Album: Tical
Release Date: Nov. 15, 1994
Producer: RZA ("Sub Crazy" co-produced by 4th Disciple; "PLO Style" co-produced by Method Man)
Review: The stakes couldn't be higher for Method Man's Tical. As the first Wu-Tang related album to be released since the classic Enter the Wu-Tang a year before, Tical (also a slang term for marijuana) was the test balloon to gauge the continued interest in the Wu. Would RZA's record deal, in which each solo member signed his own contract to any label and earned royalties, some of which went back to Wu-Tang's master bank, ultimately work? Sure, everyone liked the first record, with all nine emcees in the Clan working together, but Tical is about 90% Method Man. It only features Wu-Tang guest spots on "Meth Vs. Chef" (with Raekwon) and "Mr. Sandman" (from RZA and Inspectah Deck).
Fortunately, not only was Method Man one of the standout voices on Enter the Wu-Tang, but he proved more than capable of standing on his own. RZA's production here sounds a bit darker than much of Enter the Wu-Tang, especially on tracks like "Sub Crazy" (co-produced by 4th Disciple) and "I Get my Thang in Action." Like Enter the Wu-Tang, there are some funk/soul-inspired, brass-heavy beats (e.g. the single "Release Yo' Delf," which introduced frequent collaborator Blue Raspberry). Even still, the chunkier, more plodding beats like the title track also set listeners up for Method Man's peculiar 1998 follow-up, Tical 2000, a concept record about millennium apocalypse theories. Tical also introduced the darker side of Meth's image, including his appearance in a straitjacket in the video for "Release Yo' Delf" and his oft-worn gold fronts - vampire-style gold teeth.
It's also worth noting that the music for "Guillotine (Swordz)," which appeared in full on Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... a year later, makes a cameo at the beginnings of "Tical" and "Meth Vs. Chef" - appropriately. This is just one chance the album takes, which also includes the odd falsetto on the title track and "Mr. Sandman" and the previously-mentioned Blue Raspberry take on "I Will Survive" at the beginning of "Release Yo' Delf." There are even lyrical shout-outs to the Alfred, Lord Tennyson poem "Charge of the Light Brigade" and the 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure, but somehow it all works. Somehow it all pays off.
Other instant classics include "Bring the Pain" and "All I Need" - the latter a rare rap song promoting monogamy, love and the support that men and women give each other in a relationship. The music for "Bring the Pain" was written by RZA in its entirety on an Emulator SP-1200 that he got by paying the down payment and just keeping the machine. With no instruction manual, he stayed up for two days to master it, and eventually "Bring the Pain" came out. "Bring the Pain" also has some of Meth's smoothest lines on the album, including this stanza from the second verse:
"Brothers wanna hang with the Meth, bring the rope
The only way you'll hang is by the neck, nigga, bump
Off the set, comin' to ya projects
Take it as a threat or better yet it is a promise
Comin' like a vet on some ol' Vietnam shit
Nigga you can bet ya bottom dollar hey I bomb shit
And it's gonna get even worse
Word to God it's the Wu comin' through
Stickin' niggas for they garments."
The extended usage of the soft "e" consonance extends through the entire stanza (Meth, neck, set, projects, threat, better yet, vet, bet, get, garments) and reinforces its appearances at the end of certain lines (off the set, to ya projects, etc) helping to keep the rhyme in mind when it disappears for a couple lines and reappears at the ending "for they garments." In The Wu-Tang Manual, RZA talks about how impressed he was that Method Man could switch up his flow and internal rhymes so frequently, and this record provides as solid proof of that claim as the original "Method Man" on Enter the Wu-Tang.
All in all, the rhymes and the beats are untouchable from the beginning of the album to the end. Things wind down a bit by the end as Meth and RZA bring it home with the steady "Stimulation" and a remix/alternate take on "Method Man," but don't think that means they get boring, because there's a lot to love from front to back on Tical. It remains a frequent guest in my CD player and a great start to the prolific solo catalog of the original nine Wu-Tang members.
Legacy: As I mentioned, Tical was the first Wu-Tang solo album after Enter the Wu-Tang. It set the tone that a single Wu member could carry a whole album essentially by himself, and that neither RZA nor the Wu were one-hit wonders. It topped the Billboard 200 charts at #4, compared to Enter the Wu-Tang's peak at #41 the year before. Tical also kickstarted Method Man's storied career thereafter, from his dirge-filled follow-up Tical 2000 and Method Man's other solo records to his partnership (on wax and on-screen) with Redman. If rap fans hadn't expected a cornucopia of Wu-related albums between group records, Method Man's Tical was the first warning that they'd better start saving up for a catalog of some of the strongest American hip-hop to date.
Recommended Tracks: If you haven't heard Tical, a good sampler to familiarize yourself with the tonal range on the album would consist of "Tical," "Bring the Pain," "Release Yo' Delf," "Meth Vs. Chef" and "Mr. Sandman."
Coming Next Wednesday: Ol' Dirty Bastard's Return to the 36 Chambers (The Dirty Version) (1995).
Sources:
RZA - The Wu-Tang Manual. Penguin / Riverhead Books, print.
Method Man - Tical. Def Jam Records, CD.
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