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Rehab packs the visceral, transgressive punch of the best crime fiction but it's equally adept at old-school Sunday-in-the-park jams (the infectious single 'Celebrate') and wiggy conceptual tracks like 'White Linen Affair (The Toney Awards).'
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By dint of hard work, Ghost now has him a minor career as the classiest crime story writer in a genre that supports plenty of them.
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The Big Doe Rehab, is predictably entertaining, not because he doesn’t have new tricks, but because at this point his weirdness is hardly surprising.
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Ghostface's beat selection is impeccable.
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With Rehab, Ghostface proves his tried-and-true technique has plenty of juice left in it.
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The Big Doe Rehab isn't as distinct as last year's Fishscale, but it's close. Ghost's bouncy, more direct approach on cuts like 'Walk Around' shows off his ability to turn crack-slinging narratives into big, hooky pleasures.
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Even the weaker of Ghost albums tend to be relatively strong compared to some of his peers, both in and outside of the Wu, and The Big Doe Rehab is no exception.
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This isn't new territory for Ghostface, and it's something of a marvel that his signature narrative style still feels fresh on his seventh solo outing.
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Ghost's new album may not uncover many of the verteran MC's still-hidden darts but, even 11 years after his solo debut, there's no denying that one of hip-hop's most vibrant voices in its comfort zone.
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For the fan of fictional party rhymes, there's 'White Linen Affair (Toney Awards),' where Ghost lines up the current roster of hip-hop royalty and takes his place strong in the middle of it.
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Fresh off his triumphant "Fishscale" series, the thinking-thug’s MC once again shows why he’s the alpha Wu-Tanger: palpable street authenticity, classic taste in R&B (Stax, Motown) and the breakneck rhyme virtuosity of hip-hop’s golden age.
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The Big Doe Rehab succeeds because it is an album unafraid to show kinks in its armor.
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Sadly, no RZA production appears on Ghost's seventh solo project -- thus this isn't as good as the invincible Supreme Clientele, but it's more cohesive than Fishscale.
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Rehab has every right to coast on the momentum of Ghost's hot streak--exploit it, if you will--for an overload of same.
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On his seventh solo album, the strong The Big Doe Rehab, Ghostface brings the energy and excitement to his songs unfortunately missing from much of the Wu-Tang's latest release.
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It’s a strong album, but The Big Doe Rehab grows wearying by the end, like pounding Red Bull to stay up all night debating whether there ever were any weapons of mass destruction.
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His storytelling focuses it all, at least for the first half of each song; after that, momentum flags.
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The album has more than its share of bangers and certainly beats last December’s leftovers casserole More Fish on the killer-to-filler ratio, but Ghost veers too close for comfort to the feel of his worst albums
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Big Doe Rehab is another valuable insight into the skewed world of Ghostface away from Wu’s taming Shaolin stylings.
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The album might actually play to Ghost's strengths too much; virtually every track is a straight-ahead adrenal banger with a screaming soul sample and a death-obsessed narrative.
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While Rehab doesn't represent the top of Ghostface's game, the MC's approach is as viable as ever.
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Despite not being quite as smart as "Fishscale", The Big Doe Rehab certainly marks another reason (along with recent GZA shows and the release of "8 Diagrams") to suggest the Wu-Tang dynasty is going through something of a renaissance.
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Given that a relevant part of his appeal has always been his eccentricity and willingness to take risks, a record mostly defined by his adherence to the tried and true is bound to feel like a bit of a copout.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 21 out of 23
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Mixed: 2 out of 23
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Negative: 0 out of 23
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Apr 17, 2016
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May 12, 2011
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AntonDec 5, 2007Still a solid outing for Ghostface/Ironman/Tony Starks.