Planet Ill » Album Review: Wu Massacre

<p>By Malice Intended</p><p>Method Man, Ghostface Killah, and Raekwon have splintered off from their larger family to bring us Wu Massacre.&nbsp; The album functions much the same as any other Wu Project, albeit with a reduced lineup.&nbsp; The conservative approach of the LP is reflected not only in the smaller number of participants, but in the length of its songs and the number of tracks.&nbsp; No bloat or extraneous material here, just a concentrated shot of Shaolin soul.</p><p>Abbot RZA delivers a track that would probably be better suited to a Ghostface solo album with &ldquo;Our Dreams&rdquo;.&nbsp; A serene sample, complete with a twinkling triangle and nasal vocals provides the backbone.&nbsp; It sounds as though RZA was satisfied with the drum sounds contained in the sample itself and didn&rsquo;t bother to add any extra bottom.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s effective though surprisingly indistinct when compared to RZA&rsquo;s post Wu-Tang Forever output.</p><p>Almost any Wu-Tang affiliated project contains at least one song built on a minute sample looped to dizzying repetition.&nbsp; Producer Digem Trax provides just that with &ldquo;Gunshowers.&rdquo;&nbsp; The sped up vocals repeat over and over until they dig a trench in the subconscious; allowing the lyrics to penetrate.&nbsp; Inspectah Deck delivers the stand out verse.&nbsp; The stripped down approach to the production is most evident with &ldquo;Dangerous,&rdquo; which uses a soulful guitar and vocal stabs to compliment a basic drum track.&nbsp; Raekwon shines and Ghost delivers his trademark mix of humorously exaggerated emotion.</p>