Liquid Swords (CD)

GZA (aka the Genius) was one of the three founding members--along with his cousins the RZA and Ol' Dirty Bastard--of the supremely influential Staten Island rap group the Wu-Tang Clan. With a steadily relentless flow that mixed gritty street imagery with intelligent lyrics and incisive commentary, GZA became one of the crew's most respected MCs and the group's most consistent link to the hip-hop underground. Although GZA's solo career hasn't been as successful as those of other members of the Wu, his debut, LIQUID SWORDS, is considered one of the finest hip-hop releases of the 1990s, and arguably the best of the original run of Wu solo records.

• Category:  Music  »  Rap & Hip Hop  »  East Coast Rap
• Format: CD   Learn more about the CD format using Tower WIKI.
• Release Date: May 7, 2005
• Label: Geffen Records (USA)
• UPC: 720642481325
• WAPI (Tower ID): 105768779
• Average Customer Review: There are no customer reviews yet. Be the first to write a review!
• Tower.com Sales Rank: #20110 in Music (See Top 100 Music Bestsellers)
• #532 in Rap & Hip Hop (See Top 100 Rap & Hip Hop Bestsellers)
• #68 in East Coast Rap (See Top 100 East Coast Rap Bestsellers)

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Rolling Stone (11/30/95, pp.66-67) - 3 Stars - Good - "...It's probably the heaviest Wu-Tang production to date....Genius pulls you into his chamber headfirst....LIQUID SWORDS cuts to the bone, another deadly efficient Wu-banger..."
Entertainment Weekly (12/22/95, p.70) - "...an intriguing paradox of wordplay and profanity, juvenilia and wisdom." - Rating: B+
Q (2/96, p.96) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...inventively laid-back sample collage of hip hop that offsets his biting messages...the result is dramatic and hypnotic..."
The Wire (10/01, p.46) - "...Genius trades 'romance' for 'crime'...and his icy skills certainly work better with darker scenarios..."
Option (3-4/96, pp.104-105) - "...Genius' verbalistics evoke that creepy feeling you get negotiating certain inner-city neighborhoods on pitch black nights..."
Melody Maker (12/23-30/95, pp.66-67) - Ranked #42 on Melody Maker's list of 1995's `Albums Of The Year.'
Melody Maker (11/25/95, p.36) - "...the keywords...are synthetic and cinematic....the narrator of these ghostly/ghastly horrorcore tales is on the outside looking in, a voyeur...buzzing off the ghetto misery, wondering how to respond....one of the dozen or so best (G-Funk) albums of the year."
Rap Pages (1/96, p.31) - 8 (out of 10) - "...LIQUID SWORDS presents the GZA as sword-style rhyme originator, holding court over his young disciples....reverential guest appearances from the rest of the Clan...inject the album with some of its most memorable moments....Wu-Tang continue to challenge and confound all expectations of what their music is about..."
NME (Magazine) (12/23-30/95, pp.22-23) - Ranked #30 in NME's `Top 50 Albums Of The Year' for 1995.
NME (Magazine) (11/11/95, p.46) - 9 (out of 10) - "...The best hip-hop album for years. Fact...The RZA's production...is spooked, creaky, incredibly dense....The tricks he's practised on previous Clan albums...reach their apogee here....Genius' quite brilliant lyrics [have] a complexity, a rush of imagery, a strangely poetic drama of brutality..."

Personnel includes: Genius/GZA a.k.a. Maximillion, Lou Diamonds a.k.a. Raekwon The Chef, Tony Starks a.k.a. Ghost Face Killer, Lucky Hands a.k.a. U-God, Ol' Dirty Bastard a.k.a. Dirt Megirt, Rolly Fingers a.k.a. Inspectah Deck, Johnny Blaze a.k.a. Method Man, Master Killer a.k.a. Noodles, Killah Priest, Dreddy Kruger, Life (vocals).

The song titles of LIQUID SWORDS do not appear in order on the CD package.

The acknowledged head of the Wu-Tang Clan, Genius (a.k.a. GZA) delivers the fifth Wu-banger with his sophomore solo album. Musically, LIQUID SWORDS is the Clan's strongest solo release to date, and lyrically, Genius comes correct with a style he describes as "too swift to bite."

LIQUID SWORDS contains two types of songs, all backed by the RZA's skillful production. On the one hand, Genius schools the Clan's followers through songs that address serious problems experienced in every day inner-city life. "Cold World," which is backed by whirling wind sound, contains mini-stories that illustrate the misfortunes of gun-slinging in the hip-hop community. "Investigative Reports" goes even deeper in administering the blame, suggesting that drug-related crimes stem from a higher authority. On the other hand, there are the Clan's kung-fu metaphors, which show up on Genius' more Wu-styled songs. On "Duel Of The Iron Mic," he's joined by a number of fellow Clansmen to reinstate the idea that no one can match them, despite numerous attempts to copy their image and concepts. Similarly, the production on songs like "4th Chamber" and "Shadowboxin'" closely relates them to ENTER THE 36 CHAMBERS, and helps make LIQUID SWORDS a complete Wu release.

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