There are many rumors surrounding the man who could arguably be called the sharpest sword in the Wu Tang arsenal, the GZA. He avoids cameos, preferring to save his material for precise musical assaults, placing words with the caution of a knight leaping across the chessboard. On his first solo album since 1995's brilliant Liquid Swords, the GZA is determined to take you "beneath the surface," with more of his triple-innuendoed, multilayered style.

Something went wrong on the way to the pinnacle of excellence -- several skits, written by someone named Angela Yee, which are meant to amuse and enlighten end up being patronizing, unfunny, preachy and flat. The music behind them, produced by the artist himself, at least is pleasing, but not enough to avoid the big button marked "FF."

The songs are good for the most part, with some moments of brilliance so strikiing you may find yourself knocked on your butt. The lead single, "Publicity," features one of the best tracks of 1999, a powerful violin and drum essay that gives hip hop publications the same treatment "Labels" gave record companies. Original while maintaining the spirit of the first album's smash hit, "Publicity" has earned a well-deserved spot on mix shows everywhere.

The bounciness of "Stringplay" with Mister Method Maximillian is actually surprisingly refreshing, a song that hearkens back to the golden days of hip hop in tone if not subject matter. "Breaker Breaker" features the phoned-in walkie talkie sound on the chorus, but likewise makes the mark. "Victim" is perhaps the strongest total package with two of GZA's stable of artists, Njeri and Joan Davis, and manages to speak to the worries of our time without treading the same name-dropping cliches many MCs rely on. He says, "coast with his eye open, keep his metal smokin'/ young wasted minds fiending on dimes, copin/ forgot kids quick to break rules, are known to make fools/out of many, now streets more safe than schools/there's no diploma that can break you from the coma/ bloody wars in this country, the youth hungry." It's haunting over subtle strings. Enjoy the verbal pummeling of "Feel Like An Enemy" which joins Naughty's "Dirt All By My Lonely" as one of the season's best hardcore freeway driving/workout songs.

With all this greatness, its disappointing the abum lacks the all-out, turn-a-party-insane sound of a hit like the last album's title cut, none of the striking symbolism of "Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth," and no cruising-the-streets-of-New-York-late-at-night anthems like "Cold World." The issue here is production, and its just too scattershot to keep up with the GZA's lyrical complexity. RZA's hand is only directly felt on a smattering of tracks, and it shows. The album is a highly coherent piece with only "Publicity" as a standout musically and lyrically (GZA has a far more passionate delivery, and you can hear his joy at his own cleverness in that). It's a solid addition to any hip hop collection, but is willing to cripple you horribly instead of go for the flying guillotine deathblow, as many would have wanted.