Gza/genius-pro Tools (2008) Review

[SHEEPISH LORD OF CHAOS]

Originally Posted by InspectahChek

Peace to my Wu-Corp fam ... I am kinda typsy right now...but I am loving this fucking album!!! hahaHAHAHAHAH!!!!!

Intro - Lovely intro by Dreddy... nice way to set off the album... RZA provides more hype... nice.


Pencil - Math came nasty with the beat. GZA finally sounds alive and crazy with the opening line. Masta Killa solid as usual, but RZA stold the mother Fucking SHOW!!!!!!!! Appear from a cloud of smoke hehe. Disgusting. 5/5

Alphabets - Truemaster does it again... never fails to deliver to bring that sound we all love. The hook is one of the sickest hookds I ve ever heard... and the second verse is crazy... "I brought butter for the pop corn and dip for the chips." One of the few gems on this album. 5/5

Groundbreaking - Second favorite joint on the album. Damn Wu mother fuckers are sleeping on Bronze. I think he is the best producer out that camp... Why do I think he is better than RZA on the board lately... well he keeps it raw haha. GZA delivered this shit on some "Liquid Swords" shit. His son still has not hit puberty so his voice sounds annoyin, but still this is a banger!!! 5/5

7 Pounds - Another sick beat!!! GZA is doing his thing with production choice so far... "Not the UFC but my opponents are tapping" You got this on lock GZA. The hook is off the hook also. "Me to hip hop is like Einstein to science" Damn flawless album so far. 5/5

0% Finace - Okay yall I am disapointed that he used this beat again, just sped up. So this is going to hurt the rating for this track... now, GZA is back on his name dropping shit... now is about cars and its always entertaining. I say the track is average though, really does not compare to Queens Gambit, Publicity, Fame and Animal Planet. Solid ass fuck though. 4/5

Short Race - My favorite track!!!! The beat is AMAZING!!! And the hook ooooweee... Rock Marciano dude is sick. Damn GZA got his story telling shit down!!! Shit like this really happens in life. "I remember when he called collect from behind bars, suffering from 2 injurys and 9 scars/ he said he give anything to get out the pen, but it would be his permanet home until the end." GZA is the fucking GREATEST!!! Rock Marciano is FIRE!!! "More bricks than when the Knicks is on" haha I feel you Rock!!! One of the best songs I ve heard in years!!! 5/5

Interlude - "I ve seen a kid one night at this spot, he had a Wu-Tang logo on his face, just a tatoo is big" CLASSIC!!!

Paper Plate - I Love this!!! Best 50 diss since Jadakiss animal. Now I must say I was a little disappointed at the beat, but its solid though. READ THE QUOTE ON MY SIG!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!! SICK!!! "And I ll finish this, only couse I led off first." 4.5/5

Colombian Ties - Another sick beat from Bronze!! GZA and Bronze are a deadly combo, "Either you eat or you died from hunger, startbing to death till the correnor calls your number." I must say that True Master has a great voice... he should rap more often...great hook. 5/5

Firehouse - Dont get me wrong, Ka dropped some nice lines and has great voice, but damn where the fuck you @ GZA!!! Fuck just dropping a hook... I mean I know you let Priest drop B.I.B.L.E of Liquid Swords, but that was a classic track... The beat is amazing and you should have fucking rapped on it... that pissed me off almost as much as he re using that one Arabian Night beat. 4/5


Path of Destruction - Beat is solid, and GZA is back on that story telling shit... I dont have much to say about this one. Solid performance thought. 4/5

Cinema - He tried to do this murder scene story shit... Good shit, but no replay value, due to the whispering. I mean is deep, and the story was crazy.... The beat was cool. I mean I ve heard some criticism on Arabian Knights beats, but I think that he is sick!!! This track lost points due to lack or replay value. 3.5/5

Intermision - Bringing back that Tical sample... nice way to set it off for the next track witch is WOW!!!

Life is a Movie - Now I know that people are trying to shit on RZA due to him just pretty much jacking the whole sample, but thats sampling for you. Give him props for the arrangement, sample choice and drum loop. Beat is sick when the Synth comes in... I love that part... haha "I got a smile that make the mirror crack" "the man who hit lotto and lost his ticket in a rain storm and struck by lighting trying to get it." GZA ourshines RZA... this was due because RZA destroyed "Pencil" on some brutal shit. Only thing I dont like about this track was the hook... it could have been left out. 4.5/5

OVERALL: I would like to say THANK YOU GZA!!!! Finally some real raw WU_SHIT!!!!! I really, really wanted to say that it is a classic, but there were a couple of bad choices made here. But albums like "Liquid Swords" are one of a kind. This goes down as GZA's 3rd best IMO... Liquid Swords... Grandmasters come first and then this BEAUTY!!!! I am not fucking suprised though... Now tell me guys... when has GZA let us down??

PEACE!!!!!

I AGREE WITH UR VIEW U BROUGHT ALLOT OF POINT I THINK MOST OF US HAVE BROUGHT UP AND I WAS CRITTICAL OF FIREHOUSE MYSELF

[Twilights_Own]

"One of the few gems on this album. 5/5"

I like that you said "few" then gave 6 songs 5/5 and most o the rest 4. Thats a CHUNK of gems, man !

[CuzinBilly]

i d the album yesterday discovered the Life is a movie track and been killin it since. this beat is on some crossover shyt. rza just redeem himself to me as one of the greatest producers.

[12weLvE]

Originally Posted by Twilights_Own

"One of the few gems on this album. 5/5"

I like that you said "few" then gave 6 songs 5/5 and most o the rest 4. Thats a CHUNK of gems, man !

Few can mean many lol.

[the silencer]

I know i'm gonna catch some hate and some bullshit for this but I gotta be real with my opinion and I ain't feeling this album that much...and that's weird because i see most of you on here absolutely love it..

the entire package (album cover, tracklisting, music) just seems so lazy and half-assed that it's embarassing as a huge Wu fan, and ESPECIALLY as a huge Gza fan who frequently mentions to ppl that Gza is one of the best ever...






there was a ton of confusion with this album ever since it was first announced last summer as coming out sometime in November (or October?) of 2007...we were never hearing anything about it, never saw a tracklist or album cover but yet it had been officially announced, and then pushed back to December 4th....then we got this post from 'G the Promoter':

message straight from GZA........... I spoke to GZA tonight and his album will NOT be released on Dec 4th

and the next thing we heard was that it was gonna drop on January 8th...that never happened..

it got pushed way back to August.....

i should have also mentioned that at some point during all this, it was announced that this wasn't a Gza solo but it was gonna be a compilation with Gza and some Killa Beez and others...production was gonna be from Rza, Bronze, Preservation, DJ Muggz, Nottz and others and the album had features from Killah Priest, Bronze Nazareth, Mos Def, Sean P......



well, that's not what we got...my assumption is that they decided to cut all that shit and make it a Gza solo at the last minute, to try to avoid the confusion of releasing a Gza album with barely any Gza on it...so in the end what we got is an EP-length album that sounds rushed (and Gza admits that it WAS rushed, which is amazing cuz of all the pushbacks), what seems IMO to be like the notorious 'mixtapes' that Dreddy has been known to put out through Think Differently...this project just seems like he threw together a few tracks, filled in the blanks with an intro, couple interludes, and a 'bonus' track and threw a random album title on it...



I won't get into arguments with those who say "I love this, why don't you like it too!?!" but what I do find amazing is that ppl are calling this the best release since Supreme Clientele or No Said Date....Grandmasters is much better than this shit, perhaps that album is underappreciated cuz this comes NOWHERE NEAR it...play this and then throw on GM (or better yet, play GM and then throw this on and you will seriously be amazed)...



album cover: another Nubian Image production, this one about as simple as it can get with a little Gza sign surrounded by an ocean of blue...can't blame Nubian for it being plain, with the album title and lack of a theme to it, they didn't give him much to work with (I spoke on the album title/theme here)....altho the back cover is awesome, reminiscent of the famous scene on Liquid Swords' cover, but this time with Shaolin monks flying around slicing shit..




1. Intromental
Prod. by Dreddy Kruger

Nice and simple. Reminds of me of the music throughout the Wu Meets Indie Culture album.

2. Pencil ft Masta Killa and Rza
prod by Mathematics

Pretty good up-tempo beat to start off with. Reminds a lot of the song on 'Legend of the Liquid Swords' wit Ghost and Streetlife… Gza spits a nice one, couple of dope lines and his flow is awake and relatively energetic (especially compared to the other tracks on here). MK only throws a few bars and it’s nothing special but Rza is crazy on here. I like how he starts off with what I see as kind of an intro to his verse, that whole “world, I’m not the same” thing and then just goes in, sounding mad focused and hungry. Makes me wanna check out Digi Snax again. One of the best verses on this whole album from Bobby Steels right there.
4/5


3. Alphabets
prod by True Master

Probably the best track on the album. Gza’s two verses are NICE and he flows perfectly over the smooth True mizza-Master track. Manages to rhyme the entire Supreme Alphabet in the chorus (sounding a little bored while doing so tho).
Only negative about this song is that it’s a little short, may have benefited from one more verse.
Closes out with a crazy line:
“Because hip hop is all in my genes, the pattern is seen in every stitch”
4.5/5

4. Groundbreaking feat Justice Kareem
prod by Bronze Nazareth

I first heard this beat on the ‘Cilvaringz and Rza go to Egypt’ part of the DVD that came with the “I” album…..couldn’t wait to hear the full version..
First Gza verse is nice but at this point in the album it’s like he’s starting to drift off and is heading towards that dreaded half-dead Gza flow that so many fans on here can’t bear to hear….but he’s not quite dead yet on this joint..
Chorus is pretty cool but I don’t like the way they did the second verse….I know it’s the standard back-n-forth type style that Rae and Ghost employed well but it sounds corny here, Gza’s sharp strong voice and then a little kid cutting in for just a couple of lines in total..(in that recently posted interview Gza said they were in a rush so they had to leave it this way even tho he was dissatisfied with how it came out…that is horrible for too many reasons)
And this song is WAY too short, only 2 and half minutes with a chorus repeated twice….come on, Gza
3.5/5


5. 7 Pounds
prod by Black Milk

One of the better songs on the album, close to Alphabets for best on the cd I would say….MAD short again tho

Beat is DOPE, fuckin head banger…I gotta be honest with this one though (and I hope others who notice will be too): even tho the lyrics are perfect and the chorus is cool, Gza’s flow is flat-out weak on here…he sounds bored, like he’s being forced to do this shit….
Mainly, it sounds like he’s sitting in a comfortable chair with a notepad on his lap just lazily reading his verse along without trying to raise his voice too much..
3.5/5


6. 0% Finance
prod by Choco

A familiar beat, cuz he used it two albums ago…on Stay in Line and if you throw that joint on right now and compare it to this one you’ll be amazed at how much more energy he has on the old one..
(also it's funny cuz so many ppl on here complained when Rza put out Can't Stop Me Now cuz MF Doom had used the beat a couple years ago, meanwhile Gza is re-using his OWN beat here...embarassing)
Lyrically this is extremely creative, in that same vein as Queen’s Gambit, Publicity and all those patented Gza tracks where he’s using a whole bunch of names from one theme (in this case, it’s cars)….
I can see why alotta ppl would love this one, and I’m surprised that I don’t but---I don’t love it…
It’s certainly got that extreme lyrical depth that makes you wanna listen to it many times to catch everything but, again, his flow is so lifeless….Go back and throw on Grandmasters (an album which many ppl accused him of sounding sleepy on) and there is really NO tracks where he sounded THIS disinterested….
3/5



7. Short Race feat Rock Marcy
prod by Arabian Knight

Don’t like this one at all really…beat is weak and boring, chorus is kinda simple…Rock Marcy later on has a SICK beat on the album but his verse is nothing great here..
2/5


8. Interlude
i think this was from the studio interview the Clan (most of them, at least) did right before 8 Diagrams dropped...he subtly makes a damn good point on the 'cult following' that Wu has


9. Paper Plate
prod by Rza

Rza’s beat is weak by most standards but I still like this joint…the Voltron Head going straight at 50 Cent, a pretty easy target but not many can come as nice as this….yeah, his flow isn’t that energized but it’s not quite as sleepy as he’s been on some other songs and it actually works good here like he don’t even got get all excited to spit a diss track, the lyrics are just that powerful..

“If you’s a pimp, put chicks on the stroll
and if those ya soldiers, give ‘em bigger guns to hold.
Who shot ya? You don’t have enough on ya rosta
Move like a FED BUT YOU TALK LIKE A MOBSTA”

I love that Gza made this song….cuz somebody from Wu had to do it at some point (and 50 really had some ignorant shit to say about the Genius that time on the radio)
4/5


10. Columbian Ties feat True Master
prod by Bronze Nazareth

Pretty cool Bronze beat, reminds me of Cross My Heart (which is a True Master joint), all bangin drums and hi-hats..
That they misspelled ‘COLOMBIAN’ is retarded but the song is tight, Genius paints a nice picture/story of the scenes of, not necessarily just the country of Colombia, but the general atmosphere of a country dominated by militaristic regimes with street crime goin all outta control….I would say it’s like that in a few places in South America these days…
Only problem is, again, its WAAAY too short....only one extended verse
4/5


11. Firehouse feat Ka
prod by Rock Marcy

I love this beat but I don’t get why, on a Gza album (especially one that’s SO SHORT) they give practically a full song to some totally unknown cat….Ka ain’t so bad, gravelly voice and totally grimey Brooklyn street shit but I woulda liked to hear Gza spit more than just a chorus on here…
3/5


12. Path of Destruction
prod by Jay Waxx Garfield

Another good beat, I remember this cat Garfield producing some good shit for Cormega on his first couple albums plus he had a couple OK beats on Legend of the Liquid Sword.
It’s a cool song, with nice little stories being weaved and the movie samples cutting in work great with the theme and everything but again: Gza is lifeless here….
3/5


13. Cinema feat Justice Kareem
prod by Arabian Knight

Arabian Knight’s got the two weakest beats on the album by far…
I don’t mind the Gza whisper style on here (at least he sounds awake) but why the fuck is his son whispering? You can’t even hear what he says…it sounds retarded..
2/5


14. Intermission (Drive In Movie)

15. Life Is a Movie feat Rza and Irfane Khan-Acito(?)
prod by Rza

for those that peep our own Audio Booth section every now and then, this beat sounds familiar...IMO the best beat-maker on the Corp, Lord Beatjitzu, used this exact sample on one of his beat tapes: here's a link if anyone's interested..
of course, that's not meant as a complaint or anything i just wanted to point it out..
lyrically this joint is fun, they both spit some shit that's best described as entertaining....Gza's just got everything bad happening to him in his first verse:

"the man who hit lotto and lost his ticket
in a rainstorm and struck by lightning trying to get it"

and Rza's got all kinds of SICK darts on this song too, he shines nicely on both of his features...LYRICALLY, of course..cuz Paper Plates ain't the greatest production and even tho this beat is cool, he just insists on throwing in some singing on practically everything he does now (8D and Digi Snacks included)...
hard not to like this song, only annoying part is the singing but it grows on you..
3.5/5


16. Bonus Live Performance-Elastic Audio
(1112 live and then General Principles acapella)

I actually like this alot, cuz 1112 is a crazy song and then it's a privilige to hear such a lyrical emcee spit his verse acapella...
this ain't a taint on THIS particular track at all, but it feels like this is filler---give us more new shit! I'll take this as a bonus, but fuck man this album goes way too quick....
altho, I must admit it's got a cool, Finnegan's Wake-ish ending which leads right back to the beginning so it can be played over and over---he leaves with "Play the music man" and then the cd starts right back over again with the smooth instruments of the Intro..
4/5


Lyrics 4.5/5
Beats 3/5
OVERALL 6.5 outta 10

I subtracted a point for it being so unbelievably short...this is like an EP in it's length..
overall i'm really not too happy with this at all and I'm a huge Gza fan...it's just that he really takes the 'bored and tired' flow to a new level on alotta the tracks on here which becomes hard to listen to and then the tracks that are totally good are just way too short...


(note: I prematurely voted it as "Superior" before even hearing it thoroughly cuz I assumed it was that good and wanted to see what the voting looked like....)

[CELL]

I have been spinnin' 7 pounds from best buy, to my crib and now through my itunes while I'm doing my homework. Can't get enough of this head banger

[famenchuan]

nice review silencer. I pretty much agree with the whole review.

[Jin10304]

I love this beat but I don’t get why, on a Gza album (especially one that’s SO SHORT) they give practically a full song to some totally unknown cat….Ka ain’t so bad, gravelly voice and totally grimey Brooklyn street shit but I woulda liked to hear Gza spit more than just a chorus on here…

Besides his 1st album & Grandmasters GZA usually give up a spot to someone else or be reduced to a chorus feature only.

BIBLE (KP)
Feel Like An Enemy (Sunz Of Man & Trigga)
Outro (La The Darkman & Timbo King)
Rough Cut (Armel & 2 On Da Road-chorus)
ProTools (Firehouse-chorus)

[11th Chamber]

IMO, Firehouse is one of the best tracks on the album. Love that joint

[SHEEPISH LORD OF CHAOS]

Originally Posted by the silencer

I know i'm gonna catch some hate and some bullshit for this but I gotta be real with my opinion and I ain't feeling this album that much...and that's weird because i see most of you on here absolutely love it..

the entire package (album cover, tracklisting, music) just seems so lazy and half-assed that it's embarassing as a huge Wu fan, and ESPECIALLY as a huge Gza fan who frequently mentions to ppl that Gza is one of the best ever...






there was a ton of confusion with this album ever since it was first announced last summer as coming out sometime in November (or October?) of 2007...we were never hearing anything about it, never saw a tracklist or album cover but yet it had been officially announced, and then pushed back to December 4th....then we got this post from 'G the Promoter':

and the next thing we heard was that it was gonna drop on January 8th...that never happened..

it got pushed way back to August.....

i should have also mentioned that at some point during all this, it was announced that this wasn't a Gza solo but it was gonna be a compilation with Gza and some Killa Beez and others...production was gonna be from Rza, Bronze, Preservation, DJ Muggz, Nottz and others and the album had features from Killah Priest, Bronze Nazareth, Mos Def, Sean P......



well, that's not what we got...my assumption is that they decided to cut all that shit and make it a Gza solo at the last minute, to try to avoid the confusion of releasing a Gza album with barely any Gza on it...so in the end what we got is an EP-length album that sounds rushed (and Gza admits that it WAS rushed, which is amazing cuz of all the pushbacks), what seems IMO to be like the notorious 'mixtapes' that Dreddy has been known to put out through Think Differently...this project just seems like he threw together a few tracks, filled in the blanks with an intro, couple interludes, and a 'bonus' track and threw a random album title on it...



I won't get into arguments with those who say "I love this, why don't you like it too!?!" but what I do find amazing is that ppl are calling this the best release since Supreme Clientele or No Said Date....Grandmasters is much better than this shit, perhaps that album is underappreciated cuz this comes NOWHERE NEAR it...play this and then throw on GM (or better yet, play GM and then throw this on and you will seriously be amazed)...



album cover: another Nubian Image production, this one about as simple as it can get with a little Gza sign surrounded by an ocean of blue...can't blame Nubian for it being plain, with the album title and lack of a theme to it, they didn't give him much to work with (I spoke on the album title/theme here)....altho the back cover is awesome, reminiscent of the famous scene on Liquid Swords' cover, but this time with Shaolin monks flying around slicing shit..




1. Intromental
Prod. by Dreddy Kruger

Nice and simple. Reminds of me of the music throughout the Wu Meets Indie Culture album.

2. Pencil ft Masta Killa and Rza
prod by Mathematics

Pretty good up-tempo beat to start off with. Reminds a lot of the song on 'Legend of the Liquid Swords' wit Ghost and Streetlife… Gza spits a nice one, couple of dope lines and his flow is awake and relatively energetic (especially compared to the other tracks on here). MK only throws a few bars and it’s nothing special but Rza is crazy on here. I like how he starts off with what I see as kind of an intro to his verse, that whole “world, I’m not the same” thing and then just goes in, sounding mad focused and hungry. Makes me wanna check out Digi Snax again. One of the best verses on this whole album from Bobby Steels right there.
4/5


3. Alphabets
prod by True Master

Probably the best track on the album. Gza’s two verses are NICE and he flows perfectly over the smooth True mizza-Master track. Manages to rhyme the entire Supreme Alphabet in the chorus (sounding a little bored while doing so tho).
Only negative about this song is that it’s a little short, may have benefited from one more verse.
Closes out with a crazy line:
“Because hip hop is all in my genes, the pattern is seen in every stitch”
4.5/5

4. Groundbreaking feat Justice Kareem
prod by Bronze Nazareth

I first heard this beat on the ‘Cilvaringz and Rza go to Egypt’ part of the DVD that came with the “I” album…..couldn’t wait to hear the full version..
First Gza verse is nice but at this point in the album it’s like he’s starting to drift off and is heading towards that dreaded half-dead Gza flow that so many fans on here can’t bear to hear….but he’s not quite dead yet on this joint..
Chorus is pretty cool but I don’t like the way they did the second verse….I know it’s the standard back-n-forth type style that Rae and Ghost employed well but it sounds corny here, Gza’s sharp strong voice and then a little kid cutting in for just a couple of lines in total..(in that recently posted interview Gza said they were in a rush so they had to leave it this way even tho he was dissatisfied with how it came out…that is horrible for too many reasons)
And this song is WAY too short, only 2 and half minutes with a chorus repeated twice….come on, Gza
3.5/5


5. 7 Pounds
prod by Black Milk

One of the better songs on the album, close to Alphabets for best on the cd I would say….MAD short again tho

Beat is DOPE, fuckin head banger…I gotta be honest with this one though (and I hope others who notice will be too): even tho the lyrics are perfect and the chorus is cool, Gza’s flow is flat-out weak on here…he sounds bored, like he’s being forced to do this shit….
Mainly, it sounds like he’s sitting in a comfortable chair with a notepad on his lap just lazily reading his verse along without trying to raise his voice too much..
3.5/5


6. 0% Finance
prod by Choco

A familiar beat, cuz he used it two albums ago…on Stay in Line and if you throw that joint on right now and compare it to this one you’ll be amazed at how much more energy he has on the old one..
(also it's funny cuz so many ppl on here complained when Rza put out Can't Stop Me Now cuz MF Doom had used the beat a couple years ago, meanwhile Gza is re-using his OWN beat here...embarassing)
Lyrically this is extremely creative, in that same vein as Queen’s Gambit, Publicity and all those patented Gza tracks where he’s using a whole bunch of names from one theme (in this case, it’s cars)….
I can see why alotta ppl would love this one, and I’m surprised that I don’t but---I don’t love it…
It’s certainly got that extreme lyrical depth that makes you wanna listen to it many times to catch everything but, again, his flow is so lifeless….Go back and throw on Grandmasters (an album which many ppl accused him of sounding sleepy on) and there is really NO tracks where he sounded THIS disinterested….
3/5



7. Short Race feat Rock Marcy
prod by Arabian Knight

Don’t like this one at all really…beat is weak and boring, chorus is kinda simple…Rock Marcy later on has a SICK beat on the album but his verse is nothing great here..
2/5


8. Interlude
i think this was from the studio interview the Clan (most of them, at least) did right before 8 Diagrams dropped...he subtly makes a damn good point on the 'cult following' that Wu has


9. Paper Plate
prod by Rza

Rza’s beat is weak by most standards but I still like this joint…the Voltron Head going straight at 50 Cent, a pretty easy target but not many can come as nice as this….yeah, his flow isn’t that energized but it’s not quite as sleepy as he’s been on some other songs and it actually works good here like he don’t even got get all excited to spit a diss track, the lyrics are just that powerful..

“If you’s a pimp, put chicks on the stroll
and if those ya soldiers, give ‘em bigger guns to hold.
Who shot ya? You don’t have enough on ya rosta
Move like a FED BUT YOU TALK LIKE A MOBSTA”

I love that Gza made this song….cuz somebody from Wu had to do it at some point (and 50 really had some ignorant shit to say about the Genius that time on the radio)
4/5


10. Columbian Ties feat True Master
prod by Bronze Nazareth

Pretty cool Bronze beat, reminds me of Cross My Heart (which is a True Master joint), all bangin drums and hi-hats..
That they misspelled ‘COLOMBIAN’ is retarded but the song is tight, Genius paints a nice picture/story of the scenes of, not necessarily just the country of Colombia, but the general atmosphere of a country dominated by militaristic regimes with street crime goin all outta control….I would say it’s like that in a few places in South America these days…
Only problem is, again, its WAAAY too short....only one extended verse
4/5


11. Firehouse feat Ka
prod by Rock Marcy

I love this beat but I don’t get why, on a Gza album (especially one that’s SO SHORT) they give practically a full song to some totally unknown cat….Ka ain’t so bad, gravelly voice and totally grimey Brooklyn street shit but I woulda liked to hear Gza spit more than just a chorus on here…
3/5


12. Path of Destruction
prod by Jay Waxx Garfield

Another good beat, I remember this cat Garfield producing some good shit for Cormega on his first couple albums plus he had a couple OK beats on Legend of the Liquid Sword.
It’s a cool song, with nice little stories being weaved and the movie samples cutting in work great with the theme and everything but again: Gza is lifeless here….
3/5


13. Cinema feat Justice Kareem
prod by Arabian Knight

Arabian Knight’s got the two weakest beats on the album by far…
I don’t mind the Gza whisper style on here (at least he sounds awake) but why the fuck is his son whispering? You can’t even hear what he says…it sounds retarded..
2/5


14. Intermission (Drive In Movie)

15. Life Is a Movie feat Rza and Irfane Khan-Acito(?)
prod by Rza

for those that peep our own Audio Booth section every now and then, this beat sounds familiar...IMO the best beat-maker on the Corp, Lord Beatjitzu, used this exact sample on one of his beat tapes: here's a link if anyone's interested..
of course, that's not meant as a complaint or anything i just wanted to point it out..
lyrically this joint is fun, they both spit some shit that's best described as entertaining....Gza's just got everything bad happening to him in his first verse:

"the man who hit lotto and lost his ticket
in a rainstorm and struck by lightning trying to get it"

and Rza's got all kinds of SICK darts on this song too, he shines nicely on both of his features...LYRICALLY, of course..cuz Paper Plates ain't the greatest production and even tho this beat is cool, he just insists on throwing in some singing on practically everything he does now (8D and Digi Snacks included)...
hard not to like this song, only annoying part is the singing but it grows on you..
3.5/5


16. Bonus Live Performance-Elastic Audio
(1112 live and then General Principles acapella)

I actually like this alot, cuz 1112 is a crazy song and then it's a privilige to hear such a lyrical emcee spit his verse acapella...
this ain't a taint on THIS particular track at all, but it feels like this is filler---give us more new shit! I'll take this as a bonus, but fuck man this album goes way too quick....
altho, I must admit it's got a cool, Finnegan's Wake-ish ending which leads right back to the beginning so it can be played over and over---he leaves with "Play the music man" and then the cd starts right back over again with the smooth instruments of the Intro..
4/5


Lyrics 4.5/5
Beats 3/5
OVERALL 6.5 outta 10

I subtracted a point for it being so unbelievably short...this is like an EP in it's length..
overall i'm really not too happy with this at all and I'm a huge Gza fan...it's just that he really takes the 'bored and tired' flow to a new level on alotta the tracks on here which becomes hard to listen to and then the tracks that are totally good are just way too short...


(note: I prematurely voted it as "Superior" before even hearing it thoroughly cuz I assumed it was that good and wanted to see what the voting looked like....)

an interest take on the GZA album

[the silencer]

Originally Posted by Jin10304

I love this beat but I don’t get why, on a Gza album (especially one that’s SO SHORT) they give practically a full song to some totally unknown cat….Ka ain’t so bad, gravelly voice and totally grimey Brooklyn street shit but I woulda liked to hear Gza spit more than just a chorus on here…

Besides his 1st album & Grandmasters GZA usually give up a spot to someone else or be reduced to a chorus feature only.

BIBLE (KP)
Feel Like An Enemy (Sunz Of Man & Trigga)
Outro (La The Darkman & Timbo King)
Rough Cut (Armel & 2 On Da Road-chorus)
ProTools (Firehouse-chorus)

i do realize that yo, but i was making the point in the context of how short the album is....Grandmasters was only a little bit longer album than this but he was rapping on every track besides the introduction..

track is still pretty good tho cuz the beat is great on there and Ka is aight on there...(maybe would've rather seen one of the Beez like Timbo or even Prodigal Sunn on a solo instead)

[DR. NICK RIVIERA]

Nice review Silencer, I only don't agree with the Cinema rating

[deadlymelody]

I'll post a review soon......on arguably the weakest GZA album.

[Hollow Dartz]

I've only listened to this joint one time since last week.

[DrBold241]

ok, let's face it nothing can ever TRUELY compare to LS. atleast for solo albums from the clan, in my opinion. and even if gza continues his career for years to come, that album won't be topped.
with that being said, i think in a light sense Pro Tools is the more modern LS. Firehouse.... i dunno, i don't like Ka's voice that much, aside from that perfect album from start to finish.
his old school energy may not be there, but it hasnt been for awhile so is that really shocking?
not only that, but i see it as a more matured laid back flow. like he knows he's the fuckin genius, even moreso than in the past. so he doesnt need to be all angsty. haha, well not the right word for it but you know what i mean.
and as for my personal favorite track off the album- pencil. RZA destroys it. he doesn't just kill the track, but pretty much blows all his own music from recent years away. (though i do like fury in my eyes)

and as for the consistency argument, i love every ghost album except BDR. i think i listened to it once. that was it. it's flat out garbage. i think 8D can be good, but it's one of those albums you gotta be in the mood for before playing it, like winter overcast skies too. but BDR is just shit. in every aspect of the word. the production is god awful, ghost's flow isn't NEARLY as good as anything else he's done. after both fishscale, more fish, and even the stuff he's done a little before that like the mask with doom, it just makes it a hug disappointment.

but back to pro tools- i cant stop listening to it. i'm an ice cube fan too but refuse to even download it just cause they dropped the same day and i heard some tracks off raw footage... beats blow.
8D < Digi Snax <<<<<< Pro Tools
and after hearing the new shit Deck put up from the REAL resident patient 2, as well as blackout 2 on the way..... this round of "solo"s is gonna be superb.