>By all accounts it was Dre and crew just hanging out in the
>studio, getting blunted and drunk. Sorta structured on the
>first half, but the second side is pretty much all "freestyle"
>battle shit (Lyrical Gangbang, Stranded on Death Row, High
>Powered)
>
>And, you know, I like sample-based production, which Dre was
>still very much using on "The Chronic." It didn't matter that
>De La or Digital Underground or EPMD had sampling funk tracks;
>did used what he used and also made it sound dope.

I loved that "hangin' in the studio but still structured" feel as well, 100%.

While I can agree with those saying that the misogyny is a liiiittle much, the production outweighs that shit IMO.

I also appreciate that they worked to recreate the samples rather than just looping them, giving them (Dre & Wolfe) a lot more room to be creative and add layers. The constant business of those beats is what I loved about that era. If it wasn't drums, or the sample, or the "g-funk whistle," or the constantly evolving keyboard (I think ?) going on throughout "Fuck Wit Dre Day," or a voice sample (the mad-laughter during one of the bridges on Dre Day), etc., there was always *something*, or multiple things, going on during every second of every song. I loved that.

And that leads me to ...


>If anything, he started to sort of lose me around 2001 (not
>even counting that "Aftermath" album), where the "soul" seemed
>to lacking. Everything is clean and immaculately mixed, but it
>doesn't have as much heart.

... my agreement with this as well. The beats felt empty and soulless. I still really *liked* a lot of his work during that era, but it didn't blow me away like The Chronic/Doggystyle/et al did during the Death Row era. Too much unused space. And I get that that was kinda the point, like obviously/clearly that's exactly what he was going for. And obviously it worked for him. But I don't have the same love and connection with that type of production as I do the gritty, busy beats of the g-funk era.