Insane Clown Posse – The Wraith: Shangri-La (2002)

February 12, 2024

Due to the period of time in which this came out I probably look at it with rose-tinted glasses. I LOVED this things when I was a teenager, to the point where I got it tattooed (under age, I might add) – just another one of a long line of silly decisions that I’ve made over the last 30+ years.

If I am being honest with myself though, The Wraith is not as good as I have preserved it to be in my head due to my previous attachment to it. After the 5th Joker’s Card and Bizarre / Bizaar double album both landing on deaf ears for me, The Wraith should have also been a stinker. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Despite unfamiliar production (gone is Mike E Clark) and a leaning towards irritating rap/rock styles, most of the songs on The Wraith do land, if sometimes a bit clumsily. I expected a bit more cohesity on the album that promised “once all six have risen then the end of time will consume us all”, and whilst we did some some heavy bombs dropped at the end of the record, The Wraith is for the most part pretty fun and light-hearted.

The opening tracks, “Hell’s Forecast” and the closing 4 tracks are probably my favourite, although I gotta be honest, “Homies” is a bop.