Ghostface Killah - More Fish Review
Posted by Evocator Manes on 12.29.2006
Ghostface breaks the habit of releasing an album every 2 -3 years with...something.
Ghostface Killah More Fish
2006
Def Jam
5.5
Before you read this review or listen to this album, you should read this review: Ghostface Killah – Fishscale and listen to that album. That one is complete. This one is done in conjunction with Theodore Unit, the questionably talented support staff of Ghost and frequently appears here on songs without him, all of which songs suffer from the absence. In fact, this almost works more as the follow-up to Theodore Unit's last release than it does as an addition to the GK catalog.
Let's take a look at this album and consider that maybe Phil Watts Jr. was right when he mentioned that Raekwon talking shit on Jay-Z may have been a supremely ill-advised move. First, while Ghostface was on tour, Jay-Z asks him to deliver an album in time for release by 12/12, which does not happen. It was close, however, dropping on 12/19, which is quite possibly the stupidest date to release a rap record. Are holiday shoppers really going to clamor for a release for one of the decade's best and most consistent, yet relatively unknown rappers? Not only that, are they really going to go for something which sounds clearly phoned in? More Fish? Are you fucking kidding? Sure, a lot of this is from outtakes of the last studio album, but is selling 300, 000 copies (which is about what Fishscale did) really indicative of a public groundswell to the point of releasing an album of cast-offs? The songs were apparently not good enough the first time, now some 9 months removed, they are now?
Moving along, we have a bevy of guest stars. There are so many, in fact, that Ghostface only winds up doing one song by himself. Meanwhile, Trife Da God, Sun God, Cappadonna, Killah Sin, Mr. Maygreen, Miss Info, Shawn Wigs, Redman, the Willie Cottrell Band, Solomon Childs, Sleek Louch, Amy Winehouse, Eamon, Kanye West and Ne-Yo appear at one time or another, with or without Ghostface, which is a bit of ridiculousness. Why would an artist release an album under his name and then not appear on tracks on that album? Lots of things going on during this album, including the obligatory stupid skits, but a couple big things are missing, such as intensity and focus, which Fishscale and Pretty Toney both had to spare.
This is really not a very interesting album. Instead, it's an "almost album", in that several tracks are strong, some even good (Josephine comes immediately to mind and probably should have been on the last album), but nothing particularly outstanding. Back Like That is remixed and tacked on to the end, presumably to get a bit more mileage out of the last album's single, but one could easily skip this entire thing and not really miss much. Ghostface's rhymes and delivery are again right on point and he's up to his usual standards there, but there is a definite phoned-in feel to this "holiday product".
The artwork again seems to fit into the theme of Fishscale castoffs and of being phoned in. Everything here is by the numbers and "good enough". Credits are present and numerous shots of fish, wrapped packages of shiny silver tin foil and Ghostface dot the inside along with a silhouette group profile on the back.
The 411: Unless you're a huge Ghostface fan, miss this or wait for it to go on sale or get it used or something. Even if you are a huge Ghostface fan, listen before you buy.
