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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Wu Diggaz?, July 28, 1999
By A Customer
This album ranks as one of the biggest disappointments in my whole collection. In my opinion, the only thing worse than a bad group is a group with the potential to be good who turns out bad. Case in point: Gravediggaz' _The Pick, The Sickle, and The Shovel_.The Gravediggaz' first album, _6 Feet Deep_, was so good. The production on it was so well done and the lyrics were different and original. It was also very fun to listen to- the scary graveyard gimmick really set the Gravediggaz apart from other groups. But no more. On _The Pick, The Sickle, and The Shovel_, very little of what I think was there in the original manifestation of the Gravediggaz is present. No more tombstones, no more eeriness. The album is very 'serious'. Yes, it does have to do with death, but for a group that was joking about suicide on their first album, this raises a cynical eyebrow. On one of the songs, someone's girlfriend gets shot, and there is lots of mourning and grieving about "Why does it have to be this way?" and things like that. It is not fun at all. Worse yet: it isn't very different from Wu Tang. Don't get me wrong, I like some of the Wu Tang stuff, but Gravediggaz are NOT Wu Tang and when I buy a Gravediggaz album I don't want to hear Wu Tang. If you are expecting the music to pick up the shovel where the lyrics did not, then don't hold your breath. The album is, for the most part, produced by RZA's production team "The Elements" (being Fourth Disciple, Truemaster, and Goldfinghaz), who (suprise, suprise) also produce a lot of stuff for solo Wu Tang members, or ARE Wu Tang members themselves. And it shows. They produced most of the album. Sometimes I wonder if RZA is trying to turn Gravediggaz into and extension of Wu Tang. Fruikwan, the Gatekeeper, sounds like he is doing his best Method Man impression! I like Method Man a lot, but let him join Gravediggaz if he wants and save the impersonations. Too Poetic, the Grym Reaper, has abandoned his "crazy" gimmick. Now he's as serious as the RZA, he probably just didn't have as much control as him. Now is a good time to point out that Prince Paul had *NEXT TO NOTHING* to do with this album (and it shows as well). Nobody believes this, but even the credits show that he only helped in writing two songs on the album, and he did music for ONE track, and that was the outro (which was one of the songs that he co-wrote). By the way, Prince Paul, The Undertaker, never once on either Gravediggaz album referred to himself as "Dr. Strange". Oh, by the way, before this album came out, there were rumors that Prince Paul had left the group and that Shabazz the Disciple had joined or taken his place (ha!). Shabazz is on the album A LOT, and Prince Paul is NOT. I'm not saying the rumor is true, but lets just say that there's a reason the rumor got started. Its funny that in the intro, they mention Shabazz, while the Undertaker is with them "in spirit". There are a couple of cool tracks on the album. I like the music in "Unexplained" and "Elimination Process". The only other songs that I can really listen to are the ones that sound like imitations of _6 Feet Deep_ songs ("Intro" and "Repentance Day" come to mind). I think the album would have been decent if it were relesed as a four song E.P. with the above tracks. I used to really think RZA was the coolest. _Tical_, _Bobby Digital_, and _36 Chambers_ were great. Many of his remixes are very cool. He is really talented, but now he is trying to become the "leader" of the Gravediggaz and it is clear to me that it is because the group's co-founder, Prince Paul wants less and less to do with Gravediggaz. I almost don't know if I want Gravediggaz to release another album or not. It appears that with _The Pick, The Sickle, and The Shovel_, that they have already dug their own grave.
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by Gravediggaz 
