Post by reccollectah on Jun 21, 2010 11:06:36 GMT -5
When we recently interviewed Bronze Nazareth, we grabbed the chance to ask about his recording experiences with 60 Second Assassin : “Working with 60 was dope. It was fun to see him go through these songs and do his own thing...he knows where he wants to go with a song and goes in with no filter. You can see the family similarities and vibes off ODB coming from him. He’s boundaryless … ”
Working with a boundaryless artist can be a bit of a gamble, never knowing what the outcome will be: a hit or a miss . All one can do is ( I guess ) just jump on board off the rollercoaster and accept the ride will be adventurous, wild, chaotic or absolutely unique . When you think of the late ODB as the prime example , the hit or miss theory can be perfectly illustrated with the “Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version” on one side and “The Trials and tribulations of Russell Jones” on the other respectively .
While still recording the album, 60 Second stated : “What I’m trying to do is provide a vision to take the listener somewhere that they aren’t being taken right now in music. Check my history and check my status and you will recognize from day one that 60 Sec and Sunz of Man have always taken you to an uncharted and unexplored territory. With this album, I’m gonna show you where I came from, where I’m at now and where I’m going with this music to keep it forward motion. Being a child from the sixties, my goal is to integrate the classic Wu sound that fans are yearning for while expanding upon the soul and jazz elements that came out of the 60’s era”.
So after all these years of living in the shadow of more prolific SOM members and the release getting frustratingly delayed again and again, we finally get the chance to step into 60 Second Assassin’s very own Chamber. Has this album turned out a hit or a miss ? Is 60’s Chamber a remarkable VIP room at the Hilton or rather a shabby little cabinet ? Fingers crossed, as we step to the door and knock to get in and find out . Let’s enter the 62nd Chamber, shall we ?
As the door opens, we get welcomed by the host himself with “Words from the Assassin” surrounded by soft, atmospheric strings and horns setting a very relaxed mood … showing immediately what he had in mind when he was referring to the soul and jazz from the 60ies. While we enter the room a very recognizable kung fu sample lets us know it’s definitely on for 60 Sec as he decides to serve us the perfect appetizer with the very entertaining “Sword style”, produced by upcoming talent Shawneci . Special mention goes to this cat as he manages to capture the same feel and atmosphere of the rest of the (Bronze produced) album. If you had no liner notes, you’d never suspect this wasn’t also produced by the Bronzeman. To make sure we realize straight away he wasn’t just bluffing when he claimed he’d take us somewhere we aren’t in today’s music , we then get smacked in the face with three highlights in a row:
“M.O.A.N.” is any Wu fan’s wet dream giving us an impressive Sunz of Man reunion over what might easily be called Bronze’s best production of his entire career. Special shout out to M-80 for making this possible as not many believed we would ever get to hear Priest, Razah, Prodigal Sun and 60 Second Assassin kill the mic on the same track again. One of the best tracks of the album, period. As if he’s only getting warmed up, the Assassinator gets 12 O‘Clock, Chi-King and long time associate Timbo King on board to shine on the incredible “Clockz ’N Kingz” . When the guitar and the saxophone start playing the intro , you think you’ll be getting a first class, high tempo funk jam but after only a few seconds the live band decides to switch the tempo and redirect the riff towards an extremely addictive and hypnotic musical feast while our SOM vet goes in full throttle on the chorus:
“60 Sec. in your gut, what, nigga, what ?
It's the last second, and who tears it up ?
The f**k, nigga, what? Save all that bluff
You're on life support, and I'm the mack truck“
It's the last second, and who tears it up ?
The f**k, nigga, what? Save all that bluff
You're on life support, and I'm the mack truck“
Backed up by a saxophone player who ‘s only mission seems to be to rip the nuts out of this track and some very refined and well placed guitar playing, all MC’s jump in the booth like there’s no tomorrow . Pure goosebumps all over when Timbo finishes his impressive dart and the band decides to grasp for air for a moment : Timbo’s final shout echoes from left to right in the speakers , the sax stretches a final tone, the guitar player plays a last chord and then for a few seconds you get … silence … tension mounts as you just know/hope /feel they are going to pick the beat up again . Then indeed the entire band kicks it up again with 60 serving us the chorus again, sounding as confident as he ever has … this is pure musical magic that can only be achieved by the chemistry of real musicians playing together and going for the thrill of the momentum. Hopefully in a venue near you soon, as this is a track that, when played live, could easily be turned into a monster jam fest going on endlessly and keeping fans in a frenzy.
After this instant classic we get the chance to settle down a bit with the calmer but equally beautiful title track, featuring Masta Killa , M-80 and Popa Wu.
Unfortunately the albums drifts away a bit in the middle with the RZA produced “ Warzone” remix . This disappoints in 3 ways as 1) the sound breaks up the musical coherency of the album 2) the track is actually an old track and 3) as “remix” is a bit too big a word : only thing different is a violin built break where RZA shouts out the 62nd Assassin and leaves it just at that. Was it really necessary to put this on the tracklist ? Think not. Next track “Cloud nine” also seems a bit like a hit and miss , something they just couldn’t get pieced together right . The intro takes too long and could be left out easily. Even though 60 Sec is known to cook up great hooks, he misses the ball completely here as his chorus comes across forced and disturbing . Plus at the end we get a Shabazz verse, something lots of fans been looking forward to but unfortunately we only get an old SOM verse , this way further feeding the “jigsaw puzzle” feel. Although Razah and especially Son One come on point , they can’t really save this … a shame. Things luckily get better with “No face” , a good track first heard on M-80’s “The Academy” compilation. But as we already knew this one, we need to wait a little longer to really get things going again.
Luckily when the train starts rolling again, it heads straight to “Paradise” , a melancholic treat to the ear with both 60 and Kristina Green giving us beautiful hooks fitting the soulful music perfectly. After which comes another highlight with “Love burns” feat prodigal Sun and Wisemen member Phillie. Things kick of nice with 60 going:
“I should have known from the start, as long as we've been apart
Love can never love from a far
Too much absence can change direction and rod
Separation is world we facing, can you call on God ?
When your rib dial 9-1-1 same deck, different cards
We dealing in"
While Sunzini handles duties on both the chorus and the second verse to great satisfaction, it’s Phillie who nails it with one of the best verses on this album, showing his enormous growth and nothing but promise for the next Wisemen album:
Uh, I did a lot of dirt, caught a few cases,
a true felon Been gelling since my youth stages
You name it I've done it and seen it first hand
My homie was murder in cold blood, it hurts man
After all I've been thru, I'm a smarter now
So rational, I'm strong for my daughter now
She's my universe, my earth evolves around her
Teaching the facts of life, prepare for the afterlife
Focus on what's important, money ain't everything
Make sure the man you choose presents you with a wedding ring
Control your material lust
I look up her face would appear in the sun
Keep shining girl, your design is pearl
And diamond refined in a timeless world
Daddy's little princess, I meant it
Whatever you want, spend hours in the studio to get that
Had a dream, she lost me to the streets, and so I stopped slanging
Became God's Son instead of Son of Satan
Virtue, marry the women that birthed you
Yeah, I came full of circle there's nothing I can't work thru
a true felon Been gelling since my youth stages
You name it I've done it and seen it first hand
My homie was murder in cold blood, it hurts man
After all I've been thru, I'm a smarter now
So rational, I'm strong for my daughter now
She's my universe, my earth evolves around her
Teaching the facts of life, prepare for the afterlife
Focus on what's important, money ain't everything
Make sure the man you choose presents you with a wedding ring
Control your material lust
I look up her face would appear in the sun
Keep shining girl, your design is pearl
And diamond refined in a timeless world
Daddy's little princess, I meant it
Whatever you want, spend hours in the studio to get that
Had a dream, she lost me to the streets, and so I stopped slanging
Became God's Son instead of Son of Satan
Virtue, marry the women that birthed you
Yeah, I came full of circle there's nothing I can't work thru
And still the heat goes on towards the end of this album with “The throne” and “Dead flowers pt II” . Great music, quality features from Planet Asia , C-Rayz Walz and Bronze plus perfect hooks make these yet again very entertaining tracks. Special mention goes to the hilarious chorus on the “Dead flowers pt II”
We round up things a little disappointing with the final track “Fizza funky” . Although the production here is on point and 60 holds his ground throughout his verses , the chorus just doesn’t work for me and somehow wrecks the feel of the song.
Final conclusion :
We all realize 60 second Assassin will never be the greatest lyricist alive but luckily so does he, focusing on the hooks , filling the tracks with his undeniable charisma and unique vibe while cleverly dividing the lyrics between him and a list of A plus guests . Bronze gets the best out of this first time experiment on working with live band instrumentation over his beats , resulting most of the time in exactly what 60 asked for: warm soul and jazz music with a Wu feel to it. Due to some hick-ups halfway and some really disturbing hooks here and there , this isn’t what I had been hoping for : a straight up classic album from start till finish . But still this is a véry good album which any self- respecting Wu fan should cop instantly as this will give you guaranteed listening pleasure for years to come !
Lyrics: 3.5 stars
Beats: 4.5 stars
total: 4 stars