What`s up y`all? I know, I know it`s been a long while since I`ve actually posted something up on the blog, but you got to bare with me & understand that since I`m a full-time father now I don`t have as much free time as I used to (or would love to have!). Even though the number of posts may be down a lil` bit I promise that I will do my best to ensure that when I do post something that it`ll be well worth the wait. So today I have another album to share with y`all that gets the HeRBaN DeLuXe treatment. The album that I decided to touch this time around is Method Man`s 1994 debut solo album titled "Tical". Now I`m sure that most of you have at least heard the album if not own the original release. The reason that I choose to do this album is pretty simple really, Def Jam recently released the 20th Anniversary 'Deluxe Edition' (I think it dropped in September) & I wasn`t really all that impressed with the extra joints that they decided to add to it...
They pretty much just added the entire "All I Need" CD single, 2 remixes of "Release Yo` Delf" (Prodigy Remix & the New Blood Mix), 2 remixes of "Bring The Pain" (Chemical Brothers Remix & the actual remix) & it`s instrumental, "The Riddler" & the Capleton collabo` "Wings Of The Morning [Dynamik Duo Mix]". Some of the tracks aren`t bad, but overall I just found it to be a real lazily put together 20th Anniversary release. I`m not saying that my selection of tracks is the greatest either, but it`s definitely much better than their version. I tried to keep it to songs that were released around the same time period as his debut album, but wanted to keep it to a one disc compilation. I could`ve easily made it a double disc comp`, but decided against doing so. Who knows maybe later on down the line I`ll put a second disc together to accompany this one, but for now it is what it is...
Now let`s get to the music shall we? The album starts off with "Tical" a nice dark & dusty way to kick things off. "Biscuits" is a short 2 verse joint with a good thumpin` beat behind it that compliments Meth`s flows. I always laugh when I hear that lil` interlude that he kicks at the beginning of the track:
"Yo` mama don`t wear no drawers,
I saw her when she took them off!
Standin` on the welfare line eatin` swine
Tryin` to look fine with her stank behind
You can ask the bitch & she`ll tell ya fast
Meth-Tical got style with his nasty ass"...
"Bring The Pain" may have been played a whole lot since it was first released, but I don`t care it`s still a banger to me! I remember when it first dropped back in the day, I had taped the song off the radio from a local college Hip Hop show (can`t remember the exact show it`s been a few years) & was playin` the fuck out of the tape (in my walkman, yeah it was that long ago....LoL). As soon as you hear the first few notes of the beat at the beginning of the track you just know that it`s gon` be something awesome! This song was released as one of the album`s singles with "P.L.O. Style" on the B-side. "All I Need" is next & although it isn`t the Mary J. Blige featured remix version that helped Meth` win a Grammy it`s still a nice track. Meth` basically kicks verses for his girl letting her know how he feels for her, a ghetto love song if you will. Rumor has it that Def Jam actually had to bribe Method Man with a Cadillac or some ish just so he`d do the remixes for this song because they wanted something that was a lil` more radio airplay friendly since the album doesn`t really have any commercialized sounding joints. Not sure exactly how true it is, but regardless I glad that he decided to do the remix with Mary `cuz it`s a banger. The music video was pretty entertaining too...
"What The Blood Clot" is a quick & short one verse track, Meth` also chooses this song to give shout outs to all the homies. "Meth vs. Chef" is another one of my favorite songs on this album, hearing it 20 years later it still sounds great. The only thing that kind of sucks is that Raekwon sort of gives up about half way thru his verse....LoL, always thought it would have been a DoPe idea if the Wu had more battle type joints between other members of the Clan on later solo members` albums to keep the competitiveness going & keep `em lyrically sharp & on point. "Sub Crazy" is another short lil` dusty track that has Meth` flippin` straight lyrics. It`s not a track that I`m really much of a fan of, it`s not wack but is far from the banger that the song before it is. The Blue Raspberry collabo` "Released Yo` Delf" definitely picks things back up! Right from the opening lines of Blue`s lyrics you just know that this song`s gon` get you pumped up especially after the beat kicks in. This song`s another one of my faves no doubt about it!!!
"P.L.O. Style" follows & is a short lil` collabo` with Carlton Fisk (I`m not really too familiar with this kat), it`s a decent back & forth song though. "I Get My Thang In Action" is next & is backed by a nice head noddin` beat, Meth` kicks rhymes just showin` you that he can flex his style with ease. "Mr.Sandman" is a nice dark & dusty posse cut collabo` that features Carlton Fisk, Inspectah Deck, RZA, Street Thug (they probably mean Street Life but it`s listed as Thug instead) & Blue Raspberry. Something interesting to note, this is the first posse cut that`s not on an actual Wu-Tang Clan group album. "Stimulation" features Blue Raspberry once again handling the hook for the track, overall it`s nothing super spectacular but it`s still better than "Sub Crazy". Although I prefer the original version that`s featured on the Wu-Tang Clan`s debut album the "Method Man [Rmx]" isn`t too shabby either...
That remix is where the original album would`ve ended, but like I said at the beginning of this post I decided to make this version somewhat of a 'deluxe' compilation to celebrate the album`s 20th birthday if you will. So without any more of a delay let`s get to the bonus content shall we? The first joint that I chose to add was the "Bring The Pain [Rmx]" which was originally featured on the re-released album that Def Jam put out back in 2000 as part of their Def Jam Remasters series. It`s nothing super spectacular, the beat is slightly different but the lyrics are still the same as the original version. Not everyone has heard this version so that is why I decided to add it. Following that is the demo version of "All I Need" which is a pretty rare joint in my books. So BiG uPs goes out to the homie dirt_dog for hookin` me up with this & a lot of the other joints that I used to complete this compilation! The beat is the same as the album version, but what is different with this joint is that it has a lil` interlude that features a couple of chicks (not sure who they are) talkin` to each other about men. They are also featured on the hook, well where the hook would be, talkin` & gossiping about men as well (it`s kind of entertaining to hear)...
The next joint is the Frankenstein remix of "P.L.O. Style" which is originally from the Frankenstein "Live From New York (The Remixx Album)" promo that was released back in 1996. I posted that joint up a while back, you can peep it here. One thing that I should mention is that I cut the track a lil` short because the end of the song was just the instrumental looped & I wanted to leave room for more songs on this comp` so that`s why I faded it out early. "No Hook" is off of Shaquille O`Neal`s album titled "Shaq-Fu: Da Return" & features the RZA as well. The "Wu Headbangers Freestyle" is a DoPe freestyle that was originally featured on the "P.L.O. Style" 12 inch single that was released back in 1997. "Freestyle Lyricstyle" is another freestyle joint that was originally released on a promo 12 inch single in 1997. The "Funkmaster Flex `95 Freestyle" that also features Redman was originally released on Funkmaster Flex`s "60 Minutes Of Funk Vol. 1 Mixtape" that dropped in 1995...
"The Riddler" is a joint that Meth` did for the "Batman Forever Soundtrack", the "Hide Out Rmx" (which isn`t as widely heard as the original version) was originally released on a 12 inch (or CD) single from 1995. The "Evil Streets [Rmx]" is an iLL collabo` with Onyx that was originally released back in 1995 on a 12 inch promo single. The original version of "The What" featuring the late & great Biggie wasn`t officially released, but most of y`all probably heard it off that "Notorious B.I.G - Ready To Die [O.G. Version]" that was circulating on the web a few years ago. What`s interesting about this version is that it has different lyrics than the version that appears on B.I.G.`s debut album, so it`s definitely worth checking out! Things close out with "Hard To Kill", a collabo` with Spice 1. This West Coast/ East Coast pairing was originally released back in 1994 on Spice 1`s "AmeriKKKa`s Nightmare" album. So there ya have it y`all, another reason to check out Method Man`s debut album & appreciate it. Enjoy the bonus tunes, happy listening...
Label: Def Jam
Released: 1994-2014
1. Tical
2. Biscuits
3. Bring The Pain {ft. Booster}
4. All I Need
5. What The Blood Clot
6. Meth vs. Chef {ft. Raekwon}
7. Sub Crazy
8. Release Yo` Delf {ft. Blue Raspberry}
9. P.L.O. Style {ft. Carlton Fisk}
10. I Get My Thang In Action
11. Mr. Sandman {ft. Carlton Fisk, Inspectah Deck, RZA, Street Thug & Blue Raspberry}
12. Stimulation {ft. Blue Raspberry}
13. Method Man [Rmx]
14. Bring The Pain [Rmx] {ft. Booster}
15. All I Need [Demo Version]
16. P.L.O. Style [Frankenstein Rmx]
17. No Hook {ft. Shaq & RZA}
18. Wu Headbangers Freestyle
19. Freestyle Lyricstyle
20. Funkmaster Flex `95 Freestyle {ft. Redman}
21. The Riddler [Hide Out Rmx]
22. Evil Streets [Rmx] {ft. Onyx}
23. The What [Original Version] {ft. Biggie}
24. Hard To Kill {ft. Spice 1}
N`JoY...
