Ghostface Killah: Ironman 2LP Vinyl

Why you'll love it

This Epic / Legacy 2LP set gives RZA's soul-drenched production room to breathe across four sides. Ironman debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, went platinum in the US and gold in Canada, and is still Ghostface's best-selling album.

This edition

2LP set

About the album

Ghostface Killah spent the first years of Wu-Tang Clan with his face hidden behind a stocking mask, which is a bold look for a man who would turn out to be one of the most vivid storytellers in rap. Ironman, out in October 1996, is where he stepped into the light, with Raekwon and Cappadonna right beside him; their names are on the cover too.

RZA produced the lot, mixing early-70s soul samples and blaxploitation strings with dark keyboard tones. A flood had wrecked the Wu basement studio, so the vocals were cut elsewhere, and Ghost sounds noticeably different here than on earlier Wu records. "All That I Got Is You," a tender tribute to his mother with Mary J. Blige, sits beside the cinematic story-rap of "260," the brawling "Winter Warz" and "Daytona 500," while Raekwon turns up on 12 of the 17 tracks.

Critics from Spin to The Village Voice praised the detail in his rhymes, and the stream-of-consciousness style he sharpened here led straight to Supreme Clientele. Thirty years on, his nickname still makes him sound like a superhero; on this evidence, the cape was well earned.

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