Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version

Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version is the debut studio album by American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan member Ol' Dirty Bastard, released March 28, 1995, by Elektra Records in the United States. Intent on creating a solo album away from Wu-Tang, he signed to Elektra in January of 1993 and began a two year recording process that started that same year.

Background
It was the second solo album, after Method Man's Tical, to be released from the nine-member Wu-Tang Clan following the release of their debut album. Return to the 36 Chambers was primarily produced by RZA, with additional production from Ol' Dirty Bastard, and affiliates True Master and 4th Disciple. The album features guest appearances from Wu-Tang Clan members GZA, RZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah and Masta Killa as well as Wu-Tang Killa Beez.

Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version peaked at number seven on the Billboard 200 and number two on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The album sold 81,000 copies in its first week, and was certified Platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on March 26, 2019. Upon its release, the album received positive reviews from most music critics, with many complimenting Ol' Dirty Bastard's bizarre lyrical delivery and RZA's eerie production. The album was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 1996 Grammy Awards.

Critical reception
Upon its release, Return to the 36 Chambers received general acclaim, including award nominations and inclusions on year-end publications. In his review for Rolling Stone magazine, Touré commented: "With his raspy, lisp-punctuated voice and half-sung, half-rapped style, Ol' Dirty Bastard may well be the most original vocalist in hip-hop history." Entertainment Weekly Tiarra Mukherjee thought the album showed the "raw, innovative talent of their illest member ... The RZA's signature dissonant piano loops [sparkle] behind Dirty's delirious, reverberating delivery." Michael Bonner of Melody Maker wrote, "... an hour of cruel hard and frighteningly funny hip hop; the perfect companion piece to Wu-Tang's 36 Chambers ... the songs are driven by a vicious, unstable urgency."

By contrast, Select magazine's Matt Hall was more critical of the album. His review found the album inferior to Method Man's album Tical, stating that "From the extremely long and unfunny – intro skit, its obvious ideas are spread wafer thin across the 15 tracks."

The Dirty Version was nominated for the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, but lost to Naughty by Nature's Poverty's Paradise.

Retrospectively, the album has continually seen positive coverage. Pitchfork contributor Sheldon Pearce lauded the album in a classic review as "a work of orchestrated negligence and a makeshift classic."

Track listing
Track listing information is taken from the official liner notes and AllMusic.

Musicians

 * Ol' Dirty Bastard – assistant engineer, mixing, producer, vocals
 * RZA – producer, mixing, vocals
 * Ghostface Killah, GZA, Masta Killa, Method Man, Raekwon, Killah Priest, Sunz Of Man, Brooklyn Zu – vocals
 * Buddha Monk – vocals, mixing
 * Big Dore – producer vocals

Additional

 * Big Dore – producer
 * True Master – producer
 * Ethan Ryman – producer, engineer
 * John Wydrycs, Tim Latham – engineer, mixing
 * Jimmie Lee, Jack Hersca – engineer, assistant engineer
 * Deden Sumandani – mixing
 * Martin Czembor – assistant engineer, mixing
 * David Sealy, Jay Nicholas – assistant engineer
 * Alli – art direction
 * Danny Clinch – photography

Accolades

 * (*) signifies unordered lists