Tical

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Customer reviews

review by: mc_dimension date: 2005-06-14 rating:
Method Man AKA Tical!
After conquering the rap world on the 1st wu tang clan album,mef was one of the 1st wu members to go solo.Tical is hands down, 1 of the best wu solo cds i've ever heard. The concept of the album is a dark,gothic tone produced by the rza which will keep you hooked straight away! It starts with a strange little flute melody which keeps with the albums tone and then launches into the title track.Not the best track on there,but like all of de songs on this,but is pretty damn good. Track 2 biscuits,is again, not the best,but still amazing.3;Bring the pain is 1 of the standouts on this cd and is an amazing track for mef.All i need is a tribute to his girlfriend which is sensitive, but by no means soppy.What the blood clot is another awesome track,but 4 me it doesn't particularly stand out.Meth vs chef is probably the best track on there,with mef and wu tang mate Raekwon the chef at a lyrical height very hard to reach.In a word:Awesome!Sub crazy is short,but good.Release yo delf another standout track,containing an interpolation of cheesy party anthem,i will survive,but it works! After here each song is awesome, but no stanouts, finishing with the off the hook skunk mix of Method Man, the wu tang classic. The remasterd edition contains a remix of bring the pain, a bangin prodigy mix of release yo delf, and the pc enhanced video 4 bring the pain. This is probably mef's best album,and is essential for wu tang fans, diehard mef fans, or even the casual hip hop fan. This is needed in your collection!!

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review by: date: 2003-10-23 rating:
Re: Genius Album
If anything this album has improved with time. This was the first solo album to drop in 94 from the Wu camp. At the time I remember it getting mixed reviews. Having listened to it again recently I can honestly say that this album from the meth is definately up there as one of the best Wu albums. This sort of sound and atmosphere is a one off. From the off kilter beats of Mr Sandman to the dark ominous sound of the title track Tical, Meth and RZA dont put a foot wrong. All his lyrics are on point and RZA's beats are immense. Check the original of "All I Need" on this album. It beats the crap out of the remix, yet the remix gets name-checked the most. I think that its an indication of where hip hop has gone that albums in the last 5 years just dont have any sort of concept or atmosphere anymore which this album has in abundance. This aint the sort of album to dance around a club or your living room to. Its a straight up slice of shaolin hardcore. Hip Hop as I used to remember it before all this name checking of products and pepsi endorsements. When lyrics and attitude mattered.

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review by: mofo-j date: 2003-09-01 rating:
Meth introduces us to a little thing called Tical.
Method Man stormed onto the Hip-hop scene in proper with this excellent album, Tical. Under the Def Jam label he looked a little more professional than his Wu counterparts, who all struck well with impressive solo debuts - at the time this was released, we were experiencing the time of the Wu..

Meth has always stood out, but then try and name one member of Wu who doesn't stick out and you'll have trouble. Meth's 'stick out' factor is that this first album (and the slightly underachieving Tical 2000) feature a sort of bleak, almost gothic sound, and this is how it is intended, for if you read the booklet supplied in the CD you'll see various pictures of Mr. Johnny Blaze himself wearing vampire teeth and looking fairly scary.

While the sound for most songs is bleak (with a break in this trend only appearing at the very end of the album during a Prodigy remake of 'Release Yo Delf', the rap style shines through. Meth doesn't rely on easy, catchy beats to make his songs appeal - he can do that all by himself.

The album kicks off with something very out of the bleak, vampire-esque nature of the album - a short piece played on a flute, or something similar. This lasts, ooh, 10 seconds, before the tone is set for the entire album with a few random beats and a screechy syntheziser effect.
It starts with 'Biscuits', a song I don't particularly like, and then a song I do like - 'Bring The Pain'. Featuring the first real insight into Meth's style of catchy lyrics blended with a stlye which almost sounds like him singing at time, it's certainly a fine introduction into the album - if you buy this CD, head to song 3.

Then a more romantic song comes in the form of 'All That I need', which managed to show Meth's deep side and still mention sex.

Rest of the album, highlights include 'Meth Vs Chef', which features possibly the best Meth lyrical on the album, before Meth drops down and hand the mic to fellow solo success Raekwon.

'Release Yo Delf', featuring the vocals of Blue Raspberry, is a good song, featuring mroe of Meth's 'almost singing' style.

'I gets my thang in action' is one of the best songs on the album, and features some of the most memorable lyrics:
'I stab my own Moms in the back/ for a snack/, N----s like damn why you want it like that?/ Cos I'm a dog and I got no love for the cats/'

Mr. Sandman features several other Wu members, and is quite good, and Stimulation rounds off the pack nicely with a nice, easy song.

Overall then, it's at times quite hard to get into Tical, because the beats aren't exactly easy listening, but there are some great lyrics here and Meth's style makes this a sensationally good album that deserves to be listened to by everyone.

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review by: date: 2003-03-18 rating:
Still the best Method Man album
It seemed likely that Method Man would be the Wu Tang member most likely to find commercial success. Not least because he was the only member to have a track named after him on the group's debut release. There was more than though, his languid drawl made him stand out from the other MCs on 'Enter The Wu Tang'. So 'Tical' was to be the first solo album to come out of their Shaolin headquarters.

It is Method Man's inherent charisma that initially made him stand out from the rest of the clan; he seemed slightly more charming than his associates. Method Man has never been one to take himself totally seriously and on 'Tical' he is as amusing as ever. The title track has Meth squealing, "What's that s**t that they be smoking? / pass it over here" in a high pitched voice Coming across half rough gangster and half playground bully as he childishly taunts, "Your momma don't wear no drawers / I saw when she took them off" on 'Biscuits'.

When he's not altering his voice or making juvenile insults, Meth invariably is spitting arrogance or attacking fellow MCs. 'Release Yo' Delf' is an odd track. It's certainly the best example of Meth's bravado, as he declares himself, "as deep as the Poseidon Adventure". The lyrics, however, are slightly at odds with the chosen backing track; an interpolation of Gloria Gaynor's gay party anthem, 'I Will Survive'. The net result should be awful, but somehow it becomes more than the sum of its parts. Method Man fans should check out the Prodigy remix, which gives the track a brutal makeover. Elsewhere, 'Meth v Chef' has Method Man lyrically spar with Raekwon, over a suitably austere beat. It finally is a chance for Meth to up the pace as he tries to keep up with Raekwon.

The commercial breakthrough track on the album is 'I'll Be There For You'; implausibly it samples three songs heavily. It takes 'Children's Story' by Slick Rick, 'Me & My Bi**h' by Biggie Smalls and adds it to 'You're All I Need To Get By' by Marvin Gate and Tammi Terrell. Mary J Blige is superb on the backing vocals, and Meth plays the part of the caring suitor to perfection. There is another version of this track earlier on the album, which is far more raw, but fails to find the emotional centre that is on the later version.

The main contrast between this and other early Wu Tang solo LPs is that it sounds more like a collection of radio-accessible singles as opposed to an album. Where Gza and Raekwon set out (with substantial assistance from the Rza) to create very cinematic scenarios with their words and beats, Meth is content to tread through standard rap lyrics. There's certainly nothing wrong with this, and in fact it comes as a decent contrast; but those looking for an intellectual rap album will be disappointed.

'Tical' is a very good rap album and was something of a godsend when released in 1994. Today though, we have come to expect a little more from our MCs. Method Man offers no commentary on life or offers any great insights into the mind of Clifford Smith. The listener is instead afforded the pleasure of listening to just under an hour's worth of rugged hip hop. I would recommend this to fans of early nineties rap, but anyone looking for something big and clever might be disappointed.


review by: riqu date: 2003-02-15 rating:
Classic ...
The above word is often abused and used loosely by writers of music criticism. It's the easiest way we can describe an album that we, personally, think is very good. However, applied to 'Tical', Method Man's first solo album (released in 1994), the word 'classic' can be rightly and deservedly tagged across the album cover with a diamond studded marker pen.

Out of the nine members of the Wu-Tang Clan, perhaps only four of them ever had the talent to carry a whole album on their own (Genius, Raekwon, ODB and Mef). Mef stepped forward first, bursting with charisma and energy and after the '36 Chambers, here was THE man we were all waiting to hear. I'll be honest, 'Tical' rocks, its brilliant. Amongst the other members of the 'Clan', his talent his huge, like the difference between Rivaldo and Adi Akinbiyi.

Method Man's languid and speech impediment infected rapping style murmurs and snarls through the booming tapestry of staggered beats, subterranean bass-lines and (now trademark) Rza production like a monster wading through some murky morass. Although Mef slurs and spits into the microphone like some drunk at a wedding party, his poetry and intelligence are clearly laden with substance and depth. "Bruvvas wanna hang with the Mef," he asks during 'Bring the Pain', "Bring da rope as the only way they gonna hang is by the neck!" is his stunning retort which must have left his peers (huh!) in the Clan spurting out their Cristal.

Buying this album won't enhance your rep and you certainly won't be able to play this album at some middle class dinner party to look 'cool' in front of your convival company. This album needs to be played in the dark, when you've had one or two drinks and your feeling moody. This is the one rap album I can imagine Apocalypse Now's 'Colonel Kurtz' playing to his Montagnard army beyond the Do Long Bridge. Dig it.

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