Looking back at the legacy of the Wu, early on it was thought that many members other than Ghostface were the strongest links in the chain. Method Man stole the show from the jump off with his patented theme song on Enter The 36 Chambers; RZA had an endless array of dirty beats; GZA was the officially dubbed “the head” with his lyrical wisdom; and Raekwon arguably dropped the best Wu-Tang album ever with Only Built For Cuban Links. Who would have thought that Ghost would eventually become the Wu-Tang Clan’s strongest member, now with five full-length LP’s and still as relevant as ever? Apparently he truly is the “Ironman”. 

      Fishscale doesn’t really break away from the formula that Ghost has used on past albums; that is, grabbing some of the best production the underground has to offer, and laying his one of kind styles upon it. This time around, however, Ghost has made some minor adjustments. Perhaps taking a cue from GZA, who outsourced his production to Muggs last year with superior results, Ghost does the same on Fishscale, instead tapping each Pete Rock, Just Blaze, MF Doom, Madlib, and J. Dilla (just to name a few), to ensure a quality record that avoids redundancy. The other main difference here is that Ghost has somewhat abandoned his usual cryptic riddle rhymes for a more straightforward approach; but make no mistake, this is still Ghost, all the way. 

     As usual, he comes in guns blazing on the album’s first song, “Shakey Dog”, which finds him verbally assaulting the track with an endless barrage of trademark Ghost spit. Again, on the Just Blaze assisted “The Champ”, Ghost is relentlessly shadowboxing with the beat with hilarious braggadocio. Tales of drug deals gone wrong are in abundance, as he joins Raekwon on both “R.A.G.U.” and the ridiculous “Kilo”, plus the solo cut “Crack Spot”, each of which would have sounded right at home on Only Built For Cuban Links. 

     Meanwhile, we find Ghost lending his own interpretations to some classic beats that have been heard other places. He eats up some of J. Dilla’s Donuts on “Beauty Jackson” and “Whip You With A Strap”, both which find Ghost building off of the concepts of Dilla’s samples. Hearing the entire Wu-Tang Clan rip up a classic special herb of MF Doom’s on “9 Milli Bros” is amazing, especially the show-stealing verse from Method Man (it’s about time, Tical). However, the same cannot be said for the back-to-back Doom double-dips on “Clipse of Doom” and “Jellyfish”, both of which not only suffer from struggling verses from Cappadonna, Trife, Shaun Wiggs, and Sun God, but also from the fact that the beats are five (or more) years old. While on the subject of rehash, the out-of-place leftover from B.I.G.’s Duets release, “Three Bricks”, is nothing more than “Niggas Bleed” all over again, albeit now with otherwise impressive new verses from Rae and Ghost. But who’s counting? 

     Nevertheless, despite these minor objections, as well as a few out-of-place attempts at watering down and commercializing Tony (“Momma”, “Back Like That”), Fishscale still delivers. While not quite as solid is perhaps Ironman or Supreme Clientele, Fishscale keeps the Wu legacy alive without any doubts. Now if only the other members would apply these same tactics when crafting their next LP’s.