[Wu]
Wu-Tang Clan
8 Diagrams
**** 1/2
Most bloggers hate 8 Diagrams, and Wu-Tang’s fanbase probably isn’t going to like it either. Hell, some of the group members don’t even like it. Raekwon and Ghostface Killah say de facto group leader and head producer RZA ruined it; there’s even talk of a coup d’etat.
Fortunately, Raekwon, Ghostface and the bloggers are wrong—8 Diagrams is awesome, and if it’s RZA’s last Wu-Tang Clan album, it’s a wonderful swan song. The fact that he managed to corral and provoke memorable verses from all 10 group members (if you count Cappadonna and Ol’ Dirty Bastard, who appears posthumously) is an amazing accomplishment in itself. Standout performances are too many to mention, but Method Men annihilates just about everything he touches, Masta Killa brings sincere sentiment to the ODB tribute “Life Changes,” and Inspectah Deck is in top form on tracks like the R&B-flavored “Stick Me for My Riches.”
Ghostface is in fine form throughout, perhaps not surprising considering his fine recent solo albums. His storytelling abilities are never stronger than on “The Heart Gently Weeps,” which also features George Harrison’s son Dhani on guitar and Erykah Badu on vocals. Ghost raps about a shoot-out in a Pathmark store: “Shots was whizzing, hitting Clorox bottles, customers screaming, then the faggot ran out of hollows/I had to show him what it’s all about/Next thing you read in the paper, ‘A man who came to kill, gets knocked out.’”
As for RZA’s controversial beats, they generally forsake the low-fi, high-impact feel Wu-Tang is famous for in favor of stylized, barely melodic riffs which take numerous listens to appreciate. “Sunlight” contains nothing but RZA’s impenetrable babbling about spirituality over a slow, meandering beat. But almost every other track kills, and 8 Diagrams will go down as a classic.
–Ben Westhoff
[Tang]
Ghostface Killah
The Big Doe Rehab
*** 1/2
Somehow, we initially missed it, enamored as we were by Meth’s Hollywood personality, Raekwon’s Scorsese-esque crime tales, ODB’s Will Ferrell antics and RZA’s enigmatic, use-every-sound-available style of beatsmithing. But there’s no denying it now: Ghostface was and still is the most compelling member of Wu-Tang. Hip-hop’s reigning persona is more exciting than five 50 Cents, four T.I.s, three Lil Waynes, two Scarfaces and a rejuvenated, blockbuster-movie-inspired Jay-Z.
Ghost’s third release in 20 months, The Big Doe Rehab, extends a recent discography crafted straight out of the Don Imus school of hip-hop: say and do the most ridiculous shit, then sit back and watch the fallout. In the way that hiring black staffers probably won’t much change Imus, enlisting an ever-expanding list of producers (MF Doom on Fishscale, Sean C and LV on this project) hasn’t softened Ghost one bit.
So vivid, still, are those drug-induced crime stories, it’s as if Ghost is blessed with total recall of long-ago episodes. Peep this verse on “Walk Around,” about a grocery trip turned violent: “It was him, the corner store and the buttered rolls/The shit dropped when I gave him two stomach holes/Flashbacks of me blowing his brains out/All I remember: My shirt, I couldn’t get them goddamned stains out.”
As with any Wu-Tang project, a few of the fellas stop by. Meth and Rae turn in solid performances on the comical “Yolanda’s House.” As with any Ghost album, he delivers the unexpected. The standout track, the name-dropping “White Linen Affair (Toney Awards),” depicts Ghost schmoozing at an awards show, while “Supa GFK” extends his canon of humorous-if-quizzical verses: “Walk through the Amazon, spilling Dom, Moët/To find my way back I gotta leave a trail of baguettes.” Rehab has been good to him.
–Damon Hodge
[Experimental]
Six Organs of Admittance
Shelter From the Ash
** 1/2
When last we heard from Six Organs of Admittance, San Fran psych-folk swashbuckler Ben Chasny had just turned loose a monster of a tune, if a droning, 24-minute dirge loaded with chanted incantations and murky instrumentation (“River of Transfiguration,” the closing number on 2006 LP The Sun Awakens) can accurately be classified as a tune at all.
Emerging from the considerable shadow of that necromantic monolith, the eight tracks on 10th Six Organs full-length Shelter From the Ash feel somewhat uneventful by comparison, something that has rarely been true of Chasny, a musician as known for his adventurous songwriting as his dexterous guitar-playing. “Jade Like Wine” plays like a straightforward slice of lyric-driven Americana, “Final Wing” spins in place too long on a repeated guitar riff, and the instrumental “Goddess Atonement” sets up for an epic climax that never materializes.
Shelter does have some memorable moments: Eastern-flavored opener “Alone With the Alone”; the subdued “Strangled Road,” pairing Chasny’s restrained Lou Reedian voice with that of the Magik Markers’ Elisa Ambrogio; hypnotic slow-builder “Coming to Get You”; and the title cut, which packs a demonic guitar wallop into its short duration (3:24). Still, on the whole the album feels a bit too restrained and a lot too considered to stand up to Six Organs’ best work, or to advance the legend of Ben Chasny anywhere it hasn’t already been
- Spencer Patterson
[Pop-Rock]
OneRepublic
Dreaming Out Loud
**
Thanks to a Timbaland remix of their song “Apologize,” which appeared on the rapper/producer’s latest album, wuss-rockers OneRepublic had a huge hit before even finalizing plans to release their debut. That remix is included as a bonus track on Dreaming Out Loud, and it’s the only indication that band mastermind Ryan Tedder has anything interesting up his sleeve. Listen to the original mix of “Apologize,” though, and it’s evident that without Timba infusing some stuttering hip-hop beats into his dull, earnest relationship ballads, all Tedder can offer is a retread of The Fray or Five for Fighting.
Even soccer-mom faves like Train and the Goo Goo Dolls rock out every so often on album tracks, but Dreaming Out Loud varies only between quiet, whiny ballads and needling, somewhat louder power ballads. The relatively catchy “Mercy” is the closest thing on the album to an actual rock song. Tedder has written or co-written songs for a number of pop stars, and a few tracks here flirt with a more beat-heavy, keyboard-driven sound. Mostly, though, they just glide along in strict anonymity, perfect for commercials for products that you’d never consider buying.
–Josh Bell
[Idol]
Blake Lewis
Audio Day Dream
***
If Justin Timberlake were to release Audio Day Dream’s opening track “Break Anotha,” fans would praise the song as Top 40 genius, and it would be featured in a video co-starring Rihanna. But since it is being released by American Idol 2007 runner-up Blake Lewis, critics will roll their eyes and call it a Justin Timberlake rip-off. Such dismissal is natural for a reality-show-bred career, but Lewis’ talent deserves a fightin’ chance.
The bulk of Audio Day Dream pulses infectious hip-pop, radiating Lewis’ polished tenor and falsetto. In a great sampling move, “Gots to Get Her” nods to “Puttin’ on the Ritz”; standout “Know My Name,” featuring Lupe Fiasco, is in queue for a club-banging career; “How Many Words” seamlessly incorporates his signature beatboxing (which has scoured leagues of sounds and scats since AI); and spectacular power ballad “Without You” is a testament to Spandau Ballet that deserves its own rotoscope video.
Toward the end, Lewis landslides—the songs veer so gentle and generic that listeners may expect him to chassé through high school corridors and dance up on Vanessa Hudgens. But Audio Day Dream is a fine debut, a rare post-Idol release that proves sometimes second place is best.
– Kristyn Pomranz