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Fishscale
by Ghostface Killah

Ghostface Killah reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 88 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.7 out of 10
based on 32 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 65 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

MF Doom, Madlib and Pete Rock lend their production talents to the Wu-Tang member's fifth solo outing, which includes a collaboration with Ne-Yo.

LABEL: Def Jam
RELEASE DATE: 28 March 2006
DISCS: 1 disc
GENRE(S): Rap

What The Critics Said

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.
Read Full Review
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.
Read Full Review
91
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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91
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]
91
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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90
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.
Read Full Review
90
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.
Read Full Review
90
Billboard
Overall, "Fishscale" is strong, with archetypal beats creating the definitive Ghost. [1 Apr 2006]
90
Dusted Magazine
I'd be surprised if anybody, in any field, drops something this potent in the next nine months.
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90
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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90
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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90
Delusions of Adequacy
Ghost is at the top of his game, both in terms of flow and lyrical luminosity.
Read Full Review
90
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.
Read Full Review
90
Q Magazine
He remains rap's finest storyteller. [Jun 2006, p.115]
88
Los Angeles Times
Will certainly stand as one of the best rap albums of the year. [26 Mar 2006]
85
RapReviews.com
Ghost continues his tradition of being the Wu's most consistant soloist.
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83
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.
Read Full Review
80
Vibe
The sample-heavy results are cohesive yet diverse, a proper canvas for Ghost's finest effort since Supreme Clientele. [Apr 2006, p.151]
80
Amazon.com
This is his best since [Supreme Clientele].
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80
ShakingThrough.net
On balance, Fishscale earns its street-cred stripes and adds another worthy release to the Great Wu-Tang Best Solo Effort debate.
Read Full Review
80
Prefix Magazine
Another great release from the most important emcee in hip-hop.
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80
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]
80
Rolling Stone
Ghostface's emotionally charged stream-of-consciousness flow is as off-the-wall and amazing as it's ever been.
Read Full Review
80
Blender
Strange, spooky and brilliant. [Apr 2006, p.114]
80
PopMatters
Fishscale owes a large part of its success to Ghostface’s vivid storytelling.
Read Full Review
80
Uncut
A couple of missteps aside, this is Ghost's best since that '96 debut, Ironman. [Jun 2006, p.102]
80
Mojo
Delivers a top-grade high. [Jun 2006, p.104]
80
Urb
Frankly, this record makes me wish I could snort bass lines through my ear holes. [Apr 2006, p.84]
70
Observer Music Monthly
Ghostface is in typically brutal form.
Read Full Review
60
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.
Read Full Review
40
Austin Chronicle
Fishscale's tail-end reeks ("Jellyfish," "Big Girl," "Momma"), but then first cuts are always the deepest.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this album is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 65 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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