Method Man - Tical

 

Following the release of the classic group effort Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), RZA decided that the new plan for the Clan (see what I did there?) was to release solo albums from each member of the 9 man strong collective. Since Method Man was the most well-received member by the public (this could have been to do with the fact that he had a song literally named after him, so everyone automatically knew his name), he was the first to sign a solo record deal (with the at-the-time hugely popular hip-hop label Def Jam), and would therefore be the first to get out a solo album. Meth and The RZA therefore almost immediately set about working on this album, and bear in mind The RZA was also working on another album by the now very overlooked Inspectah Deck, and once both were all completed and mastered, RZA decided the most sensible thing to do was to have only one copy of each album in existence, and to keep them both down in his poorly built basement. Not a very "razor sharp" piece of judgment if you ask me. And, what a surprise, said basement flooded, and both Meth and Deck's albums were lost. Fuck.

After this now infamous disaster occurred, the pair's only choice was to desperately attempt to remake and re-record everything, and that's exactly what they did. Unfortunately, they didn't have much time, and so a lot of the recording on Meth's part had to be done right after shows, when he was tired and out of breath, not unlike what happened with the universally shitted-on Kingdom Come album by Jay-Z. Also, RZA had to rush his production and mixing as well, hence why on a few of these songs it's almost entirely impossible to hear Method Man's actual vocals, especially if you're on a loud and crowded bus. Still, they eventually did manage to get the project released in late 1994, and despite the major issues that came with the creation of the work, this album was widely praised, and even ended up winning a Grammy for the popular remix track "I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need To Get By" with Mary J. Blige. However, in the long run, this album has largely been covered up by swathes of Wu albums such as Only Built For Cuban Linx... and Liquid Swords, albums that weren't rushed, and weren't trying to redo something that had already been created and sadly lost. Today, Meth is frequently bought up in conversations about "best rapper without a classic solo album", something he probably feels quite annoyed about, since he DOES have (or would have had) a classic album, only one that no-one was able to Goddamned hear. 

Still, Tical does appear in the reasonably recent book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, so that's got to mean something, right? Well, I think we can leave it up to me to decide whether Tical is a classic or not. 

All tracks are produced by The RZA, except where noted.

1. Tical

For those who are unaware, Tical actually refers to any kind of laced weed - Meth is well known for being one of rap's biggest potheads, and frequently hooks up with Redman for songs discussing this exact thing (their first song together was called "How High", a title later taken for a film that also starred the pair). Anyway, this track begins with a few pretty Wu sounding Kung-Fu samples, only this time, they're more musical than usual. After this, we get an oddly delivered hook, before THE dopest bassline of all time (possibly a slight exaggeration) comes in, and Method Man comes in and kills this beat as if it had hijacked his children, dogs AND his apocalyptic film collection (yes, that's a bit of foreshadowing). This track is absolutely incredible, sounding even grimier than the material on Enter the Wu-Tang, and the production is especially rugged. What a way to begin.

2. Biscuits

This was the song I was referring to in the introduction paragraphs with the bit about it being "almost entirely impossible to hear Method Man's actual vocals". This song is mixed so poorly that Meth appears to have sunk deep down below the drums and sound effects used in this creative beat, sort of like that scene in the fictional story The Left/Right Game. Once you do catch his lyrics, though, you find that they are very stellar, and the hook is memorable too. Another dope track.

3. Bring the Pain

The lead single, and it's incredible. This track is slightly faster-paced than the first two songs, and is a classic for a reason - this one has yet another memorable hook and quite incredible lyrics occurring in the verses. The grimy beat is also iconic, as are Meth's opening lines: "I came to bring the pain, hardcore from the brain, let's go inside my astral plane. Find out my mental, based on instrumental records, hey, so I can write monumental". These lines were also interpolated for Meth's later hit "What's Happenin'" with Busta Rhymes, which is worth noting. A classic track, even though Booster's guest vocals were a bit annoying.

4. All I Need

This one is not as famous as the Grammy winning remix, but it very nearly matches it in quality. The beat is a more haunting and grimy version of the aforementioned remix that you've almost certainly heard somewhere, and the Streetlife hook is very memorable. This is still a love song, bear in mind, and so some fans may feel the need to skip over it, but please don't, as this most definitely deserves a listen, with Meth's verses being truly heartfelt and powerful.

5. What The Blood Clot

Over a very, VERY dreary (not necessarily in a bad way) piano-led beat, Method Man spits a memorable verse where he first uses the term "look up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane", an idiom he would utilise later on his famous collaborative track with Redman "How High" (he said something similar on the title track, but not in this exact manner). After this great verse, however, he decides to drearily list out a bunch of random names that surely no-one outside of Meth's inner circle wants to goddamn hear, similar to what RZA did on the intro to the Wu-Tang track "Clan In Da Front". This track is good, but that beat really did need a bit more energy.

6. Meth Vs. Chef (feat. Raekwon)

Misspelt inside the booklet as "Meths Vs. Chef", which is something that always gets on my nerves. Did no-one bother to read over the liner notes before this was pressed up?! Anyway, this is the first track to feature a verse from a fellow Wu member (even though RZA did do some intro vocals on the last track), and that is of course Raekwon, who often goes by the name "Raekwon the Chef" or "Chef Raekwon", or something of that nature. This track is set up like a boxing match, and it's pretty damned entertaining if I'm honest. The shouts of "Meth Vs. Chef!!" in the middle get me amped up as well. Rae and Meth display equally excellent abilities on here. Dope stuff.

7. Sub Crazy (prod. The RZA, co-prod. 4th Disciple)

The shortest song on here has some incredibly strange production that almost feels like it has no drums anywhere, and also sounds like it was made in a sports hall or some other kind of large and echoey room. This track is OK, but the chorus is kind of dull, and that instrumental is really difficult to get used to.

8. Release Yo' Delf (feat. Blue Raspberry)

On the title track, Meth used the word "delf" in place of "self" a couple of times, and here he puts that idea into a full song concept. This song also, weirdly, interpolates Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" for the chorus, something that was and is almost universally regarded by people who've heard this song as a terrible idea. However, I think it works really well. The slow, acapella performance of the hook at the beginning is a bit harsh on the ears, however once the celebratory horn beat comes in, this hook actually sounds really nice, even when repeated quite a few times towards the end. Meth, meanwhile, sounds as grimy as a London gutter on this track, which is a good thing, as it is in stark contrast to the singable hook. This song is great, and heavily overhated in my opinion.

9. P.L.O. Style (feat. Carlton Fisk) (prod. The RZA, co-prod. Method Man)

The second song in a row to have a title using some phrase that Meth or the Wu wanted to introduce, "P.L.O. Style" was a phrase spoken by Ghostface Killah on "Bring Da Ruckus" and then Meth himself on "Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber", both from Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). This song, however, despite taking influence from two classic tracks, is not that excellent. The beat isn't too exciting, and Carlton Fisk does not come across as a particularly entertaining MC at all. This is easily overshadowed by the songs before and after.

10. I Get My Thang In Action

Incredible song. The beat on here is hard as hell, with the dark bass and dope drums, and Method Man himself comes with two dope verses and a pretty catchy hook as well. There isn't much else, really - this is one of the best songs here.

11. Mr. Sandman (feat. The Rza, Inspector Deck, Street Thug & Carlton Fisk)

Surprisingly, the only posse cut on this whole album (for those wondering, I've written the names in how they were spelled in the booklet, so that's why Inspectah Deck's name is spelt wrong. "Street Thug" is actually Streetlife). After the sound of someone either getting stung to death by killer bees, or getting an awful buzz from his barber, the haunting Blue Raspberry hook comes in, and things stay excellent from there. Everyone brings it here, including Carlton Fisk, who sounds a lot better than he did on "P.L.O. Style", and RZA (who is very underrated as a rapper in general) especially kills it, with a very hardcore opening verse. Nice track.

12. Stimulation

Not the best way to close this album, as this beat sounds nothing like anything we've previously seen on here, being actually quite bright and jazzy, in sheer contrast to the previous few dark and rugged songs. Blue Raspberry gets another chorus on here, and it's pretty terrible, but otherwise I think this was a nice and smooth track. But why end the album with it? Personally, I think "Release Yo' Delf" would have been a better closer, but that may be just me.

13. Method Man (Remix)

This one also appeared on my CD for Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), but I decided to save the review for here, as the song appears as an effective bonus track on all pressings of this album (only represses of 36 Chambers had it on them, not the originals). This track is good, but basically nowhere near as enjoyable as the original. Didn't I have this problem in my last review?

The following track is included as a bonus track on my CD.

14. I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need To Get By (feat. Mary J. Blige) (prod. The RZA & Sean "Puffy" Combs)

There are about a billion different official remixes of this song, and I really am not sure which one this is, but they're probably all basically the same anyway. This one isn't the Razor Sharp Mix, that's all I know. This track retains the same verses as the original "All I Need", besides a few new rhymes at the end, but has all new Mary J. vocals, and a smoother, far more radio-friendly beat provided by Puff Daddy of all people. For what it's worth, I actually slightly prefer this to the album version of the song, although there are a lot of songs that could have definitely won the grammy over this one for "best rap performance by a duo or group" (case in point: Method Man & Redman's "How High").

Overall, Tical is a very underrated album from someone who is surely one of the coolest rappers in existence. Seriously, Meth sounds so chill and laidback during this project, I'm surprised he didn't fall over and die in the booth while recording. The issue with this is that this project can at times be quite a dreary listen, and on certain songs like "Sub Crazy" and "P.L.O. Style", this issue is pretty clear (perhaps it's a signal that these are the only two songs not entirely produced by The RZA). However, on the other hand, there are a lot of incredible songs on here, and classic hip-hop tracks that deserve the recognition of every head out there. This isn't an incredibly consistent listen, and certainly isn't necessarily as good as some of the other Wu-Tang solo projects that came right after, but still, Method Man and RZA really tried their best here, and the results are something I definitely recommend listening to - just don't go into this expecting a Liquid Swords type of album, and you'll be fine.

Best Tracks: Tical, Biscuits, Bring the Pain, Meth Vs. Chef, Release Yo' Delf, I Get My Thang In Action, Mr. Sandman

Worst Tracks: Sub Crazy, P.L.O. Style

You may also enjoy reading: Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)