Genius / GZA: Liquid Swords (Vinyl 2xLP)

Released on November 7, 1995, the fourth Wu-Tang solo album (and third affiliated release in that year alone), Liquid Swords is an out-and-out masterpiece – and the most cinematic album in the collective’s history, thanks in part to RZA’s clinical production.

He digs up film dialogues that are creepier than on any other Wu record before or since; warps soul samples to rid any traces of retro kitsch (the disembodied vocal hook on “Cold World” still haunts); runs synth lines that add extra menace, not least with their staccato stabs on the opening title track. The results are a sinister, almost glacial soundbed for GZA to lay his vocals on.

1. Liquid Swords
2. Duel Of The Iron Mic (feat. Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa & Ol Dirty Bastard)
3. Living In The World Today (feat. Method Man)
4. Gold
5. Cold World (feat. Inspectah Deck)
6. Labels
7. 4th Chamber
8. Shadowboxin'
9. Hell's Wind Staff
10. Killah Hills 10304
11. Investigative Reports
12. Swordsman
13. I Gotcha Back