As the first solo album to follow "Enter the Wu-Tang", Method Man's Tical instantly set the madcap MC apart from his clansmen as the collective's shining star. Not only is Meth madcap, both in terms of mentality and delivery - he's also incredibly witty and wordy. Here he inspires hilarity as well as astonishment, and the way that he fires off his rhymes with such seemingly spontaneous ease compounds this sense of wonder. Fellow Wu-Tang member RZA produced the entirety of Tical: from the antiquated flutes and kung fu movie samples that open the album to the pulse-accelerating beats of "Bring the Pain" and the fist-pumping ones of "All I Need", to the rallying, warlike horns of "Release Yo' Delf." There are just over a dozen tracks here, and they're filled to the brim with rhymes and beats and little else -- no pop-crossover concessions or heady experimentation, just good ol'-fashioned hip-hop with a dark, dark deranged twist.