Any wu tang fans here? What are your thoughts on their latest album?

Hmmmmm...

I've only given it 1 good and complete listen and probably won't be able to do so again until the holidays but...

Overall, it's interesting and has some tunes that I really like (Rukus in B Minor, Necklace, Crushed Egos, and I could probably name one more) but there are more songs that I don't care for. I respect Rza for constantly evolving and pushing his envelope as a producer/beat maker, but (like some other artists who'll remain anonymous when I'm posting on their forums) there comes a point when I have to say "sorry- I'll always love your old stuff but I'm not feeling your current sound at all".

Too many of the tracks have way too much use of live instruments and I like Rza's sound better when he finds new ways to utilize obscure soul and jazz samples. I'm not feeling, at all, the Wu rapping over Harold Melvin/Blue Notes (Wake Up) and O'Jays (Family Reunion) samples. Verdict's still out on the "Son of a Preacher Man" sample/remake, but it's killed by the long instumental at the end of the record- too r&b/rock-ish and not very Hip Hop. Lyrics are on point as usual but not as sharp as I expected. Believe it or not, there are some Deck and Rza verses that I feel should've been rewritten and not enough Gza, Cappadonna, or U-God throughout the album. Last complaint: the dude that Rza has singing hooks on more than half the album really kills the vibe for me- Wu-Tang didn't invent the "no hook" sound in hip hop but they perfected it. Everytime I hear this guy singing, I say to myself (in my Blazing Saddles voice) "we don't need no stinking hooks"!

Rza's one of those that can say that his "worst" is better than most people's "best" and this may confirm that for me. This one is the worst of all of the Wu albums (maybe tied with "the W"), but there are some incredible moments on this album that make it worth the purchase price and then some.

Lastly, for the record- I may be the only Wu fan on Earth that thinks that "8 Diagrams" is one of the all-time great hip hop albums so you may want to disregard my "thoughts" on this one.

Wu Tang Clan ain't nothin to fuck wit!