The W

1	Intro (Shaolin Finger Jab)/Chamber Music 4:26
2	Careful (Click, Click) 4:56
3	Hollow Bones 4:56
4	Redbull 3:53
5	One Blood Under W / Junior Reid 4:11
6	Conditioner / Snoop Dogg 5:32
7	Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off) 3:58
8	Let My Niggas Live 4:29
9	I Can't Go to Sleep / Isaac Hayes 3:35
10	Do You Really (Thang, Thang) 5:22
11	The Monument / Busta Rhymes 2:38
12	Gravel Pit 4:51
13	Jah World / Junior Reid 7:36

Barnes & Noble

With a classic debut, Enter the Wu (36 Chambers), a canny collective ethos, a clothing line, and an acknowledged production genius in the RZA, the Wu-Tang Clan seemed unstoppable. But in time, the strength of Shaolin's warriors was diluted by lackluster solo careers, glossy pop songs, and jail time. So it's especially satisfying to report that The W is as much a rebirth as a reunion. The RZA reels in the Clan members -- an unbelievable assemblage of proven talents including Method Man, Ghosface Killah, Raekwon, and Ol' Dirty Bastard -- to bring the ruckus on an album filled with soon-to-be classics. The head-bobbing first single, "Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off)," picks up where 36 Chambers' streetwise anthem left off, while the dizzying "Gravel Pit" takes the Wu into up-tempo territory with ferocious results. Bolstered by the soulful croon of Isaac Hayes on "I Can't Go to Sleep," the Clan deliver their most wrenchingly emotional performance on record. It's arguable whether a starting lineup as strong as this needs guest shots, but Nas, Busta Rhymes, and Redman put icing on the cake -- as does Snoop Dogg in a surprise duet with (the incarcerated) Ol' Dirty Bastard on "Conditioner." A must for thugs and the clubs. Ryan Crosby

All Music Guide

After a host of disappointing solo albums and quickly diminishing celebrity (most of the latter devoted to the continuing extra-legal saga of Ol' Dirty Bastard), Wu-Tang Clan returned, very quietly, with 2000's The W. The lack of hype was fitting, for this is a very spartan work, especially compared to its predecessor, the sprawling and overblown Wu-Tang Forever. While the trademark sound is still much in force, group mastermind RZA jettisoned the elaborate beat symphonies and carefully placed strings of Forever in favor of tight productions with little more than scarred soul samples and tight, tough beats. The back-to-basics approach works well, not only because it rightly puts the focus back on the best cadre of rappers in the world of hip-hop, but also because RZA's immense trackmaster talents can't help but shine through anyway. Paranoid kung fu samples and bizarre found sounds drive the fantastic streets-is-watching nightmare "Careful (Click, Click)." Unfortunately, though, The W isn't quite the masterpiece it sounds like after the first few tracks. It falls prey to the same inconsistency as Forever, resulting in half-formed tracks like "Conditioner," with Snoop Dogg barely saving Ol' Dirty Bastard's lone appearance on the LP, a phoned-in vocal (in terms of sound and quality). When they're hitting on all cylinders though, Wu-Tang Clan are nearly invincible; "Let My Niggas Live," a feature with Nas, isn't just claustrophobic and dense but positively strangling, and singles material like "Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off)" and "Do You Really (Thang, Thang)" are punishing tracks. Paring down Wu-Tang Forever -- nearly a two-hour set -- to the 60-minute work found here was a good start, but the Wu could probably create another masterpiece worthy of their debut if they spent even more time in the editing room. John Bush

Rolling Stone

Wu-Tang Clan were the best rap crew ever. Seven years and umpteen hip-hop supergroups later, The W simply reaffirms this Wu-world order. Kris Ex

Vibe

This album goes against the grain of everything that's going on in rap right now. But if originality, innovation, and a mastery of the fundamentals of beats and rhymes still mean something to people, then The W stands for "winner." S.H. Fernando Jr.