Wu-Tang reviewed
Wu-Tang Clan
8 Diagrams
(Wu Music/Universal Motown)
Fourteen years removed from their debut, Wu-Tang Clan’s fifth album was undercut upon release by protestations within the band about 8 Diagrams‘ direction and the false-alarm announcement it contained a cleared sample of The Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”
Beset by such problems, Diagrams seemed doomed to the same anonymous fate of albums three and four (can you name them?), catering to the opinion Wu-Tang has become a vacant brand name. (Far from critical disappointments, The W and Iron Flag were nonetheless coolly received.) Even with the new disc’s strengths, that opinion should bear out. Founder/producer RZA hasn’t been able to muster the consistency of the first two albums even for his solo work, much less the scattershot styles of seven others.
Though perhaps that scenario is what allows Diagrams to succeed when it occasionally does. Without explicitly trying to recapture the chilling, urban-decay samples and beats he mastered a decade-and-half ago, RZA sounds periodically inspired. Ironically, despite Wu having arrived at their mid 30s en masse, the beats have some creep to them. “Campfire” initially suggests inertia, but beneath the now-familiar movie dialogue is a mournful gospel sample, a soulful moan harkening to field-worker traditionals.
Things tire quickly with the spare, “We gon’ take it back with this” statement of intent until things begin to gel with “Get Them Out Ya Way Pa.” Ghostface’s tense rapping recalls his own apex (“Run”) and meshes unexpectedly with RZA’s psychedelic blues. “Rushing Elephants” inexplicably tumbles all the way back to 36 Chambers though there probably isn’t a better track on the album to lead into the “Batman” TV-series Boom-Zap of “Unpredictable” (we even get cries of “Wu-Tang!”).
But the rollercoaster never steadies. “The Heart Gently Weeps,” featuring Erykah Badu, is a cringing, overblown sapper a la Mary J. Blige’s rendition of U2’s “One,” while the George Clinton-visited “Wolves” arrives like a spaceship and is stared at as such by everyone but RZA. “Sunlight” and “Starter,” however, recall the morose pop of Portishead’s second album, yet slightly warped rendering an unbalanced flow bordering on seasickness that’s quite welcome.
Suffice it to say, the rapping from Method Man is his sharpest in years. Too bad everything is overshadowed by the uneven production (you can see why he spoke out). Advancing upon middle age, this stood to be the last Wu-Tang effort before their collective autumns set in. Diagrams ate six years of life — if the legacy is to be redeemed, one eye better be kept on the clock.
— Steve Forstneger
