There can be few less enticing prospects than the live hip-hop album, particularly when the protagonists are as unpredictable, not to mention past their best, as the Wu-Tang Clan. It'd be nice to report that this set featuring all nine of the New York crew's members eschews the call-and-response bunkum particular to the genre and renews your faith in Staten Island's one-time kingpins. It does not. As marvellous as tracks like "Re-United" and "C.R.E.A.M." are, played live they're divested of the originals' nuances, resulting in a one-paced, muscle-flexing album full of terrace-style chanting. PAUL MARDLES
There can be few less enticing prospects than the live hip-hop album, particularly when the protagonists are as unpredictable, not to mention past their best, as the Wu-Tang Clan. It’d be nice to report that this set featuring all nine of the New York crew’s members eschews the call-and-response bunkum particular to the genre and renews your faith in Staten Island’s one-time kingpins. It does not. As marvellous as tracks like “Re-United” and “C.R.E.A.M.” are, played live they’re divested of the originals’ nuances, resulting in a one-paced, muscle-flexing album full of terrace-style chanting.
PAUL MARDLES
