Tical

iTunes Review

It’s odd that while Ghostface Killah is critically revered as a defiantly independent lyrical auteur, Method Man is consistently derided as a thoughtless stoner, crassly pandering to his audience’s lowest expectations. Though such criticism may carry some weight in 2007, it’s important to remember that with the superlative Tical, Method Man released what may be the most impenetrable, dissonant, and unnerving album in the entire Wu-Tang catalog. The very fact that such an inaccessible album was a commercial success is testament to Meth’s immeasurable charisma as an MC. Even in his most deliriously dusted moments Meth always manages to inject a pinch of devil may care charm into his drug damaged badinage, and the infectious refrains that made “M.E.T.H.O.D. Man” stand out on the Wu-Tang’s debut can be found all over Tical, emerging out of the sonic chaos just as things are about to become completely unhinged. Rza is in fine form throughout, and provides Meth with a set of shambolic but inspired productions that completely upend conventional notions of what Hip-Hop should sound like. Every beat, from the eerie wails of “Mr. Sandman” to the mesmerizing “Sub Crazy,” is an unqualified masterpiece, and Meth is more than up to the task of blessing these beats with the finest in sly come-ons, raucous threats, and mumbled madness.