So why is Wu-Tang Vs. The Beatles’ Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
Okay, we’re gonna get a little weird on this one, people.
During the research phase for this here best 1,000 albums ever project, I decided to be expansive rather than restrictive in terms of the musical output I would consider for inclusion. In other words, things like EPs, best of albums, and bootlegs became fair game. All told, they ended comprising a relatively small number of the total – I’ll estimate perhaps 5% of the 1,000 total albums.
Which brings us to mashups. Via Wikipedia, a musical mashup is “a creative work, usually a song, created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, typically by superimposing the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another and changing the tempo and key where necessary.”
When mashups are done well, it’s impressive and makes you think, how did they do that in a way you’d think when a friend pulls off one of those “pick a card” parlor tricks.
But when a mashup is masterfully done, it’s more like David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear level type stuff. Except that’s not even quite right because you know that’s an illusion, a misdirect, whereas a bizarro wonderland like Enter the Magical Chambers is very real, a wild amalgamation of two iconic musical acts.
That’d be The Beatles and Wu-Tang Clan, mashed up together for not just a few songs, but for over 77 minutes of musical bliss.
Masterminded as one of the “remix projects” by Tom Caruana, you can feel the precision and care in the way that each track and section is put together. On top of the simply amazing ways in which Beatles and Wu-Tang music layers on top of each other, there are interstitials aplenty where music plays against snippets of vintage interviews with The Beatles and Beatles fans back in the day.
All told it plays out as a musical narrative that I’ve listened to straight through while doing work or other projects many times.
While some of the tracks represent the Wu-Tang Clan’s best-known songs, such as “C.R.E.A.M. and “Uzi (Pinky Ring),” many dig into the rap collective’s solo work, and that’s where many of the best moments take place.
For example, Caruana smartly matches Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Got Your Money,” off of Return to the 36 Chambers (#473 of best 1,000 albums ever), with The Beatles’ “You Never Give Me Your Money,” off of Abbey Road, turning it into an oddly pleasing meditative if densely produced track.
One of my favorite tracks on the album is an obscure Wu-Tang song called “Run.” I’m not sure what Beatles music it plays against, but it’s a perfect mesh of exciting, aggressive hip hop and late ‘60s groove rock.
And “Mighty Healthy” pulls together a Ghostface Killah track with The Beatles’ classic, “She’s A Woman.”
I’m obsessed with the treatment of Cappadonna’s “Slang Editorial.” Again, I’m not sure what The Beatles’ sample is here, but it’s a good representation of how groovy yet chill yet exciting the entire album is.
If any of this appeals to you at all, I highly recommend you just throw Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers on from the jump when you’re of a mood and let it roll straight through.
Some stats & info about Wu-Tang Vs. The Beatles’ Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Hip Hop, Rap, Rock Music, British Invasion, Mashups
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – not rated!
- When was Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers released? 2019
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #367 out of 1,000
Wu-Tang Vs. The Beatles’ Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers on YouTube
A lyrical snippet from Wu-Tang Vs. The Beatles’ Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
My hip-hop will rock and shock the nation like the Emancipation Proclamation. Weak MCs approach with slang that’s dead – you might as well run into the wall and bang your head.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.