Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | |
| The Chronicle | favorable |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+ |
| Los Angeles Times | |
| NME | 9/10 |
| Pitchfork Media | 10.0/10 |
| Rolling Stone | |
| San Diego Union-Tribune | |
| The Source | |
| Stylus Magazine | favorable |
Upon its release, Liquid Swords received critical acclaim. In his review for Entertainment Weekly, Dimitri Ehrlich rated the album a B+ and stated that "With its tight beat, Liquid Swords emphasizes the finesse with which GZA weaves his vocals over straightforward rhythms. Selwyn Seyfu Hinds from The Source rated the album 4 out 5 mics, and wrote "GZA comes across like a highly focused master-graftsman. Throughout Liquid Swords he maintains a clear, precise flow, one that reflects deadly-sharp purpose and skilled execution." Hinds also praised the album's production stating "RZA's production continues to excite the spine. That's an astonishing fact when one considers the volume of work he's put out this year. Liquid Swords contains all the elements of RZA's increasingly sophisticated style: shuffling kicks, neck snapping snares, haunting melodies via strings or vibe-like textures and penetrating bass tones." He went on to say "If the Wu message hasn't been beamed into your brain, rest assured; the GZA will offer swift remedy and swifter understanding. Folks may as well hand the key over. Liquid Swords has officially put shit on lock."
L J'amal Walton from The Chronicle wrote a favorable review of the album stating "All the tracks are good. This is a CD that you can pop into the player without worrying about programming the CD player to skip bad tracks... The GZA proves that he can hold his own with tracks like "Liquid Swords," "Labels," and "Gold." Cheo H. Coker from Los Angeles Times rated Liquid Swords 3½ out of 4 stars, and wrote in his review "Like a hip-hop M.C. Escher, this Wu-Tang Clan member serves up urban tales that reveal layer after layer of thought with repeated listening. The head-banging "Gold," the hypnotic "4th Chamber" and the ice-smooth "Shadowboxing" add to the evidence that the Wu-Tang Clan are the kings of New York rap."
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