Liquid Swords
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| Liquid Swords | |||||
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| Studio album by Genius/GZA | |||||
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| Released | November 7, 1995 | ||||
| Recorded | 1994-1995 | ||||
| Genre | Hip hop, East Coast hip hop, | ||||
| Length | 55:17 | ||||
| Label | Geffen/MCA Records GEFD-24813 |
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| Producer | The RZA 4th Disciple |
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| Professional reviews | |||||
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| Genius/GZA chronology | |||||
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| Wu-Tang Clan chronology | |||||
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Liquid Swords is the second solo album by Wu-Tang Clan member GZA and first album as a Wu-Tang member. It was released on November 7, 1995 through Geffen Records. It is considered to be one of the best Wu-Tang Clan solo albums along with Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… and Ghostface Killah's Supreme Clientele. This album went platinum and was critically acclaimed for its lyrically complex and musically hypnotic style.
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[edit] Background
"It has great songs, it's not an ignorant album, it doesn't sound dated. If you listen to it and compare it to what's out now, it's timeless. I think artists should really write more. People say Wu-Tang makes you think too much. What's wrong with thinking? A lot of dudes write these street tales and they're so gory, 'cause they think gory is visual ... they're so literal, and so street level. You know, like crack spots and whatever. I wanted to write something and take it to a level where nobody's done it. "Cold World" was done in RZA's house, in his basement in Staten Island. I remember being there, and some of the beats were running for like two days nonstop. 'Cold World' was one of them. Lyrically, it's not my best work. Not at all. But the chemistry? Production? Overall, I mean, c'mon! RZA's atmospheric production? Yes. It's my best album."
Though the album was credited to GZA alone, there are numerous guest appearances from the entire Wu-Tang Clan, like all their earlier solo albums. Liquid Swords is characteristic of the Wu-Tang Clan in its minimalist, menacing and ominous beats by producer RZA, and its cinematic themes relating to Asian cinema, particularly Samurai cinema.
GZA explores many motifs and themes, such as chess, crime and philosophy. The album begins with a monologue from a little boy; his monologue, and many of the other vocal samples scattered throughout the album, are from the cult film Shogun Assassin.
[edit] Cover art
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This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2008) |
The album's cover was designed by DC-Milestone Comics chief artist Denys Cowan, according to GZA's personal manager Geoffrey L. Garfield, who commissioned Cowan. Garfield, an avid comic book fan, said the cover art was supervised under the auspices of GZA GrafX, a subsidiary company of GZA Entertainment owned by Genius and Garfield. The concept of the chessboard with its sword-wielding warriors was conceived by Genius, an avid chess player. The Genius version of the Wu-Tang Clan logo, the "G" using the logo iconography, was rendered by Wu-Tang Clan DJ Mathematics who was also an accomplished graphic artist.
[edit] Videos
Genius also enjoyed a successful side career as a music video director, and with Garfield as writer and producer, created all four videos for the Liquid Swords album ("Liquid Swords", "Cold World", "Shadowboxin'/4th Chamber","I Gotcha Back"), and also did videos for Sunz of Man, Ghostface Killah's song on the Sunset Park film soundtrack, Shabazz the Disciple (Penalty Records) and Case (Def Jam). The Source magazine recognized their video "Shadowboxin'/4th Chamber" as one of the Top Five Videos of 1995.
[edit] Reception
Critical response was almost universally positive. Steve Huey of Allmusic remarked that Liquid Swords is often referred to as "the best Wu-Tang solo project of all" and "Liquid Swords cemented the Genius/GZA's reputation as the best pure lyricist in the group -- and one of the best of the '90s."[1] Steve Juon of RapReviews.com wrote that Liquid Swords was "the purest representation of the Wu-Tang sound and style at a time when they truly reigned over all others in hip-hop in the mid-90's". [7]
The public and critical reception of Wu-Tang was so positive and pervasive that the album's marketing campaign for its November 1995 release read "Finally...In the Year of the Wu" to commemorate an astounding year-long run of hit Wu-Tang Clan solo albums.
The record was originally rated 4 mics in The Source in 1995.[8] In 1998, Liquid Swords was named as one of rap magazine The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums.
In 2006 it was added in the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die list.
Chris Rock ranked Liquid Swords 13th on his list of the Top 25 Hip-Hop Albums ever [9], but in one of his concerts, he said that is one of his top 3 favorite albums.
The album was performed in its entirety on July 13, 2007 at the Pitchfork Music Festival and again in England, on December 9 at All Tomorrow's Parties and on December 10 at KOKO (venue) in London, as part of the ATP-curated Don't Look Back series. After the cancellation of an appearance in Brooklyn, New York, the performance was rescheduled for December 13 and 14 at the Knitting Factory in New York.
The Source (11/95) said about the album "The GZA may just be the Clan's most accomplished verbalist."[8]
Rolling Stone (11/30/95, pp.66-67) gave the album 3 stars and said "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) said "...an intriguing paradox of wordplay and profanity, juvenilia and wisdom." - Rating: B+
Q magazine (2/96, p.96) gave it 4 stars for excellence, and said "...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) said "Genius trades 'romance' for 'crime'...and his icy skills certainly work better with darker scenarios."
Option (3-4/96, pp.104-105) said "Genius' verbalistics evoke that creepy feeling you get negotiating certain inner-city neighborhoods on pitch black nights."
Melody Maker (11/25/95, p.36) said "...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) gave it 8 out of 10 and said "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 (11/11/95, p.46) gave it 9 out of 10 and said "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."
[edit] Track listing
- All songs produced by RZA unless otherwise noted.
| # | Title | Time | Performer(s) | Sample(s)[10] |
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| 1 | "Liquid Swords" | 4:31 |
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| 2 | "Duel of the Iron Mic" | 4:06 |
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| 3 | "Living in the World Today" | 4:23 |
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| 4 | "Gold" | 3:57 |
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| 5 | "Cold World" | 5:31 |
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| 6 | "Labels" | 2:54 | ||
| 7 | "4th Chamber" | 4:37 |
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| 8 | "Shadowboxin'" | 3:30 |
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| 9 | Hell's Wind Staff / Killah Hills 10304" | 5:09 |
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| 10 | "Investigative Reports" | 3:50 |
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| 11 | "Swordsman" | 3:21 |
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| 12 | "I Gotcha Back" | 5:01 |
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| 13* | "B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)" | 4:33 |
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An asterisk (*) indicates a track originally omitted from the vinyl version, but present on the reissue and the CD. [11] [12]
[edit] Personnel
- GZA – Performer
- Raekwon – Performer
- Ghostface Killah – Performer
- Method Man – Performer
- Mark A. Humphrey – Photography
- U-God – Performer
- Killah Priest – Performer
- Dreddy Kruger – Performer
- RZA – Producer & Performer
- Ol' Dirty Bastard – Performer
- Masta Killa – Performer
- Inspectah Deck – Performer
[edit] Album chart positions
| Year | Album | Chart positions | ||
| Billboard 200 | Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums | |||
| 1995 | Liquid Swords | #9 | #2 | |
[edit] Singles chart positions
| Year | Song | Chart positions | |||
| Billboard Hot 100 | Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | Hot Rap Singles | Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales | ||
| 1994 | "I Gotcha Back" | - | - | #29 | #39 |
| 1995 | "Cold World" | #97 | #57 | #8 | #8 |
| 1995 | "Liquid Swords" | #48 | #33 | #3 | #2 |
| 1996 | "Shadowboxin'" | #67 | #41 | #10 | #9 |
[edit] References
- ^ a b Huey, Steve. "Liquid Swords > Overview". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jpfpxqyhldse. Retrieved on 2007-12-03.
- ^ a b c d e http://www.buy.com/retail/proreviews/product.asp?sku=60010370&loc=109&PageFormat=7 source
- ^ Juon, Steve. "Genius/GZA :: Liquid Swords :: Geffen Records". Rap Reviews. http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/BTTL_liquidswords.html. Retrieved on 2007-12-03.
- ^ http://www.q4music.com/nav?page=q4music.review.redirect&fixture_review=127268&resource=127268&fixture_artist=142388 October 2000
- ^ http://stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/gza-liquid-swords.htm link
- ^ http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/musicnightlife/2008130175_gza22.html?syndication=rss Rapper GZA riffs on the thinking man's rap masterpiece
- ^ Genius/GZA :: Liquid Swords :: Geffen Records
- ^ a b Selwyn Seyfu Hinds (December, 1995) Liquid Swords Album Review. The Source.
- ^ http://rateyourmusic.com/list/tha_flu/chris_rocks_top_25_hip_hop_albums
- ^ Hip Hop Is Read Presents: Liquid Swords The Samples December 2007
- ^ David Bertrand Wilson. "Wu-Tang Clan (and solo work)". Wilson & Alroy's Record Reviews. http://www.warr.org/wutang.html#LiquidSwords. Retrieved on 2008-08-30. "The CD version has a bonus track, "B.I.B.L.E.," that later turned up on [Killah] Priest's solo album."
- ^ Compare Genius/GZA* - Liquid Swords and GZA - Liquid Swords
