The release of “The W,” the third album by the Wu-Tang Clan marked the newest chapter in the ever-expanding Wu-Tang saga. After two classic albums, the Staten Island supergroup’s new effort should have been enough to immortalize the Wu-Tang in hip-hop’s pantheon. However, “The W” drops them fully back into the mortal realm.”The W” is unquestionably a disappointment, but in all fairness, it isn’t a horrible album – at least not musically. Lyrically, this album is as strong as any other Wu offering. Ghostface Killah, Raekwon and Method Man solidify their standings as the cream of the Wu-Tang crop, and strong performances by Gza, U-God and RZA can’t be denied. Masta Killah and Cappadonna are disappointments as usual, but so is Inspectah Deck, who usually ranks among one of the strongest wordsmiths in the Wu-army.Ol’ Dirty Bastard, currently locked in a drug rehabilitation center, makes only one appearance on the album, teaming with Snoop Dogg to create “Conditioner,” arguably the worst song in Wu-Tang history.Wu-fans will still find some instant classics on this album like “Hollow Bones”, “Do You Really” and “Gravel Pit”, which capture the essence of Wu-Tang at their best. But overall, the album is crushed under the weight of expectations. “Enter the 36 Chambers” single-handedly changed the face of hip-hop when it dropped in 1994. “Wu-Tang Forever,” the much anticipated follow-up was one of the few truly artistic albums of 1997, a year dominated by unoriginal, mass-produced materialistic garbage. The success of those albums, plus the overwhelming popularity of various Wu solo albums and spinoffs created a level of expectation almost impossible to satisfy.With only 13 tracks, “The W” doesn’t offer much room for error. That might be why every miscue seems to stand up and demand attention. This album lacks the raw energy of “Enter the 36 Chambers” and sorely misses the polished sound of “Wu-Tang Forever”. What it sounds like is a long demo tape more than anything else, complete with poor sound quality and noticeably weak production. The music and the vocals don’t mesh well, and several times, the lyrics are drowned out by the beats.Several verses sound as if they were recorded from across the street or shouted through a telephone line instead of recorded in person at the Wu-studio. The Wu-Gambinos, already notorious for pushing back album releases, could have taken another month, fixed the production issues and released a more professional sounding album.”The W” forces it’s listeners to accept the painful fact that the Wu-Tang Clan are only human. The group is among the most talented in hip-hop history, but not every song is going to be a classic. They do come up with corny hooks, basic beats and uninspired lyrics from time to time, and that’s to be expected. And the guest appearances on this album don’t help their cause at all. Redman, Nas, Snoop Dogg and Busta Rhymes all stop in to drop uncharacteristically horrible verses. Fortunately for Redman, his partner in crime Method Man manages to save that song. Nas, Snoop, and Busta Rhymes have no such luck. “The Wu” would have been much better served to keep this album strictly in-house.While it can’t compete with recent masterpieces like Outkast’s “Stankonia” or Talib Kweli’s “Train of Thought”, “The W” does deserve a spot in any hip-hop rotation, problems and all. The members of the Wu-Tang Clan are not the gods they claim to be, but are still far better than the average.