Dre solo album is because he raps as well as produces. Call it personal bias, but to me, the reason a Dr. It is disappointing that the main man himself is a guest star on his own album. Here, songs are constantly evolving, resulting in the massive scale that seems to be Dre’s goal for the release. The fact is, with the rise of pro-tools, a lot of producers have gotten lazy, establishing a five second theme and then running that theme into the ground through unwavering reputation (Dre included). Songs change their entire character from start to finish gradually changing their shape into something entirely new. “All in a Days Work†which flows from a sort of Stevie Wonder soundscape to a 2am jazz solo, introduces a new trick for Dre and a perhaps am entirely new method for Hip Hop in general. “Genocide,†after riding a menacing dropping beat, suddenly flexes into an homage to 20’s big band music, but despite the cheery face, is about people getting wasted. This is underscored by the fact that when Dre does forget about trying to make a song full of import that a sort of true character, and paradoxically a true sort of sentimentality, shines through. “It’s all no me†is HUGE, but all the songs are huge and they all have the same sort of unwavering, ocean size character. Yet, Dre never focuses on any movement enough to give most of the songs a unique character. “It’s all on me†has moments where it lovingly salutes the melancholy, wondering soul of Marvin Gaye and Bill Withers. Nearly the entire album is based off huge, dolby-style songs, but none of the beats really catch hold of the ear. Though, in this worship of sonics itself, Dre loses one of the things that made him special in the first place. Mega-hi-fidelity is the rule of the day and the album is so crisp and lush that, at times, it almost feels like it’s supposed to be an advertisement for beats headphones. Compton is marketed as a soundtrack and this release sounds cinematic. Likewise, there is a true dedication to sound here. Dre’s mid-tempo rhythms roll and wind through their running time with a craft so on the mark, it's impressive at how practiced and measured the famed producer is. Here, every single beat, every single note, is positioned with care in a way that is so mechanical, one is almost reminded of Kraftwerk. Hell, for all we know, Compton could be Detox minus the previously leaked tracks.Ĭlearly, Compton demonstrates Dre’s dedication to mastercraft. When do long awaited albums ever achieve what is expected of them? (Amirite Guns N Roses?) So, instead, Dre simply says he canned the entire album and in flurry of creative energy, the usually modulated Dre blasted out a new album that would serve as his third and final long player. For years, he was chained to the promise of Detox, an album delayed by decades which, with all the hype around it, could never live up to its rumored existence.
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