Once Upon a Time in Shaolin RZA replied that the 88-year ban was necessary to maintain the integrity of the album as a work of art and to deflect any notions of a grand marketing or publicity stunt. According to him, the number 8 bears symbolic significance because there were eight original members of the Wu-Tang Clan, the numbers of the year 2015 add up to eight, Paddle8 has eight in its name, and a rotated eight is the symbol for infinity, which was used on their second album "Wu-Tang Forever". Wu-Tang later released an official statement saying that, although the music may not be sold
Infinity on High talents so compellingly, the album is regrettably haphazard." Caroline Sullivan of "The Guardian" believed that the album was overly sullen, but noted that "They may not be happy, but they haven't forgotten to be catchy." Barry Nicholson of "NME" found the amount of guest producers to be unnecessary and disliked some of the songs, but admired the album's "infectious" nature. "Infinity on High" was a major commercial success, debuting at number one on the US "Billboard" 200 chart, with first week sales of 260,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. "Infinity" has sold 1.4 million copies in