Ghostface Killah Album: “Ironman”

I have to speak out against Matthew Wilson's review for the sake of all hip hop heads who may be discouraged from copping later Wu releases based on Wilson's unflattering description of albums post-Ironman. Firstly, Ghost's sophmore release, Supreme Clientele, is easily one of the most inventive and seminal hip hop albums of all time. While Ill admit it lacks the richness in production and stylistic consistency of Ironman, due to cast of rotating producers (featuring RZA, JuJu of the Beatnuts, and Inspectah, mind you), the album is a milestone due to Ghost's reinvention of his lyrical attack. In various interviews he has stated that, after the gangster style Ghost flipped on Ironman and the Purple Tape (Cuban Linx) was so blatantly bitten by MCs on the east coast (ex: Cristal, Clarks, Mafia themes, etc), he felt the need to flip a new style. The result are some of the most creative darts written, "Scientific, my hand kissed it, robotic, let's think optimistic, you probably missed it, watch me dolly dick it..." An album like 36 chambers or Ironman is blessed with consistency in quality and sound because RZA holds creative control of the project, while later Wu albums suffer from sheisty record company intereference, whack production, and whack guest MCs. However the value of growth which occurs from album to album for an MC like Ghost is impossible to ignore; these MCs elevate in skill overtime, so why would you opt to pass up hearing how they've sharpened their darts? Ultimately, you put in a Ghost abum to hear Ghost, and he's gonna be kickin you that same ill style, whether its on a RZA beat or a beat that sucks. In my opinion, any fan of Ghost will enjoy his latest Pretty Tony release, or the widely sh*t on Bulletproof Wallets, which happens to be ILL. I can agree with the idea that later Wu releases lack the atmosphere and consistency of that original Wu material, however an album like INS's Uncontrolled Substance or RZA's Digital Bullet is still more compelling and enriching that 90 percent of the other hip hop out there. By the way, cop the version of the album with Sole Controller on it.

Some guy reviewd this cd and was boggled by the significance of the cover. Let me bless you, The wu-tang, but mostly ghostface cappadona and raekwon, are obsessed with british shoes called Wallabees. On "Glaciers of Ice" a track from raekwon's "only built for cuban linx" Ghostface is telling raekwon that he had the idea of dyeing his wallabees in two different colors inorder to increase their flavor. Ghostface is know as the wallee-champ for his creative wallabees, on the cover of ironman, Ghostface, Raekwon, and Cappadonna are overseeing the production of their multi-colored wallabees. It makes perfect sense.

(actually 4.5)

Dont Get me wrong it is still a tight album and i listen to it regularly but I cant call this a classic. It has its fair share of ups and downs but the weaker songs really detract from this cd. For Example Wildflower, Ghostface curses more on this song than on the rest of the cd combined...and basically there is no point to the whole song. Poisonous Darts is plain wack and thats unusual for RZA. Fish is an average song with nothing to deviate it from the rest of the album and Marvel is the same way.

However Ghost's rhymes are amazing and his partners Raekwon and Cappadonna as well as the rest of the Wu stop by the studio to get in on this album. Cappadonna who is usually wack comes pretty ill on this album and Raekwon comes hard but not as hard as he did on his own Cuban Linx album. The skits and intros into the songs are great to listen to and make this a sorta cinematic experience. The skits don't detract from the quality of the cd.

The stand out songs include Iron Maiden( arguably the best song on the album------great beat, flow and lyrics), 260, Assassination Day, Box In Hand, Winter Warz, Camay, Daytona 500, All That I got Is You, and Motherless Child.

At first I didn't like one bit of this cd. But then gradually, as I began to listen to it more, it grew on me. However it is no masterpiece but still an extremely good album but not as good as Cuban Linx. I just think that Ghostface got skimped on the beats by RZA but it all boils down to personal preference. Alright enough babbling you should just buy the album because it will prove to be an entertaining listen and a worthy addition to your collection. Recommended.

This album is outstanding! The production quality is top notch. I purchased this album after listening to Ghostfaces "Supreme Clientele", hoping to find something just as good. What i heard blew "Clientele" out of the water. Ghosts style couldn't get any hotter. The samples and cadence of the beats are perfect. The song "After the Smoke...." gets play in my car every day. not to mention the heartfelt "All that I Need Is You". Ghost and Mary intertwine the rugged w/ the velvety soft in an unlikely duo. I'm not usually a fan of skits on albums, actually I'm vehemently against them. Ghost's skits dont bug me though, they actually sort of help the album progress in a way. The album is off the hook, so if you don't have it you should grab it.

This LP is nuts. If you like hip hop and don't have this record then you don't really like hip hop ;)