when did it all go wrong for the Wu?

anything coming from the wu that is good now, is coming from affiliates.

haha, he's funny again!!

but, oops, i dont understand this last statement of yours. its 2003, not 2008, we dont live in 5 years time, we live now. what you are saying sound suspiciously like the old "stand the test of time" thing. its not furniture! you dont buy a record thinking, "ooh will i get 5 years use out of this, or only 18 months? perhaps i ought to chart its decremental usage value over 6 month blocks, and only purchase if the depreciation ratio is below 40%" if you like it NOW thats what counts.

maybe it will be wack, who knows? maybe people will live in the past and only play 5 year old records then too,

tical 2000 > tical, bulletproof wallets > ironman - i don't bloody think so!

a) as surprising as they were
b) as miles ahead of the competition as they were

But absolute quality has not fallen off.

Except for GZA who is now the new KRS1...

Can't expect artists to completely re-invent themselves in new and surprising ways every couple of years. (Except Momus of course ;-)

also 36 chambers isn't an album i wanna hear lots anymore much as it gets luv. far better for new stuff which is still good and also i'm not bored with yet!

Only GFK manages to drop a good verse.

they should call it a day as the Wu, and just do their own thing....

Bronze Nazareth seems to holding aloft the banner for old style wu productions...

yes, it is. he was also living in the streets for some months.

killarmy started where the first wu-tang album left off.

robin--- you have to hear the rest! Ghostface has been steadily on the rise since his first solo.

and i have 3 killarmy albums, and 6 of their singles. so fuck all you doubters!

1) Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
2) 36 Chambers
3) Supreme Clientele

The Wu stopped mattering immediately after Forever. The first generation Wu shit is untouchable. Liquid Swords, boring? Bizarre.

Now that I think of it, I think I prefer Wu side projects and solo albums to the group LP's. "6 Feet Deep" is certainly better than "36 Chambers", and "Digital Bullet" and "Bulletproof Wallets" also beat "Forever" and "The W". I've yet to buy "Iron Flag", however...

Is the wrongest thing I've read in weeks! Lordy. 'Gravel Pit' is almighty, tho.

They all still record a lot of strong material, so I don't think they necessarily lost it, but every member of the Clan has released some very weak material well below their talent level (Raekwon, RZA, and the GZA especially - there's no good excuse for them to settle for putting out records as uninspired as Immobiliarity, Digital Bullet, and Below The Surface given their gifts.)

Does anyone know when they are going to do a follow up to Iron Flag? It's been a couple years now, and ODB is out of jail, so they really should get back in the studio.

The Wu are like the GBV of hip hop - tons of records, and lots of brilliant songs lost to most people because they end up on these side project records which almost everyone dismisses out of hand. Never the less, even on lame-ass records like Inspectah Deck's solo album, you still get at least one great song (in that album's case, "Movas And Shakas.")

BTW this is a great track, but I normally hate him. he is an abomination of an MC

I like U-God, in small doses. He's got an extremely unique and specific style, and he gets better as he goes along. He's a one trick pony, for sure, but when he's on and he's got a good beat to work off of, he can be a revelation. Check out his verses on "Gravel Pit" and "Soul Power" - he totally works in those songs.

So, with a guy like U-God, it's like how on its own a cello is fairly limited instrument, but in an arrangement with other instruments, it can sound amazing. The best Wu solo albums (with the exception of ODB's stuff, I guess) are the ones which involve the rest of the Clan or top-drawer collaborators such as Supreme Clientele, Cuban Linx, Blackout!, and Liquid Swords. Those albums are star vehicles, but definitely team efforts.

· Wu-Tang: The Final Chamber
Published on May 9th, 2003

The RZA now officially has confirmed that the Wu-Tang Clan will make a new album, which will be their last, featuring the recently released Ol' Dirty Bastard.

Speaking to Choice FM he said that the legendary Staten Island hip-hop collective owed fans one last group album since ODB had not been present to contribute to the last two albums.

"When he's out, he's gonna drop the hottest shit," RZA told playlouder in a recent interview.

RZA has previously promised that the much talked about Eight Diagram album would be recorded and a summer release date seems to be on the cards altough other sources are talking about the month December.

In addition to a new Wu-Tang album, solo albums are in the works from Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, Raekwon, Method Man, Masta Killa and U-God.

RZA also confirmed that his own third and final Bobby Digital album is to be released in the summer. The eagerly anticipated The Cure will be released in the year 2004.

As far as a new Wu album goes, I wouldn't get my hopes up about it being that great. Wu-Tang were a great GROUP when they were all talking about choppin heads and shadowboxin, now they all have real distinct personalites and when they get together it goes so many different directions at once. RZA, Ghost and Rae still seem to be pretty tight; obviously Masta Killa and RZA are still close. But hell, GZA's last one sounded more like a Roc-a-fella album than Wu-Tang and Method Man, uh I never thought he really fit in, but he gets further each passing day. Wu-Tang were once magic; now they are simply good. As good, or better, than most but thats not up to the bar that THEY set. Same thing happened to Nas. and Metallica. and Haircut 100.

It's a RZA/Prince Paul collab, and it sounds a lot more like Wu-Tang than like De La Soul. To me it always was a logical continuation of the "36 Chambers" sound.

Can someone explain what happened to this for me? I got the vinyl and, aside from the track listing on the sleeve being totally out of order, "the Sun" isn't even on the record even though it's listed on the sleeve!!! Now, I would've bought this album regardless, but I was extra-excited to hear Slick Rick sidle up to Ghost and Raekwon and when I slapped that fucker on the turntable and got bupkiss I practically hit the ceiling. LAME LAME LAME misleading packaging. And I *still* really wanna hear this tune. So what happened to it?

where is the option for "never"

seriously though I loved Iron Flag and liked (but didn't love) 8 Diagrams. i think Wu-Tang set the bar so high for themselves that good but not great releases (of which there are many in their vast catalog) came with an elevated sense of disappointment, resulting in people cataloging the albums with other 'bad' rap albums. like i mean I even like stuff like GZA's "Pro Tools", Method Man's 4:21, and Wu Massacre.