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Tical (album)

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by C-Woodchuck (talk | contribs) at 18:43, 31 December 2006 (the title of the song is "What the Blood Clot", not "What a Blood Clot". it says so on the back of the album and even in the song). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Untitled

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.[1] This success was driven by its two singles, "Bring The Pain" and also "Release Yo Delf", which boasts a famous sample 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 all by RZA. Its success is matched by its influence as a major piece in the East Coast hip hop renaissance.[2]

Background

Conception

In 1991, the rapper GZA, tried to help out colleague Method Man by shopping him to label executives at Cold Chillin' Records.[3] 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.[4] 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 charisma and raspy voice made him the group's most popular member.[3]

Recording Sessions

The recording and mixing of Method Man's debut album occurred from 1993-1994 at four studios in New York; 36 Chambers Studios in Staten Island as well as Chung King Studios, Firehouse Studios and Platinum Island Studios in New York City.[5] It was recorded by Method Man and RZA and mixed primarily by John Wydrycs. The album was entirely produced by RZA who gave his beats to the Wu-Tang members who rapped the best over them. This strategy created the track "Meth Vs. Chef" which is in essence a battle between Raekwon and Method Man for a beat.[3] "Meth Vs. Chef" was recorded in 1993 before a flood hit RZA's 36 Chambers Studios destroying 15 beats per Wu-Tang Clan rapper.[3] This caused many beats on Tical to be redone quickly with worse sound quality than they could have had. [3]

Music

Lyrical Content

With his trademark raspy voice, Method Man raps about Cannabis smoking (Tical smoking as he calls it), violence presented comically and love on his debut album.

Production

Every track is produced solely by RZA except "Sub Crazy" and "P.L.O. Style" which are co-produced by 4th Disciple and Method Man respectively. RZA's control over Tical is the same formula used on Wu-Tang Clan's Enter The Wu-Tang and Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. All of these albums are considered classics due to RZA's gritty production, but on Tical his production becomes slightly more caried than on those other two albums. He samples his staple soul songs like "Mechanical Man" by Jerry Butler, but also some funk music ("The Jam" by Graham Central Station), rock 'n' roll music ("Hit Or Miss" by Bo Diddley) and children's music ("Verb!" by Schoolhouse Rock). There is a significant decrease in jazz music and martial arts films sampled though. RZA's production still allows Jason Birchmeier of All Music Guide to refer to Method Man's debut album as "a two-man show".[6]

Singles

Two singles, "Bring The Pain/P.L.O. Style" and "Release Yo' Delf/Bring The Pain (Remix)", were released by Def Jam in 1994 to promote Tical. "Bring The Pain" is a gritty RZA-produced track with vocals from Booster and a sample from "Mechanical Man" by Jerry Butler. "Release Yo' Delf" is a more upbeat track produced by RZA. It contains singing from Wu-Tang Clan affiliate Blue Raspberry and a sample from the famous disco song, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor. It also contains less known samples from "The Jam" by Graham Central Station, "Treasure Of San Miguel" by Herb Alpert and "Vicious" by Black Mamba. "Release Yo' Delf" reached #98 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1995, but was not as popular as "Bring The Pain". In 1994, "Bring The Pain" reached #45 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart. Tical contains the original version of the Grammy award winning "I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need To Get By" named "All I Need". Method Man's debut album also contains the remix of the popular single, "Method Man", by Wu-Tang Clan. It is still the only Method Man album with two singles reaching the Billboard Hot 100 to this day.

Track listing

# Title Length Songwriters Producer(s) Performer (s)
1 "Tical" 3:56 C. Smith, R. Diggs The RZA Method Man
2 "Biscuits" 2:49 C. Smith, R. Diggs The RZA Method Man
3 "Bring The Pain" 3:09 C. Smith, R. Diggs The RZA Booster, Method Man
4 "All I Need" 3:16 C. Smith, R. Diggs The RZA Method Man, Mary J. Blige
5 "What the Blood Clot" 3:24 C. Smith, R. Diggs The RZA Method Man
6 "Meth Vs. Chef" 3:36 C. Smith, R. Diggs, C. Woods The RZA Method Man, Raekwon
7 "Sub Crazy" 2:15 C. Smith, R. Diggs The RZA, 4th Disciple (co-producer) Method Man
8 "Release Yo' Delf" 4:15 C. Smith, R. Diggs The RZA Blue Raspberry, Method Man
9 "P.L.O. Style" 2:36 C. Smith, R. Diggs, C. Fist The RZA, Method Man (co-producer) Carlton Fisk, Method Man
10 "I Get My Thang In Action" 3:45 C. Smith, R. Diggs The RZA Method Man
11 "Mr. Sandman" 3:37 C. Smith, R. Diggs, J. Hunter, G. Cooney, P. Charles The RZA Blue Raspberry, Carlton Fisk, Inspectah Deck, Method Man, Street Thug, The RZA
12 "Stimulation" 3:46 C. Smith, R. Diggs The RZA Blue Raspberry, Method Man
13 "Method Man (Remix)" 3:16 C. Smith, R. Diggs The RZA Method Man

Information on each track is taken from discogs.com.[5]

Samples

Template:Sample box start Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end Template:Sample box end The information on the sampled music is extracted from the-breaks.com.[7]

Bring The Pain

All I Need

Meth Vs. Chef

Release Yo Delf

I Get My Thang In Action

Album singles

The information on the singles is extracted from discogs.com[8] and All Music Guide.[9]

Single cover Single information
"Bring The Pain"
  • Released: 1994
  • B-side: "P.L.O. Style"
File:ReleaseYoDelf.jpg
 "Release Yo' Delf"
  • Released: 1995
  • B-side: "Bring The Pain (Remix)"

Album Chart Positions

Album chart positions are taken from Billboard magazine (North America).[10]

Year Album Chart positions
Billboard 200 Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums
1994 Tical #4 #1

Singles Chart Positions

Singles chart positions are taken from Billboard magazine (North America).[11]

Year Song Chart positions
Billboard Hot 100 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks Hot Rap Singles Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales
1994 "Bring The Pain" #45 #30 #4 #1
1995 "Release Yo Delf" #98 - #28 #6

References

  1. ^ "RIAA Searchable Database". Retrieved November 15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ "Tical at Buy.com". Retrieved November 15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b c d e Cowie, Del F. "Days Of The Wu". Retrieved November 15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) Billboard Singles at AllMusic.com". Retrieved November 15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ a b "Tical at Discogs.com". Retrieved November 15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Birchmeier, Jason. "Tical at AllMusic.com". Retrieved November 18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Method Man Entry at The-Breaks.com". Retrieved November 18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Method Man Entry at Discogs.com". Retrieved November 18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "Method Man Singles & EPs at AllMusic.com". Retrieved November 18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "Method Man Billboard Albums at AllMusic.com". Retrieved November 18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "Method Man Billboard Singles at AllMusic.com". Retrieved November 18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
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