All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Sure, Fishscale has its share of pointless skits. But that's what the fast-forward button is for, just as the play button seems to have been designed specifically to let people listen to Fishscale over and over again.

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100

NOW Magazine

This is Ghostface's best album.

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100

Village Voice (Consumer Guide)

The stories are as vivid, brutal, and thought-out as any noir.

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Spin

Toning down his oddball style and ramping up his storytelling, he drops a pusher’s odyssey as developed and cinematic as any Scorsese joint.

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Entertainment Weekly

He may not be reinventing himself, but as a must-hear street storyteller, he's still at the top of his game. [31 Mar 2006, p.64]

Stylus Magazine

Fishscale intermingles skewed narratives, expert guest choices, exquisitely conflicting production, and a concept and focus—the drug trade is the near exclusive subject mater—that, while somewhat reductive in scope, sharpens the album into an immense, furious, and focused album.

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Pitchfork

Fishscale reiterates with cinematic verve that the most vital current Wu Tang Clan member's storytelling can match Biggie's in both excitement and humor. Yet Ghost's songs are unrelenting in their slavishness to density and credibility, and that can turn off casual listeners even as it intoxicates hip-hop purists.

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All Music Guide

The scenarios he recounts are as detailed and off-the-wall as ever, elaborate screenplays laid out with a vocal style that's ceaselessly fluid and never abrasive.

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Billboard

Overall, "Fishscale" is strong, with archetypal beats creating the definitive Ghost. [1 Apr 2006]

Dusted Magazine

I'd be surprised if anybody, in any field, drops something this potent in the next nine months.

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Dot Music

"Fishscale" is a purist's delight, an album seemingly crafted solely for those who've been chasing his maverick tail for the past decade.

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Village Voice

Ghost's Fishscale is the most creative album to come out of New York hiphop since his own 2000 Supreme Clientele.

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Delusions of Adequacy

Ghost is at the top of his game, both in terms of flow and lyrical luminosity.

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Lost At Sea

This will most likely be the best hip-hop album of the year as well as a contender for best overall album of the year.

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Q Magazine

He remains rap's finest storyteller. [Jun 2006, p.115]

Los Angeles Times

Will certainly stand as one of the best rap albums of the year. [26 Mar 2006]

RapReviews.com

Ghost continues his tradition of being the Wu's most consistant soloist.

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cokemachineglow

It isn’t the street rap of Ironman, it isn’t an exercise in abstract lyricism akin to Supreme Clientele, or the partially-focused and repeatedly disappointing Bulletproof Wallets. Regardless of that, the album captures exactly that Ghostface Killah is and has been over his past four records.

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Vibe

The sample-heavy results are cohesive yet diverse, a proper canvas for Ghost's finest effort since Supreme Clientele. [Apr 2006, p.151]

Amazon.com

This is his best since [Supreme Clientele].

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ShakingThrough.net

On balance, Fishscale earns its street-cred stripes and adds another worthy release to the Great Wu-Tang Best Solo Effort debate.

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Prefix Magazine

Another great release from the most important emcee in hip-hop.

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The New York Times

This album doesn't match the weird, woozy brilliance of "Supreme Clientele," from 2000, and there are a few too many guest verses from rappers who don't come close to upstaging their host. Still, this might surpass his 2004 CD, "The Pretty Toney Album," though it's too early to tell: when you get a new Ghostface Killah album, the only reasonable reaction is to get lost in it. [27 Mar 2006]

Rolling Stone

Ghostface's emotionally charged stream-of-consciousness flow is as off-the-wall and amazing as it's ever been.

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Blender

Strange, spooky and brilliant. [Apr 2006, p.114]

PopMatters

Fishscale owes a large part of its success to Ghostface’s vivid storytelling.

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Uncut

A couple of missteps aside, this is Ghost's best since that '96 debut, Ironman. [Jun 2006, p.102]

Mojo

Delivers a top-grade high. [Jun 2006, p.104]

Urb

Frankly, this record makes me wish I could snort bass lines through my ear holes. [Apr 2006, p.84]

Observer Music Monthly

Ghostface is in typically brutal form.

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Tiny Mix Tapes

Fishscale is a confusing journey: far from a disappointment, it breathes new life into the legacy of Ghostface without blowing too hard, and for that we should be thankful. But to champion his latest as equal or, god forbid, superior to past albums in any way, shape, or form is laughable, as years-removed and repeated listens will bear out.

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Austin Chronicle

Fishscale's tail-end reeks ("Jellyfish," "Big Girl," "Momma"), but then first cuts are always the deepest.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 66 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Miguel A gave it a9:
Not the best rap album of the year. I still have trouble choosing between this and Clipse's Hell Hath No Fury. But, man.... This is a good album. The beats are dope and Ghost just does his thing like usual. There are NO weak songs on the whole album, but the skits suck (Ghost never was good at skits). So, out of al the good songs (there are no bad ones) of course there are the classics. You'll have to listen and find them yourself. It's your opinion.

David gave it a10:
Earns its spot with the all-time greats. Chock-full of brilliant songs, all fully fleshed out, memorable and emotionally affecting. Sure it has a few skits but they're short as hell. There's just too many quality cuts here to count. Ghostface is a legend.

Aaron gave it a9:
The Austin Chronicle gets this one very wrong. 2 of the 3 songs called out as weak are some of the best on the album and best of that year. This is what hip hop is all about.

Krish B. gave it a10:
Best album since his debut Ironman. Production is top notch with producers like J Dilla, Pete Rock, MF Doom and Just Blaze who provide an amazing drop in which Ghostface comes of extremely hard with striking, sharp lyrics. Features guest apperances with Raekwon, Cappadonna, Trife, Ne-Yo etc. Best cut on the album is definitely R.A.G.U.

Mike C gave it a10:
Only the most skilled in the business could pull off an album like this. It blows away every other hip-hop album released in 06.

lazy assed criminal milkweed gave it a10:
ill ass shit hate these niggas who think they know what hip-hop is its not music its a lifestyle man dont diss what u dont understand. I FUCKIN MISS WU-TANG CLAN AND THE FACT THEY HELPED HIM OUT MAN FUCKERS ARE AWESOME DAM. but anyway peace out. WU-TANG CLAN AINT NOTHIN TO FUCK WIT

CASTRO R gave it a10:
Ghost was the very 1st person to rhyme on the Wu's 1st album. At that point in time he really didn't grab me. Method was baskin in the lite back then. I was on the westside hiway w/ my cousin when Supreme Clientele dropped, and I first heard in my car. It was live, but I really didn't pay much attention to it. My cousin was more up on Ghost back then, than myself. It must have been around 2002 I purchased Supreme Clientele(One of the best albums in music of all time!). I payed attention to Ghost, and it was sick! Every album he has put out is fly. I have them all, plus his mixed tapes. Ghost's skill as a rapper is off the scales. I 1st heard Kilo on the underground. I was glad to hear him again, and not shocked about how fly the song was/is. I couldn't wait for his album to drop. The entire Fishscale is Fly. It captures the essence of rap music. I can tell he was raised on the same radio rap shows that I would listen to when I was 12- til today. I always admire his flavor. None of his music is for wack. Shame the masses don't buy his albums, as they do for other rappers of a lesser calibur. His albums are like jewels that are yet to have been appreciated by the mainstream mass. This album was surely one of the top 5 albums of 2006.

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