RZA

Editor's Review:

This release is for anyone who caught filmmaker Jim Jarmusch's 1999 cartoon-y cult classic Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai and liked the movie's music score, but were sadly disappointed when they purchased the movie soundtrack ("music inspired by the film" was how it was sold). See, the soundtrack-the one available in the US - contained very little of music from the film itself, and was instead a compilation of king-fu flick-inspired, second-rate gangsta' rap tunes.
Redemption has finally come to those who felt slighted, in the form of a Japanese import of the movie's score, which was just recently made widely available in the US. Despite the hefty sticker price (25 bucks or more) and short playing time (just barely over a half-hour), this is the real deal: all the music used to score the film plus a couple of tunes that didn't make the cut, and it's worth the money (hey, I bought it). This is some of the RZA's best work since the early Wu Tang stuff - not necessarily as polished, but deep and rich with grooves and hooks that are powerfully conveying and undeniably catchy. Cuts like "Opening Theme," "Gangster's Theme," "Flying Birds" and "Untitled" (numbers 8 and 12), like most of this release, are instrumental, and they express the film's story musically - a rough, dirty place and time, mostly dark but strangely positive; all at once jazzy, funky, thuggish and strong in a very mellow way. Wu Tang fans will also find a couple of cuts from their favorite crew members, but this release is thankfully dedicated mostly to the film's music. This album is also available in a limited-release vinyl format.
- Max Sidman



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Record Label Victor Records Released January 2002

Tracks Ghost Dog Theme Opening Theme Flying Birds Samurai Theme Gangster's Theme Dead Birds Fast Shadow Rza #7 Funky Theme Rza's Theme Samurai Showdown Ghost Dog Theme Fast Shadow Untitled #8 Untitled #12 Wu-World Order