Soundtracks from the Shaolin Temple

Album Review

Right in line with 2005 compilation Wu-Tang Meets Indie Culture — and even sharing a couple of the same tracks — 2008's Soundtracks from the Shaolin Temple is a sampler focusing on the Wu-Tang Clan and their ever-growing gang of affiliates. Here the multitude of solo efforts released between 2005 and 2008 are represented, along with the ever growing importance of affiliate producer/rapper Bronze Nazareth, who appears on multiple tracks. It's hardly a "soundtrack", and while hardcore fans of the group might be disappointed by the lack of exclusives or the way some recent and very necessary tracks are skipped, there is a killer bonus for the collector. Packed into the slipcase and making the accompanying CD secondary is a 90-page booklet featuring photos of main Wu man RZA on his first pilgrimage to the Shaolin Temple in the People's Republic of China. It sits in the hands prayer book-style and features beautiful sepia-toned photographs of RZA and his 34th generation Shaolin Monk guide Sifu Shi Yan Ming as they visit the Temple and join in prayer. Consider it a coffee table compilation in the style of Kruder & Dorfmeister's G Stone Book where loyal fans re-buy music to get to the bonus, which, in this case, is very attractive.