Released:  November 7th, 1995

Recorded:  Mid 1995

Genre:  Hip-hop

Record Label:  Geffen / MCA

Duration:  55:17

Producer:  RZA

Personnel

Track Listing

Singles

Why Liquid Swords is One of My Favorites

This was an album I certainly never got into back in the 90’s.  Back then it was guitars guitars guitars and there wasn’t much rap I was willing to accept (though of course Eminem did a lot to bridge the worlds).  And then I started my first year of college (2003 – 2004) and it was rap rap rap.  Yin Yang Twins in the Caf, Lil John in the hallways, Jay-Z in the Quad, T.I. from some parked car outside my window that wouldn’t move for 2 hours….and a smothering dose of Outkast in virtually every car I got into.  It was pretty inescapable after a few months and by 2007 I was having to relearn how to like rock.

But during my stint with rap, I exhausted much of what was popular and began branching out as much as possible on my university’s T1 line (which I got fucking banned from for downloading music 3/4 through the year…so I used the phone lines!).  And as I worked my way through understanding one sub-genre and then the next, I eventually started consulting “best of” lists to point me in the right direction.  During this period I was gathering up almost anything, slowly working my through it at later times.  Well, I suppose Liquid Swords was in there somewhere, because one day I remember browsing through my folders and thinking (about the title only), “oh that sounds neat…”

It was a little dated sounding (even on some nice huge bassy speakers that I’d purchased specifically for blaring rap by my second year) but there was something there that kept me interested, and before I knew it, I was piecing together all kinds of 90’s East Coast lingo that I’d had no exposure to in my more current tastes.  I knew that it was a “good album” in some sense of the term since that’s why I ended up with it, but I had no idea just how widely acclaimed it was until some time later.  I honestly don’t have a large enough frame of reference to determine how great it is compared to every other rap album ever, but it is a great piece and though I don’t often associated it with the rest of “my 90’s music,” it technically fits the bill.

If you glance at the list of “Personnel” above, you’ll see that the entire Wu-Tang clan contributed to the album, and although GZA is the star, the other appearances are generally significant.  With so many other voices popping in and out, it’s easier to appreciate GZA’s lyricism and wordplay.  I don’t want to say that the other guys are bad, but the shifts from GZA’s rapping to someone else’s are obvious.  It’s not just the words either; he generally delivers with excellent meter and timing (I guess that would be “flow”) without forcing too many or too few syllables into a beat.  “4th Chamber” is a great example – the first 2 verses, from Ghostface Killa and Killah Priest respectively, are completely outdone by both RZA’s third and GZA’s fourth verses.

Hip-hop isn’t typically known for its metaphorical lyrics.  Not to say that it isn’t out there, but one of the hallmarks of the genre has always been its authenticity and straightforward, “tell-it-like-it-is” nature. One thing that’s great (or at least distinct) about Liquid Swords is that there is actually some room to sit down and figure out what he’s talking about.  There’s a whole samurai theme running through the album that seems to double as both a code of honor on the streets as well as a path to enlightenment.  The GZA-only track “Swordsman” portrays a search for the “the truth” with some clever lines about superstition thrown in to boot.  Other tracks take a more traditional approach to the genre, describing various events and conditions spawned by urban decay.  “Gold,” “Living in the World Today,” “Cold World,” and “Killah Hills” among others paint a clear picture of this murky life.  GZA gives us a cold and desolate portrayal of life in New York’s underbelly, choosing to inform rather than to glorify.

Then there’s the music, which was probably the hardest thing for me to get used to.  If we’re being honest, rap evolved as much between 1995 and 2005 as rock music did from 1975 to 1995.  Hip-hop is one of the youngest major genres of popular music, and as such, it has changed and adapted rapidly.  The unfortunate side effect is that “older rap” can become dated sounded after only a few years.  It took some time for me to travel back to the more lo-fi, sample driven stylings of the Wu-Tang Clan, but it’s not without its charms.  In fact, I find much of Liquid Swords to be mildly hypnotic.

RZA’s production is sparse and subdued.  There’s not a lot of flash in these songs, mostly just steady beats to set the pace of GZA’s flow.  Come to think of it, the tempo doesn’t really change all that much from song to song.  I generally like a little more variety when I sit down with an album, though it sort of manages to work here, I suppose because the vocals of GZA et al. are the primary focus.  It’s also been mentioned that it was RZA’s intention to create a sound that reflected the city’s darker side.  In this sense, it’s not hard to picture the bleakness of street life amid the simple, driving beats.

What really ends up setting one track apart from another is RZA’s (very) restrained use of samples.  They’re expressed as slight musical flourishes from time to time that add just a touch of tension to the atmosphere.  “Liquid Swords” (one of the album’s strongest tracks in all regards) contains what I believe to be a guitar sample that highlights the hook, and “Killah Hills” features a prominent synth loop that creates suspense in the gritty tale.  “Swordsman” has one of the most interesting samples – a muted handful of notes, distant in the mix, that sounds something like a cross between crunchy guitar and a brass ensemble – giving the verses a sense of urgency.

I don’t think I could survive on an entire collection of music like this alone, but Liquid Swords is different enough to get and keep my attention.  I’d probably have an easier time discussing it if I was more fluent in the rap music of the time, especially Wu-Tang.  I’ve heard a lot of hip-hop that I’ve liked over the years; is Liquid Swords better?  I don’t know.  It did catch me at a time and place where I was eager to branch out, and it’s stuck with me ever since.

Written by The Cubist

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