Forever is one of the greatest hip hop LPs of all time." Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic stated: Every single track is a detonation of every single pop rule you thought sacrosanct . More important, after a four-year wait, on Wu-Tang Forever the Clan retains its mantle as rap's standard bearers." Melody Maker gave Wu-Tang Forever a favorable review as well, stating "It had to be this big. The Wu-Tang Clan offers something for every kind of rap fan. The RZA allows a few outside producers behind the board this time, but it's his gritty samples and numbing beats that get the party moving." Sasha Frere-Jones from Spin called it an album "for hip-hop junkies, rhyme followers who want to hear their favorite sword-swallowers drop unusually good styles over unusually good beats." Comparing some of the album's production to that of Wu-Tang member GZA's Liquid Swords (also produced by RZA), Neil Strauss from The New York Times wrote a favorable review of the album and stated " Wu-Tang Forever is a smooth, clean set of 25 songs and two speeches, with only a few throwaways on the second CD. Like their forebears in Public Enemy, Wu-Tang are musical revolutionaries, unafraid to bring the noise along with their trunk of funk. Matt Diehl from Entertainment Weekly commented, " Forever continues the group's artistic grand slam. Upon its release, Wu-Tang Forever received critical acclaim from music critics, who praised RZA's production work and the group members' lyricism. This album will destroy every hip-hop record made in the past ten years." Critical reception Professional ratings Review scores Them guys are lethal but, when they come together, it's even more incredible. "It's like the Power Rangers where they come together to form that Megazord shit. "The sum of our parts is worth all the organizing," said Method Man. Ghostface Killah would follow his work on Forever with Supreme Clientele, which is generally regarded as a classic. "Cash Still Rules/Scary Hours" has also been noted as one of Ghostface’s more memorable verses on the album, notable for the way in which the verse cuts off, first popularizing the feel that he could "go on forever". It was also featured in The Source's Hip-Hop Quotable. Ghostface Killah continued his rise to fame with a verse in "Impossible", hailed by RZA in the Wu-Tang Manual as "the greatest Wu-Tang verse ever written". Despite being one of the last members to release a solo album, Deck's contributions throughout Wu-Tang Forever led to him being a sought-after collaborator for other artists he would appear on subsequent tracks with Gang Starr, Pete Rock and Big Pun, among others. This verse is considered one of the greatest in hip-hop. Inspectah Deck raised his stock in the public eye with The Source 's Hip-Hop Quotable for his performance on "Triumph". Several have been recognized as particularly strong performances. The Clan took advantage of the double-disc format, allowing each of the nine members a significant number of appearances, including four solo tracks. "Impossible", for instance, touches on the less-than-glamorous realities of the same violence that the group often raps about. The group showed mature depth, speaking on the pitfalls of life's vices ("A Better Tomorrow") and the harsh realities of inner city life. The lyrics differed in many ways from those of 36 Chambers, with many verses written in stream-of-consciousness style, while being influenced by the teachings of the Five-Percent Nation. Wu-Tang Forever marked the first group album in which RZA assigned some of the album's production to Wu-Tang protégés True Master and 4th Disciple, as well as Wu-Tang member Inspectah Deck. The production of the record also pioneered RZA's technique of chopping up and speeding up soul samples so that it becomes unusually high-pitched this style of production would later become influential on producers such as Just Blaze and Kanye West. RZA earned accolades for his new dense style of production, incorporating strings, heavy synthesizers, and the kung-fu samples of old. Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx., in particular, was praised for its cinematic feel. While the group's previous album is known for its minimalistic production style, producer RZA had been expanding the musical backdrop of each solo Wu-Tang album since then. The original run of compact discs featured an enhanced CD which allowed users to walk around the "Wu Mansion" and access additional content (see also Blue Book (CD standard)). Forever features several guest appearances from Wu-Tang affiliates Cappadonna, Streetlife, 4th Disciple, True Master, and Tekitha. Pressed as a double album, it was released after a long run of successful solo projects from various members of the group, and serves as the follow-up to their debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). Wu-Tang Forever is the second studio album by American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, released June 3, 1997, by Loud and RCA Records in the United States.
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