Tical (album)

Infobox Album |
Name = Tical
Type = Album
Artist = Method Man


Released = November 15, 1994
Recorded = 1993-1994; 36 Chambers, Staten Island
Chung King, Manhattan
Firehouse Studios, Manhattan
Platinum Island, Manhattan
Genre = East Coast hip hop, Hardcore hip hop
Length = 43:49
Label = Def Jam
Producer = RZA
Method Man
4th Disciple
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fem1z85aoyv2 link]
*"Entertainment Weekly" (B) [http://www.buy.com/prod/Tical/q/loc/109/60349613.html December 9, 1994, p. 76]
*"Melody Maker" Rating|4|5 [http://www.buy.com/prod/Tical/q/loc/109/60349613.html May 23, 2000, p. 56]
*"NME" (8/10) [http://www.buy.com/prod/Tical/q/loc/109/60349613.html January 28, 1995, p. 47]
*"Rolling Stone" (favorable) [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/methodman/albums/album/194122/review/5941186/tical link]
*"The Source" Rating|4|5 [http://www.buy.com/prod/Tical/q/loc/109/60349613.html January, 1995, p. 85]
Last album =
This album = "Tical"
(1994)
Next album = ""
(1998)

"Tical" is the highly acclaimed debut album by Wu-Tang Clan member and hip hop artist Method Man. It was released by Def Jam in 1994 making it the first Wu-Tang solo album released after Wu-Tang Clan's debut, "Enter the Wu-Tang".

It was a commercial success reaching #4 on the Billboard 200 and earning a platinum certification from RIAA on July 13, 1995.cite web | last = | first = | url = http://www.riaa.com/gp/database/default.asp | title = RIAA Searchable Database
format = | work = | publisher = | accessdate = November 15 | accessyear = 2006] This success was driven by its two singles, "Bring The Pain" and also "Release Yo Delf", which boasts an interpolation of "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor. The album is also critically hailed by many hip hop fans as a classic album. This may be attributed to the gritty production which was handled almost exclusively by RZA. Its success is matched by its influence as a major piece in the East Coast hip hop renaissance. It was included in Q Magazine's 50 Heaviest Albums of All Time.cite web | last = | first = | url = http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/qlistspage2.html#50%20Heaviest | title = Q Magazine's 50 Heaviest Albums
format = | work = | publisher = | accessdate = February 14 | accessyear = 2008]

History

In 1991, the rapper GZA tried to help out colleague Method Man by shopping him to label executives at Cold Chillin' Records.cite web | last = Cowie | first = Del F. | url = http://www.exclaim.ca/index.asp?layid=22&csid=1&csid1=914 | title = Days Of The Wu | format = | work = | publisher = | accessdate = November 15 | accessyear = 2006] GZA was unsuccessful, but when he formed Wu-Tang Clan, Method Man was included in the group. Method Man went on to perform on eight of the twelve tracks on Wu-Tang's acclaimed debut album, "Enter the Wu-Tang", and even had a solo song named "Method Man". That song as well as "C.R.E.A.M." on which he performed the chorus reached #69 and #60 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100.cite web | last = | first = | url = http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:5ckcu32gan5k~T31 | title = Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) Billboard Singles at AllMusic.com | format = | work = | publisher = | accessdate = November 15 | accessyear = 2006] These two songs had better chart positions than any other tracks on "Enter The Wu-Tang" and thus hyped Method Man's solo career greatly. At the time of Wu-Tang Clan's debut album, Method Man's deadly rhymes, charisma and smooth, deep voice made him the group's most popular member.cite web | last = Cowie | first = Del F. | url = http://www.exclaim.ca/index.asp?layid=22&csid=1&csid1=914 | title = Days Of The Wu | format = | work = | publisher = | accessdate = November 15 | accessyear = 2006]

New York City studios: RZA's 36 Chambers Studios in Staten Island, as well as the Chung King, Firehouse and Platinum Island studios in Manhattan.cite web | last = | first = | url = http://www.discogs.com/release/492510 | title = Tical at Discogs.com | format = | work = | publisher = | accessdate = November 15 | accessyear = 2006] RZA produced the album in its near-entirety - except for "Sub Crazy" and "P.L.O. Style", co-produced by 4th Disciple and Method Man respectively - leading Jason Birchmeier of Allmusic to refer to the album as "a two-man show".cite web | last = Birchmeier | first = Jason | url = http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fem1z85aoyv2 | title = Tical at AllMusic.com
format = | work = | publisher = | accessdate = November 18 | accessyear = 2006] As with rest of the first round of Wu-Tang albums, RZA would recreate the distinct "Shaolin" sound while tailoring it to the featured rapper. On "Tical", his production was especially dark and murky, complementing both Method Man's distinctly smooth-yet-rugged voice and his raps of cannabis smoking ("Tical"), project love ("All I Need"), and traditional hardcore hip hop lyricism ("Bring The Pain"). In those early days of the Wu-Tang Clan the RZA was the sole provider of beats for eight talented emcees, who he would have battle over the rights to record over them. This approach to quality control would result in "Tical"'s "Meth Vs. Chef", a recording of one such a battle between Method Man and Raekwon.cite web | last = Cowie | first = Del F. | url = http://www.exclaim.ca/index.asp?layid=22&csid=1&csid1=914 | title = Days Of The Wu | format = | work = | publisher = | accessdate = November 15 | accessyear = 2006] "Meth Vs. Chef" was recorded in 1993 before RZA's 36 Chambers Studios was flooded, destroying reportedly fifteen beats per Wu-Tang Clan rapper.cite web | last = Cowie | first = Del F. | url = http://www.exclaim.ca/index.asp?layid=22&csid=1&csid1=914 | title = Days Of The Wu | format = | work = | publisher = | accessdate = November 15 | accessyear = 2006] Many of the beats for "Tical" would be hastily recreated and mixed, resulting in a decrease in sound quality.cite web | last = Cowie | first = Del F. | url = http://www.exclaim.ca/index.asp?layid=22&csid=1&csid1=914 | title = Days Of The Wu | format = | work = | publisher = | accessdate = November 15 | accessyear = 2006]

In 1994 the lead single "Bring The Pain" (backed with "P.L.O. Style") was released. "Bring The Pain" was an RZA-produced track with an understated but funky groove, capped with the ragga vocals of Booster. The single would reach #45 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot Dance chart. The follow-up single, 1995's "Release Yo' Self", was a more upbeat track - at least by RZA's standards - and featured Wu-affiliate Blue Raspberry singing a B-Boy interpretation of Gloria Gaynor's disco anthem, "I Will Survive". "Release Yo' Self" reached #98 on the Hot 100, failing to match the success of "Bring The Pain"; "Tical" however remains the only Method Man album with two singles reaching the Billboard Hot 100.

To continue the album's promotion, "All I Need" was remixed and released in the summer of 1995 as "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By". There are two versions of this Mary J. Blige duet: Puff Daddy and the Trackmasters' Poke's version, featuring a sample from The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Me & My Bitch", and the more famous remix by RZA (the "Razor Sharp Mix"), with accompanying video, the song would reach #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well number ones on the Hot Rap, Dance and R&B charts,cite web | last = | first = | url = http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0nm1z8oa8yv4~T51 | title = Method Man Billboard Singles at AllMusic.com | format = | work = | publisher = | accessdate = November 18 | accessyear = 2006] later going on to win a Grammy Award in 1996.

Reception

"Professional reviews":
*Rolling Stone (12/29/94-1/12/95, pp.178-80) - "He's...capable...of something resembling a love song....But it is with its heaviest numbers...that Tical delivers the primo goods."

*Entertainment Weekly (12/9/94, p.76) - "...one or rap's most formidable players.... [Method Man's] gripping rhymes creep out of the darkness and take listeners hostage." - Rating: B

*Q (2/96, p.65) - Included in Q's 50 Best Albums of 1995 - "...every second [is] worth paying attention to."

*The Wire (10/01, p.46) - "Compact but fried....There's a reason Meth is the closest The Wu have to a star."

*Vibe (11/94, pp.125-126) - "Method is the man who would be king....Method takes the listener on a brilliant journey through the broken boulevards of existence."

*The Source (1/95, p.85) - 4 Mics - Slammin' - "His hoarse voice and sense of what's metaphorically fly have seen him take over as hip-hop's urban paramilitary....He shows a fragmented hip-hop nation what this music is really about."

*Melody Maker (5/23/00, p.56) - 4 stars out of 5 - " [Meth] comes correct with [this] beamed-down-from-Planet-Mars [stuff] making music that's way darker and more disorienting than was previously thought possible. 'Bring The Pain' is 'still' the bomb."

*NME (12/23-30/95, pp.22-23) - Ranked #40 in NME's `Top 50 Albums Of The Year' for 1995 -
**NME (1/28/95, p.47) - 8 - Excellent - "The East Coast hip-hop renaissance continues apace...supremely laid-back, mooching along at a bass-weighted amble whether it's framing the monogamous lover's lament of `All I Need'...or the `I Will Survive' hook of `Release Yo Self'."

Track listing

ingles

Singles chart positions are taken from "Billboard" magazine (North America).cite web | last = | first = | url = http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0nm1z8oa8yv4~T51 | title = Method Man Billboard Singles at AllMusic.com | format = | work = | publisher = | accessdate = November 18 | accessyear = 2006]

References

External links

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