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Following a year in which “Fishscale” somehow snowballed into New York rapper Ghostface Killah’s most acclaimed album, one would think the aptly titled “More Fish” could only be an afterthought.

“Fishscale” was an album of big guns and high profiles: producers J Dilla, MF Doom and Pete Rock all contributed beats, and various Wu-Tang Clan members stopped in for guest verses.

With left-field tracks (“Underwater”) next to bangers (“The Champ”), it sounded more like a greatest hits collection than a fifth solo album and proved, once again, that Ghost can rap over anything.

“Fishscale” also made a push toward supplying the commercial recognition he’s long deserved, with the single “Back Like That” peaking at No. 39 on the Billboard hip-hop charts.

So with Christmas just around the corner, Def Jam dropped “More Fish” like day-old tuna, hoping to cash in.

Or did they?

A few listens in and “More Fish” sounds less like “Fishscale” outtakes and more like Ghostface enjoying his success.

The subject matter is the same – drugs, women, drugs – but instead of verses from the likes of Raekwon, the album is full of Ghost’s less-recognized posse, Theodore Unit (which includes a couple of deities – Trife da God and Ghost’s teenage son, Sun God).

The return of MF Doom aside, the production credits are strictly no-name and low-budget. This is a family affair, a loose and comfortable one where nobody’s dressing to impress.

“Ghost is Back” starts the album off right with a fast-break beat that the MC himself produced. With its DJ-scratch chorus and retro samples, it’s the most old-school track on the record.

Elsewhere, “Good” is another R&B-leaning club song in the vein of “Back Like That” while the hulking “Blue Armor” sounds like a thousand pounds of metal clanging down a New York City street. The MF Doom-produced “Guns N’ Razors” is pure Hanna-Barbera cartoon, straight surrealism that the comic book-loving Ghostface trumpets over.

Ghost’s guests hold their own, the deep-voiced Cappadonna spitting hard for Wu-Tang on “Guns N’ Razors” and Trife da God ruminating poetically on life on the street in “Grew Up Hard.”

On the one hand, “More Fish” is a second-rate “Fishscale”: The beats aren’t as flashy, the guests are less charismatic and the star of the show doesn’t even appear on a few of the songs.

On the other, this is a Ghostface Killah album. If he wants to show off some MCs, let him; if he wants to put out a no-pressure one-off album because Def Jam gave him the OK – or even if they asked for it – why turn it down?

Say what you will about “More Fish,” but it’s hard to complain about more Ghostface.

E-mail Greenwald at dgreenwald@media.ucla.edu.