Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

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Editorial reviews

From Amazon.com
This debut revolutionized hip-hop (and launched half a dozen solo careers), as much for The RZA's raw barrage of off-kilter, off-key loops and sound effects as for its elliptically violent lyrics. Martial arts--at least as they appear in kung fu movies--are the Wu-Tang Clan's favorite metaphor, but they're also the organizing principle of the group, a crowd of eight rappers, each with his own way-out-there "fighting style." They created their own little self-contained culture, with its own symbols and shifting identities, and let listeners figure it out for themselves. Unless you're willing to immerse yourself in its world, it can be baffling and a little dry, but its aggression and originality are undeniable. --Douglas Wolk

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-10-02 rating:
An essential hip hop album!
Producer and rapper RZA told a Danish interviewer that the album he's the most proud of is this one, "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)", and it is hard to disagree with him.
What is there to say about such an essential hip hop album that hasn't been said? One classic track leads to another on this 1993 release, and today, in the year of 2008, the price is so low there are no excuses on not owning it. Even if you hate hip hop, this record may be the one to start out with, combining primarily simple and catchy beats with the funny, yet hardcore, lyrical masterpieces each member presents us with in each track.
I can try to point of my favorite tracks, but it is kinda hard. "Bring da ruckus", "Shame on a nigga", "Da mystery of chessboxin'", "C.R.E.A.M.", "Protect ya neck", "Tearz" and on and on and on are amazing hip hop tracks that should make every nowadays mediocre mainstream rapper insanely jealous.
Now BUY THIS MOFO and enjoy the mystery of the Clan!

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review by: date: 2008-09-09 rating:
wu's excellent debut...
i bought this album when it first came out, which is bloody years ago...and i still listen to it now, it was unlike any hip hop at the time, with rza going back to the raw roots of old school hip hop yet adding something new to create the wu's trade mark sound...without a doubt one of the greatest rap albums ever made.

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review by: The King Of The UK date: 2007-10-06 rating:
Inspirational
Wu tang are one of my biggest influences in my own rap songs, and this album is killer. Bring Da Ruckus is a hard opener and the whole album is hard as it gets! CREAM is amazing. Wu Tangs standout lyricists are obviously ODB and Ghostface, who both sound amazing on every and any track they are in.
This has to go down as one of the best hip hop albums in history, and the beats are pretty amazing to.
a must have for any rap fan

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review by: s.vernon date: 2007-09-23 rating:
THE WU-TANG DEBUT
Along with Dr. Dre's The Chronic, the Wu-Tang Clan's debut, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), was one of the most influential rap albums of the '90s. Its spare yet atmospheric production -- courtesy of RZA -- mapped out the sonic blueprint that countless other hardcore rappers would follow for years to come. It laid the groundwork for the rebirth of New York hip-hop in the hardcore age, paving the way for everybody from Biggie and Jay-Z to Nas and Mobb Deep. Moreover, it introduced a colorful cast of hugely talented MCs, some of whom ranked among the best and most unique individual rappers of the decade. Some were outsized, theatrical personalities, others were cerebral storytellers and lyrical technicians, but each had his own distinctive style, which made for an album of tremendous variety and consistency. Every track on Enter the Wu-Tang is packed with fresh, inventive rhymes, which are filled with martial arts metaphors, pop culture references (everything from Voltron to Lucky Charms cereal commercials to Barbra Streisand's "The Way We Were"), bizarre threats of violence, and a truly twisted sense of humor. Their off-kilter menace is really brought to life, however, by the eerie, lo-fi production, which helped bring the raw sound of the underground into mainstream hip-hop. Starting with a foundation of hard, gritty beats and dialogue samples from kung fu movies, RZA kept things minimalistic, but added just enough minor-key piano, strings, or muted horns to create a background ambience that works like the soundtrack to a surreal nightmare. There was nothing like it in the hip-hop world at the time, and even after years of imitation, Enter the Wu-Tang still sounds fresh and original. Subsequent group and solo projects would refine and deepen this template, but collectively, the Wu have never been quite this tight again.


review by: Wu-Tang Fanatic date: 2007-08-17 rating:
CLASSIC -- A MUST OWN!!!!!!
There is no words i could use to describe the brillance of this album, absolute CLASSIC... I personnally think the best album the Hip-Hop world has ever seen and probably will ever see!!

If you dont own this album go out now and buy it... no questions asked, ITS AMAZING!!

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