Method Man – Tical 0: The Prequel Review (2)

Before you read this you have to check out Aaron’s review because he did his first. But after that, come back here and read this.

Now I’m not going to lie, the only reason that I bought this album was because hiphopsite.com was giving away free instrumental copies of Tical with every purchase. In my mind I was buying the instrumental CD and getting the new one for free.

I had seen the video for the lead single “What’s Happening” and it didn’t impress me. Furthermore the song sounded boring and didn’t really hit my ears right. In spite of all this Tical 0: The Prequel somehow found it’s way into my CD player.

Before even listening to the album I made some shocking discoveries.

The album has seventeen tracks and fifteen different producers.

Only four tracks aren’t “featuring” some guest star.

Let’s just say I wasn’t filled with hope. But it did fit with my ironic theory that the only member of Wu Tang who had a solo song on the debut Wu album was actually the most dependent on others to shine.

When I did listen to the album I was pleasantly surprised. “What’s Happening” sounds a lot better bumping from my stereo than it does coming out of the TV accompanied by images. Two of the best highlights come on song featuring fellow Wu members. “The Turn” featuring Raekwon (and produced by RZA) seems way to brief and leave you longing for more. I was as elated to find that “The Afterparty”, with Ghostface, made this album as I was disappointed that it didn’t make Ghost’s album. The chemistry between Ghost and Meth rivals any Ghost/Rae or Meth/Red collabo.

The No I.D. produced “Tease” is incredibly catchy. The beat bounces and Meth rides it like a pro. Redman shines on “We Some Dogs”, also featuring Snoop Dogg, but the song suffers from a generic sounding beat. Sadly that tracks producer, Denaun Porter, also produced “Crooked Letter I” to similar results.

Beat wise the beats range from “disappointing” (“We Some Dogs”) to “banging” (“The Turn”) with most residing in the “aight” zone. Lyrically Meth doesn’t disappoint. Clearly when one listens to a Method Man album one doesn’t expect to hear political discourse, Meth gives you some clever rhymes that you don’t have to really ponder.