracks. GZA the GENIUS.

Wu-Tang forever

An incredible 10/10 project, The Wu-Tang Clan's 'Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)' stands as a singular moment in Hip-Hop history. I could honestly write full essays about the carousel of voices, how it moved old school boom bap groups away from seeming like they're just colleague's making to capital in booths to a vivid visualisation of a team each engaging in a playful Dozens, but since this is 1001Albums, I'm just going to advise those who weren't gripped to listen to this end to end reading along to the lyrics, knowing exactly who is saying what. The depths you'll discover from each member of the group will astound you.

30 years on I still hear new things in every listen

Listened to the expanded edition, as the only version of the recommended nine track (original?) I could find on streaming was the censored version. Honestly what is there to say about this? Game changing, genre defining, pure heat from beginning to end. Easy 5/5

Wutang is for the children

Reviewing the reviews of everyone who less than 3 starred. Unimpressed. Ironically, these people are probably children. WU-TANG killa bees

One of the best rap albums of all time.

Tie for best 90s rap album with illmatic. Terrific album. It's holds up so much better than it should.

This is a classic. RZA is the genius here. If you think that sampling isn't original, listen to this. RZA provides a masterclass on laying down backing tracks. Overall, it's an incredible debut album. Liked Songs Added: Bring Da Ruckus Can't It All Be So Simple Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing Ta F' Wit C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me) Method Man Protect Ya Neck

"Your soul have just been tooken Through the 36 Chambers of death, kid"

The best thing to ever come from Staten Island. A little more profanity than I care for but the sounds and rhymes are great.

Classic rap album.

Possibly greatest old school hip hop album of all time?

ABSOLUTE hip-hop classic!

One of the most important pieces of sound ever put to recording...historically speaking and also to me...personally. To say my ears weren't ready for this when I first listened to it would be an understatement. My melody-seeking ears weren't primed for anything this rugged, filthy, and unrelenting in its consistency. But it took only a few listens to awaken something in teenage me, and for that, this album will always remain a personal favorite. Not going to dabble into this album's historical context 'cause it'd be redundant at this point, you can read up on it in a billion different places, though I recommend the RZA-authored 'Tao of Wu'. But setting the scene, it's the early '90s in Staten Island and this group of 9-or-so emcees drops this tight little package filled with the dirtiest hip-hop to date. No studio polish and no large production crews, just 9 dudes sounding as unique as 9 different dudes on one album can possibly sound. Oh yeah, and they were taking up this idiosyncratic role of masked samurais if you couldn't pick up on that already from the name of the group being "Wu-tang" and the album cover. I'm sure this thing blew everyone away when it came out, 'cause I know it blew me away 20+ years after it was released. With all that out of the way though, I've decided to structure this review by talking a bit (hopefully) about each of these 9 "dudes". RZA: Alright I'll throw all my production gushing into this section because RZA is the mastermind behind it all. This guy's the greatest producer in hip-hop history, bar none. This album is a testament to that, but so is the rest of the '90s Wu-tang solo run. It comes down to simplicity, it's like the opposite of what makes an album like 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back' by Public Enemy so great. On these songs, you've got one strong, usually off-kilter, and very personable sample looping over and over again. Not uncommon for hip-hop...sure, but the real talent here is with just how good the one-bar loops here are, they're insatiable. The bass on 'Shame' followed by that clunky, cluttered brass section on ODB's chorus portion may be the feistiest thing here. The sinister keys on 'Da Mystery of Chessboxing' leave so much open space to evoke this feeling of being in a large, dark, echoey room...and not knowing where the enemy will strike from. The weird vocal sample on 'Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing to F'Wit', for as cartoony as it is, is quite ominous, and nicely contrasts the generally "cheerful" bass and snap sounds the rest of this beat is composed of. The piano on 'C.R.E.A.M' is iconic and the keys on 'Method Man' make the entire song sound like the theme song for a big bad cartoonish villain. I love the entire beat of 'Protect Ya Neck', it's the weird little clips that fade in and out, like the piano, weird high-pitched theremin thing, and that menacing string sample. While the beats are repetitive, you do still get these cool little clips on top to give them a more dynamic feel. The opener 'Bring Da Ruckus' for example, may be the most dynamic beat here, but the little cartoony horn sample thing that comes in near the beginning of the GZA's verse is such an incredible little touch. And, on the "censored" version of 'Protect Ya Neck', those electric guitar hits on the swear words make me prefer that version to the uncensored version. And those martial-arts movie samples are just as essential to the world-building here as the music and lyrics, whether they're intertwined with the beat itself like on the "Tiger Style" vocal samples of 'Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing to F'with' or whether they're just there to introduce or send off the song like the "Game of Chess" sample on 'Da Mystery of Chessboxin''. So yeah, the RZA is a genius producer, but also I love the guy's rapping voice. It's ahead of its time, and quite unconventional. He's not as present here as on say Gravediggaz '6 Feet Deep', but his yelp-style still allows him to stick out whenever he does appear. My favorite verse of his is the emotive one on 'Tearz' as he details the murder of his little brother. GZA: GZA has always been my favorite Wu-tang member lyrically speaking. I'll talk about 'Liquid Swords' when the time comes (an album I like even more than this one), but god damn the dude can rap. He's lowkey, his delivery isn't bombastic or in-your-face like the many other guys here. He's heady which makes sense given the fact that he is the "head" of the Voltron formation that is the Wu-tang Clan. He doesn't rap on here as often as I'd like, but he is one of two rappers that gets his own song with 'Clan In Da Front', a great spotlight track. But it's his verse on 'Protect Ya Neck' that has him coming at major labels that's my favorite. It may even be my favorite verse on the entire album. Method Man: A deep, kinda lax delivery style in an album this full of viscera can easily end up bogging down the whole thing, but Method Man manages to pull this off spotlessly. He does great on the hooks, with 'C.R.E.A.M' and 'Mystery of Chessboxin' but his standout moment on this album is his spotlight track, the aptly named 'Method Man'. Laugh all you want at the ridiculousness of the rhymes here, but it's just how impeccable his delivery is under that menacing piano line that makes this song one of my favorites. I really like this dude's rapping, makes me sad that he's the punching bag of the group on the opening skit on 'Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber'. Inspectah Deck: The unfortunate story of Deck relating to his solo album being one of the many victims of the studio flooding in the mid-90s has always made him less memorable for me outside of this album. But that's never made his rapping any less incredible, in fact, I'd say he's one of the strongest rappers here. I think the guy's style is no style, he just always comes in guns blazing with his verses like with his opening verse on 'Protect Ya Neck'. And you don't get one of the two verses on the seminal 'C.R.E.A.M' by being a weak rapper. In this song, Deck tragically details his crushed dreams as a child at the hands of incarceration and drugs, as he urges the youth to not make those same mistakes. It's a standout and heartfelt moment on this album that always gave the entire thing this melancholic edge. Ghostface Killah: Maybe the most addicting rapper to listen to on here. The way the guy seamlessly strings together phrases, references, and bars is invigorating. There's a reason he gets the first (and last) verse on this album. His best verse has got to be his one on 'Da Mystery of Chessboxin'', pure rap battle bliss with that one. He's another guy who values delivery above anything else, the guy could be saying practically anything and he'd still make it sound badass. His introspective side comes out too on 'Can It Be All So Simple', a reminiscing track, and on 'Tearz' where he raps about his friend's HIV infection, with his closing lines being almost haunting as he captures that dreadful feeling of imminent death at the hands of the virus. Raekwon: Rae and Ghost have always been very close-knit, yet their styles couldn't be more different. Raekwon, like GZA, is very lowkey, his defining characteristic is his rasp. But he still manages to do the battle rap thing just as well as Ghost, going toe-to-toe with him on 'Da Mystery of Chessboxin''. But it's not a question, his best verse is on 'C.R.E.A.M', where he drops one of the most descriptive story-telling raps of the '90s. Ol' Dirty Bastard: R.I.P. to this man, there is no other rapper, and there never will be another rapper like ODB. Saying he's fun to listen to would be the understatement of the century - the guy's hilarious. I mean what rapper uses the line "Dirty, I keep shit stains in my drawers so I can get fizzy-funky for ya". None, the answer is none, no one, except ODB. He's another rapper who's not on this album enough, but his verse on 'Da Mystery of Chessboxin'' makes up for it, it's the equivalent of a hundred verses. He also has my second favorite verse on 'Protect Ya' Neck', such a badass re-entry after that interlude. U-God: U-God is not super present on this album, but when he does show up, it's a nice change of pace, adding another unique voice to the already colorful Wu-Tang cast. The verse everyone talks about as his best is his opening on 'Da Mystery of Chessboxin'', and I've always been inclined to agree - it's a very strong, hulking intro to this monster of a song. Masta Killah: Literally gets one verse on here but it's one of the best verses on the damn album. Of course, again, it's on 'Da Mystery of Chessboxin'' but the damn thing is so memorable. He comes in with such a complex flow, constantly overstepping the bar line while hitting the listener with non-stop martial arts wordplay. I've always found he's super underrated, his 2004 solo album, 'No Said Date', is great. So that's all nine of the dudes here. They all rule. Wu-Tang Clan's 'Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)' is, indubitably, one of the most unfuckwithable pieces of art to grace us humans. It's addictive, it seeps into your veins, your mind, and your consciousness and refuses to leave. And it's not just this album, the entire '90s Wu-Tang run (solo and group) is just as strong as this. There really is nothing like the Wu-Tang Clan. (No I'm not overselling this thing)

I regret not giving this album a chance.

Absolute all-timer.

I've been meaning to checkout this album for the longest time, and I am glad I finally did. I understand why this album is held in such high regard. Great beats, great rapping, and great energy throughout this album. There are a few misses on the album and a few too many skits, but besides that there are a lot of bangers on here. Low 5.

Day312 - i was so into grunge and alternative in 1993 to appreciate how good the wu tang clan was and this one has hit after hit

Love it

Hip-hop perfection. If this isn't in the top 5 for wny "best of all time" hip-hop lists, it's a bad list. Every song on this is a classic. This album has no skips, and every second on this record is utilised to perfection. This record kick started an insane amount of careers, and with good reason. One of my favourite hip-hop albums, and it's always a pleasure to come back and listen to it. I do prefer the expanded edition, the remasters tweaked a bit of the patchy 90's quality, but nevertheless, whichever version you're listening to, it's perfect. Favourite song off here has gotta be Da Mystery of Chessboxin', but every other song I'd have no idea what would be my second favourite, they're all so special and perfect to me.

Still goes really hard. While I've always liked the style and mood that their music sets I felt like I was really taken in more by their beats and samples than I have been listening to them in the past. The groups rhymes as a whole are all really good but the way they construct their beats and of course their usage of cheesy old martial arts dubbing gives it a sound that is both indistinguishably Wu Tang, while also giving room for different tempos and feelings. Which can range from more energetic and intense to you can really just lay back and unwind to. Probably the only negative thing I could even suggest is that (at least for the spotify version) the interludes are not segmented into their own parts on the album Highlights: Protect Ya Neck, Bring Da Ruckus, Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing ta F' wit

There is not a wasted second on this banger of a record. Every single track and interlude goes hard as fuck and is such a crazy contrast to the west coast sound it was contemporary with. Insane debut.

Classic hip hop album. Love all the different flows and clever lyrics. A few stumbles but too many hits to not love this album.

Stone cold classic, every song has something to offer and even the skits are all-timers. I read some other people's reviews and saw their complaints and I want to point out that this album is more than the sum of its many parts: RZA's production is simplistic? Yes, it lets everybody have a chance to shine. Rhymes are simplistic? I mean, in the context of 2024, I guess, but there are some all-timer bars here and the interplay is part of the fun. Kung Fu is corny? Sorry man, you're actually lame as hell.

One of the best rap albums of all time. Every time ODB shows up it's like turning the knob to 11. Each member lays down some insane verses throughout the album, and the production is so interesting. Don't think I even need say more about this album, it's pretty much all been said hundreds of times over

I know I said previously that Boston had the greatest debut album but I probably should have specified *rock* debut album. Because this, this is the greatest debut album of all time.

Class

Easily one of the best hip hop projects of the 90’s. It oozes with confidence, skill, narrative, and humor. What an introduction to this rag tag group of geniuses. Also C.R.E.A.M. is one of the best hip hop songs of all time.

I've had every word of this album memorized since the day it came out. It is more or less perfect.

Sampling and production is great, not my favourite genre of music but this is definitely the type of hip-hop I'd go for. Gonna give it 4 stars, more than likely will give it more listens again

Classic

Great album, probably aged a bit now but nostalgia brings me to a 5.

DOPE

Unbeatable