Liquid Swords

Liquid Swords is a solo album by Wu-Tang Clan member GZA, widely regarded as a masterpiece of the East Coast hip hop renaissance. It was released on November 7, 1995 through Geffen Records.

Overview

Though the album was credited to GZA alone, there are numerous guest appearances from the entire Wu-Tang Clan, like all their earlier solo albums. Liquid Swords is characteristic of the Wu-Tang Clan in its minimalist, menacing and ominous beats by producer RZA, and its cinematic themes relating to Asian cinema, particularly Samurai cinema. GZA also covers many themes, such as chess, crime and philosophy. The album begins with a monologue from a little boy; his monologue, and many of the other skits scattered throughout the album, are from the cult film Shogun Assassin. These samples, along with eerie beats gives Liquid Swords a distinctive, creepy, unsettling sound, proving influential to many subsequent East Coast hip hop artists.

Cover Art

The album is also known for its distinctive cover, designed by DC-Milestone comic book artist Denys Cowan who was commissioned by Garfield, an avid comic book fan under the auspices of GZA Graphics, a subsidiary company of GZA Entertainment owned by Genius and Garfield. The concept of the chessboard with its sword-wielding warriors was conceived by Genius, an avid chess player. The Genius version of the Wu-Tang Clan logo, the "G" using the logo iconography, was rendered by Wu-Tang Clan DJ Mathematics.

Videos

Genius also enjoyed a successful side career as a music video director, and with Garfield as writer and producer, created all four videos for the Liquid Swords album ("Liquid Swords", "Cold World", "Shadowboxin'/4th Chamber","I Gotcha Back"), and also did videos for Sunz of Man, Ghostface Killah's song on the Sunset Park film soundtrack, Shabazz the Disciple (Penalty Records) and Case (Def Jam). The Source magazine recognized their video "Shadowboxin'/4th Chamber" as one of the Top Five Videos of 1995.

Reception

Critical response was almost universally positive. Steve Huey of All Music Guide remarked that Liquid Swords is often referred to as "the best Wu-Tang solo project of all" and "Liquid Swords cemented the Genius/GZA's reputation as the best pure lyricist in the group -- and one of the best of the '90s."^[1] Steve Juon of RapReviews.com wrote that Liquid Swords was "the purest representation of the Wu-Tang sound and style at a time when they truly reigned over all others in hip-hop in the mid-90's". ^[12] Liquid Swords is ranked #1 for the year 1995 on RateYourMusic.com, its currently the second-highest rated Hip Hop album of all time on the site, behind only the Clan's Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).^[13] The public and critical reception was so positive that the album's marketing campaign for its November 1995 release read "Finally...In the Year of the Wu" to commemorate an astounding year-long run of hit Wu-Tang Clan solo albums.

In 1998, Liquid Swords was named as one of rap magazine The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums.

Chris Rock ranked Liquid Swords 13th on his list of the Top 25 Hip-Hop Albums ever ^[14], but in one of his concerts, he said that is one of his top 3 favorite albums.

Trivia

The album was performed in its entirety in July 13 2007 at the Pitchfork Music Festival and again in England, on December 09 at All Tomorrows Parties and on December 10 at KOKO (venue) in London.
In the film The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Cal, played by Seth Rogen can be seen wearing an iron-on Liquid Swords shirt.
"I Gotcha' Back" can be heard in the film Smokin' Aces ^[15] and is featured in the movie's soundtrack.

Track listing

All songs produced by RZA unless otherwise noted.

#	Title	Time	Performer(s)	Sample(s)
1	"Liquid Swords"	4:31	Intro & chorus backing vocals by RZA	"Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" by Willie Mitchell "Groovin'" by Willie Mitchell "That's the Way it Is" by Al Green (?) Samurai movie Shogun Assassin
2	"Duel of the Iron Mic"	4:06	Chorus: Ol' Dirty Bastard First verse: GZA Second verse: Masta Killa Third verse: Inspectah Deck	"I'm Afraid the Masquerade is Over" by David Porter Samurai movie Shogun Assassin
3	"Living in the World Today"	4:23	Intro: RZA Chorus: GZA & Method Man Verses: GZA	"In The Hole" by The Bar-Kays "I'm His Wife, You're Just a Friend" by Anne Sexton
4	"Gold"	3:57	Intro: Method Man
5	"Cold World"	5:31	Chorus: Life First verse: GZA Second verse: Inspectah Deck	"In The Rain" by The Dramatics "Rocket Love" by Stevie Wonder Samurai movie Shogun Assassin
6	"Labels"	2:54	Intro: RZA
7	"4th Chamber"	4:37	First verse: Ghostface Killah Second verse: Killah Priest Third verse: RZA Fourth verse: GZA	"Groovin'" by Willie Mitchell Samurai movie Shogun Assassin
8	"Shadowboxin'"	3:30	First Verse: Method Man Second Verse: GZA Third Verse: Method Man	"Trouble, Heartaches & Sadness" by Ann Peebles dialogue from the film "Shaolin vs. Lama"
9	"Killah Hills 10304"	5:09	Intro: RZA & Ol' Dirty Bastard singing in the back Performer: GZA
10	"Investigative Reports"	3:50	Intro, outro & chorus: U-God First verse: Raekwon Second verse: GZA Third verse: Ghostface Killah	"I'd Be So Happy" by Three Dog Night
11	"Swordsman"	3:21	Chorus: GZA First verse: GZA Second verse: GZA Third verse: GZA
12	"I Gotcha' Back"	5:01	Chorus backing vocals: RZA	"As Long As I've Got You" by The Charmels
13	"B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)"	4:33	Performed by: Killah Priest Producer: 4th Disciple	"Our Love Has Died" by The Ohio Players

Personnel

Raekwon the Chef - Performer
Ghostface Killah - Performer
Method Man - Performer
Mark A. Humphrey - Photography
GZA - Performer
U-God - Performer
Killah Priest - Performer
Dreddy Kruger - Performer
RZA - Producer & Performer
ODB - Performer
Masta Killa - Performer
Inspectah Deck - Performer

Album chart positions

Year	Album	Chart positions
		Billboard 200	Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums
1995	Liquid Swords	#9	#2

Singles chart positions

Year	Song	Chart positions
Year	Song	Billboard Hot 100	Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	Hot Rap Singles	Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales
1994	"I Gotcha Back"	-	-	#29	#39
1995	"Cold World"	#97	#57	#8	#8
1995	"Liquid Swords"	#48	#33	#3	#2
1995	"Shadowboxin'"	#67	#41	#10	#9

References

External links

Liquid Swords ⚠ "mbid" is missing! at MusicBrainz

[allmusic-1] Huey, Steve. "Liquid Swords > Overview". All Music Guide. Retrieved 2007-12-03.

[2] ttp://www.buy.com/retail/proreviews/product.asp?sku=60010370&loc=109&PageFormat=7 source

[3] ttp://www.buy.com/retail/proreviews/product.asp?sku=60010370&loc=109&PageFormat=7 source

[rapreviews-4] Juon, Steve. "Genius/GZA :: Liquid Swords :: Geffen Records". Rap Reviews. Retrieved 2007-12-03.

[5] ttp://www.buy.com/retail/proreviews/product.asp?sku=60010370&loc=109&PageFormat=7 source

[6] ttp://www.buy.com/retail/proreviews/product.asp?sku=60010370&loc=109&PageFormat=7 source

[7] ttp://www.q4music.com/nav?page=q4music.review.redirect&fixture_review=127268&resource=127268&fixture_artist=142388 October 2000

[8] ttp://www.buy.com/retail/proreviews/product.asp?sku=60010370&loc=109&PageFormat=7 source

[9] ttp://www.sputnikmusic.com/review_11958 link

[10] ttp://stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/gza-liquid-swords.htm link

[11] ttp://www.buy.com/retail/proreviews/product.asp?sku=60010370&loc=109&PageFormat=7 source

[12] ttp://www.rapreviews.com/archive/BTTL_liquidswords.html

[13] ttp://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/genius___gza/liquid_swords/

[14] ttp://rateyourmusic.com/list/tha_flu/chris_rocks_top_25_hip_hop_albums

[15] ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGj1VGBMJ2g

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