Twelve Reasons To Die:The Brown Tape

Ghostface Killah (of Wu Tang Clan fame) gets the starring role here, but this album is really the brainchild of musician and composer (and according to Wikipedia, entertainment law professor) Adrian Younge. Check out the interview with him on NPR's Fresh Air earlier this year, but the story goes like this... "Twelve Reasons to Die" is actually the soundtrack to a movie that doesn't (yet) exist. In it, Tony Starks (Ghostface Killah's stage alter-ego) is a black man working for the DeLuca's, an Italian mob family. Starks aspires to criminal greatness, but is held back because of his race and decides to take over the mafia clan. Unfortunately, he falls for a femme fatale who ends up betraying him by arrangement of the DeLucas and he's murdered, melted in acetone, and pressed into 12 different vinyl records which are doled out to each member of the DeLuca clan. But each time one of the records is played, Starks rises from the dead, resurrected as Ghostface Killah, and exacts bloody revenge down to the last man. So, the rap lyrics throughout the album -- written by Ghostface, with all of the mafia references and tales of gun-fueled betrayal and revenge -- are really telling the story of Younge's screenplay, which is kind of a tongue-in-cheek tribute to and parody of old Italian horror films. Musically, Younge integrates a wall of different sonic textures as backdrop, merging the iconic spaghetti Western film score sound of Ennio Morricone with all of its guitar riffs, bells, and whistles (literally -- think Fistful of Dollars) along with a haunting young opera soprano's voice and the warm, fat, electronic, vinyl sound of 1960's and 70's American soul music featuring thick bass lines, an R&B drum kit, and an organ, similar to what Younge explored on Adrian Younge Presents the Delfonics (with Delfonics lead singer William Hart's eerie vocals returning for a guest appearance here on track 6). On top of that, he adds the occasional jazz riff (Younge himself on keyboards and other instruments) and the Wu Tang Clan stylings of rappers Ghostface Killah, Masta Killa, and Inspecta Deck featured prominently as lead voices. The raps are clever, free-flowing, and all the while part parody given the backstory. That comic mafia-xploitation nod never allows the rapping itself to be taken too seriously, and that's not a slam -- on the contrary, it really adds to the enjoyment of the lyrics. Younge's conception here was to imagine how the RZA (who serves as executive producer) would have created the soundtrack to an Italian horror movie-blaxploitation tribute flick, the likes of which you might find Tarantino directing (heck, I wouldn't be surprised if Tarantino and/or the RZA *does* direct Younge's movie!) and that is a perfect description of what's here. Only, this is really Younge's trademark sound -- one that he started with the Black Dynamite (Original Motion Picture Score) and continued on the Delfonics album, and which really gels here with the integration of Ghostface and others from Wu Tang Clan. It's a little short in duration by today's album standards at less than 40 minutes, but this is really an old-school record that should be played as an integrated album -- all the way through, from start to finish (though certainly the title number -- probably the strongest track -- can and will function as a stand-alone single). Shout-out to Terry Gross for helping to widen the audience of this great piece of music.

I've been a WU HEAD since day one and to me............THIS IS ONE OF THE TOP 2 GHOSFACE ALBUMS EVER!!! RESPECT TO SUPREME CLIENTELE BUT THIS ALBUM IS OFFICALLY FIRE! I'M FROM PHILLY AND MOST OF US ARE WU-TANG FANS! ADRIAN YOUNGE DID A MASTERFUL JOB ON THE BEATS AND SCHEMATIC DETAILS OF THIS ALBUM! EVER SINCE I BOUGHT THIS ALBUM A FEW MONTHS AGO THIS IS ALL THAT I CONTINUE TO PLAY! I CAN'T ENOUGH AND I'M LIKE 14 ALL OVER AGAIN! IF THIS IS THE DIRECTION MY BROTHAS FROM SHAOLIN ARE TAKING....THEN THE WU IS BACK FOR ANOTHER 23 YEARS! JUST KEEP IT REAL WU AND NOT ALL THIS OTHER GARBAGE OF NOT MAKING ALBUMS TOGETHER ANYMORE!!...THAT'S WHAT STARTED THE DOWNFALL OF THE CLAN!!!...PLEASE FOR ALLAH SAKE DON'T TRY TO MAKE TRASH ALBUMS LIKE THE DOWN SOUTH RAPPERS AND MICKY MOUSE BULLS*** MADE NOWADAYS BY CORPORATE AMERICA AND THESE NO TALENT ASS HAS-BEENS! I CAN'T STAND THIS CRAP I HAVE TO LISTEN TOO DOWN HERE IN TENNESSEE! THESE CLOWNS ALWAYS KNOW WHEN I'M COMING BECAUSE THEY HEAR REAL HIP-HOP AND NOT THE NONSENSE THEY LISTEN TO(RAP AND BS AS RZA WOULD SAY!) WU-TANG FOREVER!!

I'll be brief here- if you like Ghostface Killa, this will not disappoint. He weaves a pretty crazy (yet still engaging) narrative about the life and times of a mob boss and the revenge he takes on his murderers. Ghostface performs admirably, at least just as well as his preceding works I took a star off because I felt that the opera-style singing was a little overbearing and felt irksome overall. If you want good story-driven hip-hop from Wu-Tang alumni, buy this album

Twelve Reasons to Die is Ghost’s 10th album. While his earlier albums charted high on Billboard, he has been slogging through the music industry for years releasing albums that have been earning a moderate to high amount of critical acclaim, and a moderate to middling amount of sales. Ghost sometimes goes his own way, but this effort has a substantial Wu presence. RZA functions as the narrator; additionally Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa and Cappadonna show up for guest appearances. The thing that makes this album special, however, is producer Adrien Younge. I had never heard of Younge before, but a Wikipedia entry indicates that he is “an entertainment law professor and edits and scores film”. The word: The album is full of violent imagery, but do not fear that this is more of the same gangsta rap/Mafioso stuff that you have heard a 100 times before. This concept album achieves greater heights of storytelling by allowing a story to develop across the entire album and by moving the action out of the usual locations like Compton, Brooklyn, or the Bronx. Wikipedia sums up the storyline thusly, “in 1960s Italy…Tony Starks…is an enforcer for the DeLuca crime family, who is murdered by his former employers after striking out on his own and falling in love with the kingpin's daughter. His remains are melted in vinyl and pressed into a dozen LPs that, when played, resurrect him as the Ghostface Killah, a force for revenge incarnate.” While the narrative is not on the same level as Shakespeare, the novel (for rap) location, cinematic storyline, supernatural elements, and disregard for the topics normally favored by rap artists make this a worthwhile listen. The music: This album features some of the absolute best production I have heard on a hip hop album in a LONG time. The short summary of the production is that Younge has created a soundtrack that is a stew that includes RZA & Ennio Morricone as main ingredients. A serious dose of operatic and cinematic vocals and a dash of Portishead-style trip hop also serve to make the flavor in this stew assault the taste buds. Certainly many hip hop producers have been influenced by the same source material that has influenced Younge. The difference is, Younge brings these elements together to create a cinematic tone so perfect that you sometimes feel like a stylish Italian B-movie is trapped in (and in the process of escaping from) the album.

de loin le plus productif du wu-tang-clan ghosface killah reviens avec une petite perle ou la composition musical prend toute son importance..... pour tout les amoureux du hip hop et des ambiances de vieux film a suspens americain du tres bon!!!!

This is a soundtrack to a fictional movie with a crazy plot which I probably wouldn't care for otherwise, but as an album by the charismatic Ghostface Killah it is a thoroughly enjoyable thrill ride. He may be effectively reading from a script but that's a good thing here. Producer Adrian Younge has brought out the best in Ghost, and also his co-stars who are all members or affiliates of the legendary Wu tang clan. It would have been nice if the album had been longer than 40 minutes, but on the plus side there are really no skippable tracks. Definitely one of the best latter day Wu tang albums.

Apollo Brown ist mir erst neulich empfohlen worden. Irgendwie hatte ich aber keine Zeit mir sein Material anzuschauen und hatte es dann sogar wieder fast vergessen. Dann bin ich auf der Suche meine Wu Sammlung zu komplettieren auf die "12 Reasons to Die" gestoßen - allerdings das Original von Adrian Young. Hat mir auch gut gefallen, aber dann war da noch diese Brown Tape Version, über die man hier immer wieder stolpert. Nur eine Rezension? Und das ist doch dieser Apollo Brown, der mir empfohlen wurde? Also mal reinhören... Und was soll ich sagen: ein Meisterwerk! Der Mann hat hier Beats geschaffen, die mich zu 100% an den guten alten Hip Hop aus den 90ern erinnert. Eigentlich erinnern sie mich nicht nur daran, vielmehr bin ich wieder in den 90ern, wenn ich die Playtaste betätige. Rauhe, unbearbeitete Samples, die einem so um die Ohren krachen, dass ich im Auto fast keine Sekunde ruhig sitzen bleiben kann. Schon beim opener überkommt mich Gänsehaut und ich finde mich auf den Straßen New Yorks in den 1920ern wieder. Adrian Young hat gute Arbeit geleistet, aber Brown hat erst das volle Potenzial des Gangsterepos 12 Reasons to Die ausgeschöpft. Die Atmosphäre ist so dicht, dass man sie schneiden kann. Ghostface und seine Gäste Masta Killa, INS, U-God und Cappa brennen ein wahres Feuerwerk ab. Ich möchte meinen das ist mit das beste Album aus dem Wu-Umfeld der letzten Jahre. Wer sich nicht entscheiden kann, kauft beide Versionen. Wer den rauhen Sound von damals mag, greift bitte zum Brown Tape! Ich werde mir wohl noch einiges mehr vom Detroiter Apollo Brown anhören müssen...

This is one of the greatest albums I have heard the audio work on this is in some songs better than some the original 12 reasons tape in my opinion

Finalmente sono riuscito ad acquistare la prima stampa in CD di "The Brown Tape", album di remix del disco "12 Reasons to Die" di Ghostface Killah a cura di Apollo Brown. Il disco - al contrario della ultima reissue (con copertina modificata) - è arrivato nei tempi indicati ed è in jewel case. In questa versione sono presenti le 11 tracce remixate e le relative strimentali, per un totale di 22 pezzi. Disco underground di livello eccelso, prodotto da RZA del Wu-Tang Clan, must have per tutti i fan del produttore di Detroit, dedito da anni al suono boom-bap che piace tanto a noi nostalgici del Rap. Amazon puntialissima come sempre.