Personnel includes: Streetlife, Redman, Mobb Deep, Chris Rock, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, Cappadonna, Ed Lover, Raekwon, Masta Killa, Killa Sin, Inspectah Deck, D'Angelo, Star, Polite.

Producers include: RZA, Erick Sermon, Havoc, Daz, Mathematics.

Engineers include: Nolan "Dr. NO" Moffitte, Patrick Viala, Tommy Uzzo.

Personnel includes: Streetlife, Redman, Mobb Deep, Chris Rock, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, Cappadonna, Ed Lover, Raekwon, Masta Killa, Killa Sin, Inspectah Deck, D'Angelo, Star, Polite.

Producers include: RZA, Erick Sermon, Havoc, Daz, Mathematics.

Audio Mixers: Erick Sermon; Havoc; Nolan "Dr. No" Moffitte; Patrick Viala; Tommy Uzzo; Tony Black.

Recording information: Ameraycan Studios, North Hollywood, CA; Battery Studios, New York, NY; Larrabee West, Los Angeles, CA; Mirror Image, New York, NY; Quad Studios, New York, NY.

Photographer: Dean Karr.

Unlike Method Man's straightforward debut, Tical, which was a simple yet brilliant MC/producer collaboration, and a classic one at that, his follow-up, Tical 2000, is an epic undertaking, involving a long list of collaborators and a conceptual scope. In many ways, it's a more interesting album than its predecessor because of its ambitions. There are 28 tracks in total here, most of them featuring some sort of guest, mainly fellow East Coast hardcore rappers like Redman and Mobb Deep but also surprise guests like Chris Rock and Janet Jackson. The 28 tracks furthermore feature an abundance of producers rather than just RZA like last time. Some of the more notable contributors include Rockwilder, Erick Sermon, Prince Paul, Havoc, and the Trackmasters as well as in-house Wu-Tang beatmakers RZA and True Master. This large cast navigates its way through a loose narrative about a so-called Judgement Day that seems to liberally take its inspiration from the film Terminator 2: Judgment Day. All of this makes Tical 2000 a daunting venture that is occasionally entertaining (the many skits), intermittently brilliant ("Dangerous Grounds" and the climactic title track), but unfortunately too often ill-conceived (the overly calculated "All I Need" sequel "Break Ups 2 Make Ups," this time featuring D'Angelo rather than Mary J. Blige) and also tiresome (again, the many skits). Rarely have such ambitious undertakings as this worked well for rap artists, and Tical 2000 exemplifies this, as did many of the myriad other epic, often double-disc albums released during the late '90s that were heavy on collaborators but light on consistency. ~ Jason Birchmeier

Method Man's second solo recording is a harder album than his debut, much more focused on rap than the frequent R&B excursions that hit the pop charts on the original Tical. Though the emphasis on the hardcore makes for a better album, Method Man's own raps are often diluted by the staggering number of collaborations; as usual, almost all of the songs have guests, including Raekwon, Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck, Mobb Deep, Redman, Left Eye (from TLC), Streetlife, Cappadonna, Ed Lover and D'Angelo. Between the skits, intros, outros and cameos is an excellent album just waiting to be pruned down. ~ John Bush

Returning with his sophomore solo album JUDGEMENT DAY, Johnny Blaze once again brings the pain, on a smashing collection of nineteen tracks. With the energy of a whirlwind and the fierceness of a hurricane, Method Man rips through tracks produced by Havoc ("Play IV Keeps"), True Master ("Grid Iron Rap"), Erick Sermon ("Step By Step") and of course, The RZA ("Perfect World"). The initial single and title track, "Judgement Day", is an all-out, up tempo track that just makes you move. Appearances from Cappadonna ("Sweet Love"), Redman ("Big Dogs") and Streetlife ("Suspect Chin Music") make for interesting play off of Meth's dynamic delivery. Some of the other highlights on this varied, hard-hitting release are "Torture", "Cradle Rock" and a serious posse cut "Spazzola", which features Streetlife, Raekwon, Masta Killa, Killer Sin and Inspectah Deck.

Rolling Stone (12/10/99, p.127) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...From the millennial madness of its opening skit to the pummeling title track,...which closes the set, he leaves hardly any time to catch your breath throughout seventeen rock-solid workouts..."

Entertainment Weekly (11/20/98, p.133) - "...One of hip-hop's most cunning linguists, the wonder Wu spins out graphic doomsday scenarious, metaphysical parables, and sweaty-palmed odes to feamle pulchritude over crazed, avant-noise constructs that make Puffy sound like Pat Boone in comparison. This could well be the hip-hop event of the year." - Rating: A-

The Wire (10/01, p.48) - "...Meth's own production is refreshingly fast, and his ongoing friendship with D'Angelo means some of the incidental singing is on par with the rhymes..."

CMJ (12/21/98, p.5) - "...the star's raspy, menacing flow and his lethally clever, self-referential wordplay plow into the Clan's patented blunt-blazing piano tinkles, decrepit soundtrack strings and effectively low-budget rhythms..."