10A - Wednesday, September17, 2008 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Ultimate lyricist Even at 42, Wu-Tang Clan member still brings strong lines to latest album By HARUN BULJINA For the Daily Thanks to his escapades with the Wu-Tang Clan, GZA has estab- lished brand name. Fans know the product he provides: A richly pat- terned flow that has served him * well for nearly two decades. It's GZ why the moni- ker "Genius" is Pro Tools still welded to Babygrande his name, why a legion of Wu fan- boys continue to follow his every move and why heads still turn when he drops an album at age 42. Pro Tools is not a comeback or return to form and it has no sweep- ing statement to make. Instead, GZA simply does what he does best: flexes his verbal muscle and showcases once again why he's one of the premier names in the busi- ness. On the chorus of "Alphabets" he raps from A to Z, beginning each line with a successive letter, while on "0% Finance," he spins an extended metaphor about girls and cars ("Took her off the show- room floor, no money down / Near the Chrysler building in the heart of Midtown"). These are GZA's old tricks, and he offers little new to the formula. But it's all executed so well that it lives up to his impres- sive lyrical standards; with his rhymes on point, the only question is whether his assembled squad of producers could forge a fitting musical foundation. To their credit, the production has its finer moments, even if it doesn't match GZA's legendary flow. "7 Pounds" is built on the best beat on the album. It begins with the sounds of a packed concert hall, with excited chatter giving way to wild clapping when the orchestra kicks in. After a mere eight seconds of swooning strings, the track jarringly breaks into a mad carnival dash to the finish. Detroit-based producer Black Milk is the man behind the chaos here, and a Dilla influence is on full display. Standing above the fray, ringmaster GZA drives the show forward in the closest that Pro Tools comes to a banger. But compared to the strength and consistency of GZA's lyrics, the beats vary. Sure, "7 Pounds" is fire, and "Firehouse" - a text- book Mafioso joint produced by the appropriately named Roc Mar- ciano - is solid as well. The creepy whispers on the chorus of "Cinema" provide another great sonic back- drop. But at other times, the DJs fall flat. Building "Life is a Movie" out of a liberal Gary Numan sample is certainly interesting, but its effec- tiveness is debatable; when the 80s pop pioneer's vocals break through over the chorus, they sound entirely alien. The beat for "0% Finance," meanwhile, is so pedestrian it almost drags the whole track down. But these are the outliers. For the most part, the production rolls along, content to play second fiddle to GZA's intricate wordplay. And why not? Together with names such as Nas and Raekwon, GZA has written the book on MCing. It's what makes his feud with 50 Cent - who he tears apart in the lead single "Paper Plate" - so amusingly lopsided. Though 50 is certainly the more stylish of the two, GZA's tech- nical skills reach another level. For those who prefer lyrical acrobatics to flashy hooks, Pro Tools lives up cOURTESY OF BABYGRANDE to all expectations. "Let me see you pull off this color, 50 Cent." yer Oflwireless "I'm never going to the Arb again." SPORE From Page 5A representedby herbivores and the dark side by carnivores. Like in any game with a morality theme, there are different abilities and bonuses for each side. If you cre- ate a herbivore, expect to be win- ning creatures over by singing, dancing and posing. Carnivores, on the other hand, spend most of their time biting and spitting poison. As creatures progress, in-game decisions sway their alignment. Players that begin as a herbivorous cell but proceeded to kill everything in sight will be on the path to becoming a carnivore by the tribal stage. The path fol- lowed in one stage affects abili- ties in the next stage, so choose wisely. The evolutionary grind: The only major problem with "Spore" is that each game stage outlasts its fun. Hunting and singing without major variations is only fun for so long. The same goes for tribal and civilization interactions, where players are always faced with at most two ways to treat their cohabitants. The game tries to vary the experi- ence by increasing the difficulty of the tasks throughout each stage, but this just draws the stages out longer without making them any more exciting. The space stage succeeds more than the others because it allows full exploration, which is more limited until that point. There are still missions to complete in the space stage, but after doing so you get to explore the entire galaxy. Fun for the whole fam- ily: "Spore" is a groundbreaking game that could be fun for every- one from the first-time player to the hardcore gamer. It's a science lesson, a simulator and a strat- egy challenge all rolled into one package. With "Spore" available for both PCs and Macs, comput- ers have no excuse for not evolv- ing. 0 al 1.877.2SUY.VLW verizonwireless.com It any Verizon Wireless store DO YOU LIKE MUSIC? DO YOU LIKE WRITING? BRING THEM TOGETHER WITH DAILY ARTS. Write for the Daily music section. E-mail emery@michigandaily.com. 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