Whether the album is too long or just takes a turn for the worst with all the good songs at the beginning.

What are some albums you put on and think “I forgot this album is dope” and then by the end you’re saying “nah this ain’t it…I can see why I forgot this album was dope” lol

I really love the first 5 tracks of the album:

1. Say You Will
2. Welcome to Heartbreak
3. Heartless
4. Amazing
5. Love Lockdown


The rest of the album trends from dislike to hate.

I still rank that album high in his discog. Tracks 1-10 (save "Smokin'") are mostly bangers. Super top heavy album.

3 of the last 4 tracks are absolute doodoo.

It's corny. But I love "Rule"

But if it ended at track 12(Let’s Get High), I think it would have an argument for best rap album of all time.

Lots of filler that adds nothing from tracks 13-22. There’s only 2 of them that I’d miss, if you cut them.

And like you said a lot of the 2nd half just isn't necessary, even if I like a few of the songs well enough.

Still a classic. But yea the first half is absolutely legendary and after Let's Get High it kinda falls off a cliff a bit.

Second half of both albums tend to slip.

which I think is one of the best songs on the album. But yeah, that’s the only second half song that’s on the same level as the best ones on the first half.

Second half has Lyrical Gangbang and High Powered. And I'm partial to "N***a with a Gun" and "Rat-tat-tat" as while. I will say that "Bitches Ain't Shit" isn't really necessary. "The Roach" outro has some entertainment value in hearing RBX get progressively more stoned as the song goes on, but also could be excised due to quality.

>And I'm
>partial to "N***a with a Gun" and "Rat-tat-tat" as while.

"Rat Tat Tat Tat" grew on me over the years, and "Lyrical Gangbang" is sometimes my like 4th or 5th fave song on the album.

"Bitches Ain't Shit" is ..... vulgar. lol. But that beat bangs.

Ok, again, “dislike” is too strong of a word.

But there’s certainly a lot of times where I run the first few songs and interludes and then call it a day after “Becoming Unwritten”.

Mos' verse is insane.

i remember 15 coming on here telling the story of meeting cyndi lauper around time it was released..and her having the exact same response to it ("why is side b so sad??")

>i remember 15 coming on here telling the story of meeting
>cyndi lauper around time it was released..and her having the
>exact same response to it ("why is side b so sad??")

That's hilarious. Imagine getting panned by Cyndi Lauper.

on every Roots album since RD too...which is...strange.

RD and HIGO could both be solid albums with different sequencing.

I actually really like this album and I think it’s just too long because by the time I get to the end, I’m just tired.

I don’t really dislike any song and actually really like some of the joints at the end like Mystic City and Science Project but I think the overall album is just too dense for it to be that long.

Yo, after Karma, I don’t even know why I’m still listening.

The Hi-Tek joints at the end are cool but man does that album drag. Lol

Cincinnati is still classic though.

It def drags big time. Lot of those 90s albums do.

If we’re talking more than hip hop.

And again, it’s not “dislike”. I love that album. But I had the tape and I ran Side A into the ground.

>If we’re talking more than hip hop.
>
>And again, it’s not “dislike”. I love that album. But
>I had the tape and I ran Side A into the ground.
>
>

YES. It got to the point where I wouldn't run the 2nd side at all. They saved the day with some of the remixes they made but they weren't on that tape! By then though, I had the 2-tape joint so I could jam something else while I was rewinding..good times! Trying to explain stuff like this to my daughter is crazy. She's over there with ONE playlist with like 130 songs on it and she thinks she's a walking Sam Goody. She couldn't see my Case Logic from 2000.

Especially as I got older.
Side A is genius, but Side B has some amazing moments.

Now Diary Of A Mad Band? That's a Side B that struggled.

And thru track 8 I was thinking “this album is dope” and then by 14 I said “I can see why this didn’t get great reviews” and then I turned it off after the Flav joint. Lol

Again, wouldn't say "dislike," but that album falls off of a cliff with the last three songs.

I won't like the start and the middle of an album, but then it bounces back as it wraps up, leaving me with a more favorable view of it than it likely deserves.

Both Pusha T's "Fear of God II" and "My Name Is My Name" fall into this category. Though with the latter, "Numbers On the Boards" is a great early song. But things are pretty dry between that and "Nosetalgia."

This is actually my favorite Dre produced album but the stretch from "To Kill a Hooker" through "I'd Rather Fcvk You" is just too much for 44 year old me now. I love the final two songs on the album, "Approach to Danger" and "The Dayz Of Wayback". Cube was missed on this album.

>This is actually my favorite Dre produced album but the
>stretch from "To Kill a Hooker" through "I'd Rather Fcvk You"
>is just too much for 44 year old me now. I love the final two
>songs on the album, "Approach to Danger" and "The Dayz Of
>Wayback". Cube was missed on this album.

Agreed. It's def in the conversation for best produced Dre album.

I think you can make a strong case for any of Efil, Chronic, or Doggystyle. And I wouldn't be able to disagree with any one of those.

I go Chronic but it's damn close.

Eazy goofing around while crooning Bootsy Collins' works for me. That song>>>>>>>Ren advising men to punch women in the face if they don't want to give them head.

The beats on "One Less Bitch" and "Findum, Fuckum..." are so fucking dope. Shame that the songs themselves pretty much suck.

That back half of the album is pretty indefensible, even when it came out. I'll still pump Approach To Danger to this day, though

I had high hopes for the Chronic because of this and was let down.

>I had high hopes for the Chronic because of this and was let
>down.

Let down how ?!???!

Choosing one over the other is fine. But LET DOWN ?! I need to know why/howthefuck haha.

I don't know maybe I had hellllllllla high an unrealistic expectations. I remember hearing it when it first came out and wasn't that wowed. I guess it was a letdown to me compared to the Efil production. But if isn't something I will argue poimt for point like I would Brand Nubian's "In God We Trust" being better than "One For All" tho.

I'd still be sorta stunned if you were letdown *even with* super high expectations but that perspective definitely makes sense in general.

top 3 Dre beat all time for me.

But yeah, some of the songs are just very cringe. Production wise, when you consider when it was released, it’s easily one of the best produced hip hop albums of all time.

Features two of the best songs in his catalogue and during that era period up-front (Get Down and Made You Look). I'm even the guy that likes "Zone Out." But from that point on, it starts sliding down a cliff. I cut Nas some slack because he was obviously consumed by the death of his mother, but waaay to much of that album is not good. Also features some of my least favorite Alc production.

They carry the second half of the album to me, but yeah, I could easily cut that one at like 8 songs and be good.

I always dug those tracks.

Wouldn't say I dislike it, but there's a significant drop in quality in the second half excluding "Hate It Here" and "On and On." "Either Way" is a beautiful opener, and "Impossible Germany" has one of the greatest guitar solos of all time. Worst part is that it's basically that second half that marks the start of their overall decline, and I haven't been interested in the band since.

Yeah that album is up there as one of my favorite from track 1-6 or so. Then it doesn’t quite fall off a cliff but it definitely dies down toward the end.

That said, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot does the opposite and gets stronger as the album goes.

and for me Tribe - People's Instinctive Travels

both albums have a similar flow to it, a great first half building up to the big single in the middle of it.

They are still top albums, but the drop off in the 2nd half is why I don't rate them as highly as both group's later albums.

The New Danger matches what I think the intent of this post. An album that overall lacked the typical level of quality from the artist, but regardless had a number of strong songs near the top half of the album.

The Ecstatic overall is a good album. Its first four or five songs are among the best Mos has ever done. The latter half isn't bad, but their lack of artistry just conjures up the notion of what could have been if there was more time to craft songs of equal quality to the first half.

History and Casa Bey are two of the best songs on the albums.

History probably being my favorite or at least top 3.

I do think Roses sticks out a bit and doesn’t fit on the album.

... so maybe my opinion about the latter half might change with a new listening.

And I don't think the album's last half is "bad." But I was really feeling the first half and hoped the momentum would last through the second half. I guess if the first half is an 8 or 9, the second half is like a 6. So, it's not bad, just not great like the beginning.

I hear you.

I actually really like the entire album outside of Roses.

2nd half isn't bad at all, I just think the first half was more imaginative and strong. History is a great song but it's also sort of ... conventional ? For lack of a better term.

History is a great song but it's
>also sort of ... conventional ? For lack of a better term.

I gotta listen again though, it’s been a long time.

I love History, to be clear. I just thought the beat was a little derivative of the sped up soul sample trend that, by then, had been ubiquitous for almost a decade. Minor complaint.