Neither the first Wu solo effort nor even GZA’s first solo album, Liquid Swords has to be one of the best (as well as one of the most famous) LPs from the Wu-Tang Clan camp and now it’s getting a special edition re-release. The LP saw legendary mic manipulator GZA give it large on his favourite topics over thirteen of RZA’s trademark haunting loops and crisp breaks with snatches of ridiculously over-the-top dialogue from Shogun Assassin providing a suitably doomy linking motif amongst the tales of urban gloom. And the cover was pretty dope too with it’s image of Wu-Tang members engaged in battle against hooded foes on a giant chessboard floating in space drawn by DC Comics artist Denys Cowan.
As with their re-release of ODB’s Return To The 36 Chambers, Get On Down make sure this CD version comes with lots of extras. The LP has been remastered, you get a second disc containing the instrumentals, 20 pages of liner notes from The Genius himself, artwork from the original release and something that ensures you’ll always be able to enter the dark world of the Wu and engage in the eternal struggle with the enemy on a level playing field wherever you are. Have they included a free nunchuku or a manual to the Wudang 8 Divine Sword Style? Don’t be ridiculous – it is of course (remember that cover?) a miniature chess set, complete with wooden pieces. Gotta be worth a rook…
(Out 24 July on Get On Down Records)