>the highs on that one ('Next Ep', 'Xxplosive', 'Still Dre',
>'Forgot About Dre') are higher than the highs on Compton
>('Animals', 'Genocide', 'For the Love of Money',
>'Satisfiction', 'Deep Water', 'Talking to My Diary') but
>overall i find 2001 to be so uneven i don't consider it a
>classic album. maybe i should listen again - it's been a few
>years.

...but it's based on just how high the highs were/are and the staying power of the albums 10-12 GREAT songs. But there's absolutely some fat that could be trimmed from that album. I actually just listened to it (2001) last week and confirmed this long-standing opinion of mine. I think Light Speed (too boring and redundant sounding), Murder Ink (boring take on that sample), Housewife (redundant because it was on 2 other albums at the time), and all the skits could be cut (the skits served no purpose) and the album would be much stronger as a cohesive sounding final product. But like I said, I still consider it a classic because those highs were ludicrously high and have immense staying power.