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Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version
Studio album by Ol' Dirty Bastard
Released	March 28, 1995
Recorded	1992–1995
Studio	RZA's basement studio, New York City
Genre	Hardcore hip hop
Length	59:04
Label	Elektra WMG
Producer	RZA True Master 4th Disciple Ol' Dirty Bastard Ethan Ryman Big Dore
Ol' Dirty Bastard chronology
Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version (1995) Nigga Please (1999)
Wu-Tang Clan solo chronology
Tical (1994) Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version (1995) Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... (1995)
Singles from Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version
"Brooklyn Zoo" Released: January 21, 1995 "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" Released: May 9, 1995

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

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Chicago Tribune
Christgau's Consumer Guide	A−
Entertainment Weekly	A−
Los Angeles Times
Pitchfork	9.3/10
Rolling Stone
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
Select	2/5
The Source

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's Tiarra Mukherjee thought the album showed the "raw, innovative talent of their illest member ... The RZA's signature dissonant piano loops 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's 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.

Personnel

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

Charts

Certifications

Accolades

• (*) signifies unordered lists

References

1. Snow, Shauna. MORNING REPORT. Los Angeles Times. April 6, 1995.
2. RIAA search: Return to the 36 Chambers. RIAA. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
3. Huey, Steve. "Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version – Ol' Dirty Bastard". AllMusic. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
4. Johnson, Martin (May 4, 1995). "Ol' Dirty Bastard: Return to the 36 Chambers (Elektra)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
5. Christgau, Robert (2000). "Ol' Dirty Bastard: Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
6. ^ Mukherjee, Tiarra (March 31, 1995). "Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
7. Hunt, Dennis (April 16, 1995). "Ol' Dirty Bastard, 'Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version,' Elektra". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
8. Pearce, Sheldon (March 29, 2020). "Ol' Dirty Bastard: Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
9. ^ Touré (April 20, 1995). "Ol' Dirty Bastard: Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 22, 2001. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
10. Wolk, Douglas (2004). "Ol' Dirty Bastard". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 602. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
11. ^ Hall, Matt (May 1995). "Ol' Dirty Bastard: Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version". Select. No. 59. p. 99.
12. Poluhoff, Nicholas (May 1995). "Ol' Dirty Bastard: Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version". The Source. No. 68. pp. 65–66.
13. Bonner, Michael (April 22, 1995). "Albums: Ol' Dirty Bastard – Return to the 36 Chambers". Melody Maker. p. 35.
14. Mahadevan, Tara (March 29, 2014). "This Day In Rap History: Ol' Dirty Bastard Dropped His Solo Debut Album "Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version"". Complex. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
15. Traynor, Cian (30 March 2015). "Keepin' It Dirty: A celebration of ODB's Return to the 36 Chambers". Retrieved 6 January 2023.
16. Pearce, Sheldon (29 March 2020). "Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version". Retrieved 6 January 2023.
17. Ol' Dirty Bastard (1995). Return To The 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version (booklet). Elektra/WMG. GEFD-24971.
18. "Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version - Ol' Dirty Bastard". AllMusic. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
19. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 9143". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
20. "Dance Albums" (PDF). Music Week. 8 April 1995. p. 19. Retrieved May 27, 2022 – via World Radio History.
21. "Ol' Dirty Bastard Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
22. "Ol' Dirty Bastard Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
23. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2023. 17. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
24. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1995". Billboard. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
25. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1995". Billboard. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
26. "British album certifications – Ol' Dirty Bastard – Return to the 36 Chambers". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
27. "American album certifications – Ol' Dirty Bastard – Return to the 36 Chambers". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
28. "500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die". Blender. Vol. 2, no. 3. New York: Dennis Publishing Ltd. April 2003. p. 90. ISSN 1534-0554.
29. Jenkins, Sacha; Wilson, Elliott; Mao, Jeff "Chairman"; Alvarez, Gabriel; Rollins, Brent (1999). "Hip Hop's Greatest Albums by Year: 1995". Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists. St. Martin's Press. p. 335. ISBN 0-312-24298-0.
30. "Top Albums 1995–2005". Hip-Hop Connection. No. 198. March 2006. pp. 45–74.
31. "Albums of the year" (PDF). Muzik. No. 8. January 1996. p. 55. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 25, 2024. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
32. Raggett, Ned. "The Top 136 Or So Albums Of The Nineties". Archived from the original on February 14, 2004. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
33. "100 Best Albums: The Top Hip-Hop LP's of All Time". The Source. No. 100. New York. January 1998. p. 27. ISSN 1063-2085.
34. Christgau, Robert (February 20, 1996). "The 1995 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on March 25, 2014. Retrieved June 12, 2024.

External links

• Return To The 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version at Discogs

• Ol' Dirty Bastard albums
• 1995 debut albums
• Elektra Records albums
• Albums produced by RZA
• Albums produced by True Master
• Albums produced by 4th Disciple
• Wu-Tang Clan