Ghostface Killah - The Pretty Toney Album

On Ghostface's first album for Def Jam, two things are immediately
noticeable: he leans more on a sort-of loverman persona than on a
hardened gangsta one. How can a rapper carry an entire album of
relationship songs? By having Ghostface's eye for detail, that's how.
His rapid-fire rhymes don't calm down for the hour-plus this runs, and
the beats sound fuller than on past releases, probably due to a higher
production value. If it ranks lower than Supreme Clientele or Fishscale, it's mainly for what the Burgess Merideth soundalike says on the latter: he "ain't been hungry since Supreme Clientele!"
This is all not to say that he leaves street narratives behind - "Run"
is one of the most energetic songs here, and it's a definite highlight.

Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele

I swear I will get around to listening to his "bad" albums eventually, once my internet at home gets working again (if you are reading this, I am either posting from a Panera, a mall, or my internet got fixed), but this is hands-down his best work. Filled completely with limber wordplay and rhymes as fast as a ninja star, densely worded and endlessly listenable, this is the first solo album that declared just how amazing Ghostface can be. There's humor, nostalgia (Child's Play), gritty street stories ("Saturday Nite") and "Wu Banga 101," yet another great group track (though only about half the group) on a Ghostface solo. How good is it? I intended on sleeping at one point last night and wound up listening to about 2/3 of it before actually needing to go to bed and putting it back on in the morning. And that wasn't my first time listening to it, either.

Ghostface Killah - Fishscale

This is easily one of my favorite solo Wu-Tang joints. I was listening to Ironman, Ghostface's debut, yesterday, and the difference is palpable. Then, Raekwon and Capadonna are on nearly every track, providing verses here and there. And while Ghostface himself is good there, he is in excellent form here, spitting fire on every track like he can yell haters into submission. Throw some MF Doom productions and last great Wu-Tang Clan group tracks to include ODB into the mix, and you've got Ghostface's second stone-cold classic for the decade (the other being Supreme Clientele, of course).