But, by and large, the songs that take melodic chances have great payoffs. “Stick Me for My Riches” begins with an extended verse beautifully sung by Gerald Alston, former lead singer for the Manhattans. Crooner Sunny Valentine is wisely recruited for two hooks, and Erykah Badu delivers a haunting chorus on “The Heart Gently Weeps,” which also features George Harrison’s son Dhani on rhythm guitar. (George Clinton also offers his gnarled vocals on a pair of tracks, but the less said about those the better.)

Despite these (usually) elegant frills, the Wu members themselves deliver the album’s most memorable moments. Inspectah Deck nearly salvages “Unpredictable” with his gritty verse. He also delivers the CD’s most impassioned moment when he asks for Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s forgiveness from beyond the grave on “Life Changes,” a tribute to the founding group member, who died in 2004. A rejuvenated Method Man is in top form throughout, particularly on his nearly perfect 24 bars on “Campfire,” the album’s lead track.

And then there’s Ghostface, who delivers his best verse of both his the Wu’s disc with “The Heart Gently Weeps.” The song immediately comes to life when he grabs the mic: “I brought my bitch out to Pathmark/She’s pushing the cart/Headed to aisle four, damn I got milk on my Clarks.” What happens next is a predictable drug-related shootout, but the stanza’s sheer bombast and humor single-handedly elevate the Beatles-sampling experiment. Ghost’s raspy, workmanlike cadence seems louder in the mix than the other rappers on the track, and he even sings a hook. “That bitch is crazy and, uh, she brought her baby.” (One wonders what George Harrison would think of it.)

So despite some inner squabbles, Wu-Tang don’t sound like they’re anywhere near finished. The group is too profitable and too vital an enterprise for its creative, legacy-minded, financially-interested members to abandon it. An attempt by Raekwon to re-form the group without RZA will surely fail, since RZA has repeatedly shown that he’s the only person capable of bringing the group’s disparate talents together on disc. Most importantly, as both The Big Doe Rehab and 8 Diagrams prove, Ghost and RZA need each other more than they may ever admit.