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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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This is his best since [Supreme Clientele].
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BillboardOverall, "Fishscale" is strong, with archetypal beats creating the definitive Ghost. [1 Apr 2006]
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BlenderStrange, spooky and brilliant. [Apr 2006, p.114]
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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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Ghost is at the top of his game, both in terms of flow and lyrical luminosity.
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"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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I'd be surprised if anybody, in any field, drops something this potent in the next nine months.
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Entertainment WeeklyHe 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]
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Los Angeles TimesWill certainly stand as one of the best rap albums of the year. [26 Mar 2006]
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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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MojoDelivers a top-grade high. [Jun 2006, p.104]
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This is Ghostface's best album.
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Ghostface is in typically brutal form.
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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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Fishscale owes a large part of its success to Ghostface’s vivid storytelling.
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Another great release from the most important emcee in hip-hop.
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Q MagazineHe remains rap's finest storyteller. [Jun 2006, p.115]
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Ghost continues his tradition of being the Wu's most consistant soloist.
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Ghostface's emotionally charged stream-of-consciousness flow is as off-the-wall and amazing as it's ever been.
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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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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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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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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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The New York TimesThis 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]
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UncutA couple of missteps aside, this is Ghost's best since that '96 debut, Ironman. [Jun 2006, p.102]
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UrbFrankly, this record makes me wish I could snort bass lines through my ear holes. [Apr 2006, p.84]
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VibeThe sample-heavy results are cohesive yet diverse, a proper canvas for Ghost's finest effort since Supreme Clientele. [Apr 2006, p.151]
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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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The stories are as vivid, brutal, and thought-out as any noir.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 101 out of 109
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Mixed: 3 out of 109
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Negative: 5 out of 109
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DaveNobodyMay 1, 2006
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Apr 17, 2016
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Sep 29, 2014