718

This is not so much a complete album as it is a collection of tracks. The best thing about this album is that it has some of the missing tracks from the Pretty Tony Album. You've heard by now that Def Jam didn't want to pay up all the royalties for the samples that Ghost was using... so they cut some tracks from the final album. It's really unfortunate because they were sitting on a classic. This album (not sure if it's a bootleg or how they're even allowed to release this in stores) brings to light some tracks that few have had a chance to hear."Guerilla Hood", "The Drummer", "Smith Brothers", "Paychecks" & "Wicked With Lead" all should be included on the Pretty Toney album and while there are still more not included here, there tacks alone could push Pretty Toney to the next level. "Guerilla Hood" is a powerful cinematic track with almost a full booming orchestra backing up the Ghost. He even begins the track singing before ripping it up in typical fashion. "The Drummer" is the posse track that was mysteriously missing from the Pretty Toney Album. The production consists of a basic drumbeat that is accompanied by some menacing piano and a high-pitched soul sample in the background. Ghost, Trife, Streetlife & Method Man pretty much trade lines every 8 bars or so. This is a classic Wu track (Meth: "Ya'll n**** shoot guns like Shaq shootin a free-throw"). My only complaint is that it sounds like this track was downloaded, but whatever. The production on "Smith Brothers" is incredible and Ghost just flows perfectly over it. The chorus brings down a perfect track though with Ghost singing "We will, we will rock you". "Paychecks" uses some sick piano and horn samples (and of course a soul sample in the background). "Wicked With Lead" is another excellent track, stepping away from the soul samples and sounds more like a beat from 90-91'. All these tracks are at least excellent, they even sounds like they belong on the PTA. For me getting these tracks makes the album worth buying alone.The other tracks on the album are merely there to showcase Ghost's crew. To be honest they are pretty good. Trife in my opinion is the best of the crew, and comes off nicely on "Punch In...", & "Right Back" "Pass the Mic" is another nice track, which features everyone. The rest of the tracks are pretty good, though nothing that really stands out. (Question, has Cappadona really fallen off that much that he's gone back to being a member of Ghost's "crew"?? Aparently)One final treat is '88 Freestyle which uses Big Daddy Kane's "Set it Off" and has Ghost & Trife racing faster than I've ever heard from the Ghost! It's an incredible display of just pure skills.If you're a fan of Ghostface and/or the Pretty Toney Album, this is worth getting. Pretty solid effort, especially for basically just being a mix-tape or collection of tracks. (7/10)