Send "Wu" Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 Note the lack of "Clan" on the cover of the latest Wu-Tang release. A 37-minute LP that arrives on a mostly unknown label, Legendary Weapons isn't a proper follow-up to 2007's 8 Diagrams. But neither is it one of those slapped-together collections of B-sides, remixes, and outtakes that mostly function as stress tests for the W's quality control. With the exception of Masta Killa and GZA, every top-ranking Clansman delivers entirely new verses here. Combined with low commercial prospects, that level of commitment means Legendary Weapons is probably the closest thing we've got so far to a legit, hard-as-fuck Wu-Tang Clan street album. Frighteningly, depressingly, or both, it turns out to be as boring as nearly everybody else's legit, hard-as-fuck street album.Judging from the tracklist, you might think Wu-Tang are trying to counteract the "hip-hop hippie" label Raekwon and Ghostface placed on 8 Diagrams. Guests such as AZ, Sean Price, Roc Marciano, and Action Bronson are peers and stylistic descendants alike. Marciano's Marcberg and Bronson's Dr. Lecter, in particular, prove that records restricting their worldview to grimy New York rap ca. 1994 can still sound exciting to this day. But those guys are about the only ones who treat an appearance on Legendary Weapons as a privilege, and for the most part, the Clan can't commit to underground hunger or regal triumph. Though RZA is listed as executive producer (make of that what you will), Legendary Weapons burdens itself with nth-gen knock-offs of early Wu producer Tru Master: distended bass, cheap MIDI horns, muffled EQ'ing, and drums that knock more like pillowfights than like "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'". But this is still Wu-Tang Clan we're talking about. They've overcome weak production before. I mean, Ghostface Killah shows up on, like, 40% of the tracks! How dull can this be? Legendary Weapons' greatest asset is nearly two decades of goodwill, but at what point are you just flat-out going to admit that Ghostface has been badly coasting downhill for at least five years? Here, Ghost is rapping like he's got someplace else he'd rather be. He leads off every track he's on with verses that weirdly seem to end a couple of bars early, to say nothing of the recycled rhymes about Clarks Wallabees, Mrs. Dash, and cheap rice we've been hearing for ages. Anyone who thinks Action Bronson is currently palming off a weak imitation of Ghostface needs to listen to "Meteor Hammer" right away-- it's the equivalent of Allen Iverson's killer crossover on Michael Jordan, Bronson going off in all directions in the record's lone display of joy in sheer wordplay. It quickly gets snuffed out by an atypical swag-rap verse that's as good as you can expect from a guy named Termanalogy....full text |
| Hiphopdx |
| Classic material aside, Wu-Tang Clan’s most important contribution to Hip Hop History may have been creating a branding model that brought the genre to a corporate audience. Any rapper with a clothing line, liquor or sneaker should thank Wu-Tang and the money they led to the industry, but simultaneously, any fan who’s ever bought these products has surely learned what happens when an artist just slaps his name on something for the money. Sadly, Wu-Tang has been an innovator in that field as well—enter, Legendary Weapons. In reality, the crew isn’t “back” so much as up to their old tricks, and Legendary Weapons is a group album only in the sense that there are a lot of people on it. Most of the original nine stop by to pay their respects, though only having one or two of them on a track at a time diminishes the power of the big posse cuts that the group was once known for. Ghostface contributes the most to the album overall, teaming up with Sean Price on “Laced Cheeba” and AZ and M.O.P. on the title track . Raekwon and Method Man provide their star power to a track a piece as well, but by the time “225 Rounds” rolls around (with U-God, Cappadonna & RZA), the album starts to feel like a collection of guest verses with no real center....full text |
| Prefixmag |
| Like 2009's Chamber Music, Wu-Tang Clan's Legendary Weapons isn't an “official” album from the Shaolin crew. Rather, it's a collection of tracks featuring numerous appearances from the Wu's core members. In particular, the RZA and Ghostface Killah played a bigger role in the creation of the album. Along with rapping on several tracks, RZA produced a majority of the project with help from the Brooklyn's the Revelations, Fizzy Womack, and Noah Rubin. Other Wu members appearing on Legendary Weapons include U God, Inspectah Deck, Method Man, and Cappadonna....full text |
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