Good review for "The Blue Carpet Treatment"

[PLANT]

Snoop Dogg - Tha Blue Carpet Treatment
Doggfather's strongest release in a long time despite a few R&B flavored missteps.
by Spence D.
  November 20, 2006 - Snoop Dogg Presents A Gang Of Other Muthaf@#ckas On His Album would be a much more appropriate title for the Doggfather's eighth proper solo album. Of the 21 listed tracks only five eschew any guests in favor of Snoop flying on the mic solo. But if you factor in that three of the album's tracks feature no less than five guests, do a little numerical shuffling, then the entire effort looks, feels, and sounds like one of Snoop's numerous "Presents" styled compilations. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but there's always a little bit of trepidation when it comes to delving into a project that at first glance seems to favor the guests more than the star.

   
One can't put the enormous guest list out of mind when the "Intrology" features the Godfather of Funk his ownself, George Clinton. That Mr. Clinton rattles off a crazy little ode to smokin' the stanky stank isn't going to help him any when it comes to dealing with any future drug convictions. But it's a hazy shade of smoke filled nuance that slips effortlessly into a little slanky drawl styled vocal eclipse from Snoop. The Dogg keeps it lean and mean, speeding up his flow for one of the total solo joints, "Think About It." It actually showcases Snoop's between-the-sheets sheen, illustrating that he can flip the script more ways than one. The Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions loop creates a throwback SoCal swerve that's retro and futuro at the same time. Sleek, slick, and in control. Lyrically, Snoop drops some bragging rights and some linguistic tongue twisters, but what he's saying isn't as captivating as how he says it.

"Crazy" is a wurgle gurgle that bumps out like a slinky having a seizure. The moog and Rhodes and guitar all laced up by Fredwreck, are infectious beyond compare, proving that rap can survive without samples, creating its own self-contained funk extrapolations that retain all the grit and simplicity of vintage loops while elevating into their own trunk of funk stratosphere. Again Snoop keeps it languid, letting his tongue wisp and flicker like a serpentine of serendipity. Nate Dogg's liquid crooning on the chorus just adds another layer of tasty deliciousness. The only drawback to the track is that it should have been dropped in the summer. This is an ice tea sippin', switch hittin', cruisin' the strip type of joint. Heads'll be sleepin' if they don't resurrect it next year as the anthem for hot summer nights supreme.

Teaming up with B-Real for "Vato" is logical and could easily have faltered a smidgen (given that B-Real has been the go-to guest for many a SoCal rap album over the past decade). But B and Snoop meld well, much of that due to the fact that B keeps his nasal twang in check and delivers his bit in a more storytelling timbre that keeps it all lean and mean. Equally keeping things in check are The Neptunes, who deliver a wonderfully simplistic groove that provides equal parts menace and hip-swaying repetition. The adage of less is more is definitely in full effect here.

A much darker vibe seems to be permeating many of the tracks. There's an undercurrent of ominous doom that hasn't existed since the hey days of N.W.A. "Gangbangn 101" is a Crip and Blood tag team featuring Snoop and The Game showing off unity between the red and the blue. "Lil' Crips" unleashes yet another stellar Neptunes laced beat (again Pharrell and Chad Hugo go for less and end up with more). Meanwhile Dre's "Round Here" is decisively eerie, thanks to strategically placed tubular bell drops and a rolling piano-of-doom ambiance.

The album features no less than three veritable posse jams. "Candy (Drippin' Like Water)" which teams Snoop up with E-40, MC Eiht, Goldie Loc, Daz, and Kurupt.
"Like This" featuring Western Union (Damani, Soopafly, Bad Lucc), Latoiya Williams & Raul Midon, is a smarmy R&B number that suffers from slick yet muddy production. Muddy in that too much is going on leading to an uneven attempt at aural bliss. It's one of the few tracks that should have been relegated to B-side proximity. "Don't Stop" pits Snoop and Kurupt against War Zone (Goldie Loc, MC Eiht & Kam).

Interestingly enough, the aforementioned "Like This" signals a dramatic shift in the album's flavor, both musically and lyrically. While the previous 12 tracks delivered deep on the creep stylistics that were fit and trim, the next track, "Which One Of You," marks the point where the album veers severely off into the nasty R&B realm. Featuring Nine Inch D@#k, the song is an attempt to recapture the O.G. styled R&B lampoons that Eazy E used to do so well back in the day (i.e. they're filled with overt and somewhat juvenile sexual innuendo and smack talk, like Blowfly from the hood). Compared to the flavor of the rest of the album, this track just doesn't fly right. The pu$$y and screwing thematics continue on the Akon spiced track "I Wanna F@#k You." Jamie Foxx delivers a piercing falsetto on "Psst!" showcasing that he can mimic the Purple One as well as he can pull a Ray Charles (he's much more appealing when he isn't squeezing his nuts, though). Surprisingly the earlier example of Snoop's slick R&B flavoring, "That Sh!t" featuring R Kelly is tame compared to some of these grinders.

   
The album is rounded out by "Imagine," which features D'Angelo. While Dre keeps things low and slow, it's not cheesy, super slick R&B, but rather blues intoned late night jazz theatrics, which fit the primary mood of the album much better. This is the type of Rhythm and Blues that Snoop needs to focus on, delivering real soul dripping with mood and earthiness. "Conversations" is a wonderfully grungy funk rumble courtesy of DJ Pooh and is made all the more infectious thanks to a great Stevie Wonder cameo (Wonder sounds as rough and rugged as he did back on "Livin' For The City"). A classic intersection of two icons.

In many ways this is the mature Snoop Dogg album, musically speaking that is. That he includes a track called "Beat Up On Your Pads" which is dedicated to the Pop Warner footballers (his kids all play football) showcases this to a "T." Furthermore while all the photos contained in the CD booklet show Snoop flossing, he's flossing with his wife instead of a gaggle of hotties. And even though he continues to rap about the ways of the street (bangin', slangin' and the like) the images only show Snoop surrounded by buffalo wings, cash, cornbread and Hennessy. Sure, there's the obligatory gangster/revolutionary shot where Snoop is brandishing a nine, but for the most part the gratuitous thug imagery is kept on the DL. Which is not to say that Snoop has left the streets, he's just toned it down to a degree (though tracks like "Gangbangn 101," "Lil' Crips," and "Don't Stop" might suggest otherwise).

Where Tha Blue Carpet Treatment falters isn't due to the lengthy guest list. In fact Snoop shines as the true star, presiding over his friends like the perfect host, working the entire album like a party at his own house. No, where the album slips is in its length. 21 tracks totaling 1 hour, 17 minutes and 59 seconds in length, regardless of the artist, is a lot to digest. Snoop and company would have benefited from a little keen sighted editing, trimming the album down to a more manageable 15 tracks. In fact, take out the slick, over-produced R&B driven sex rhyme numbers and you'd have one sweet album (perhaps Snoop should have saved those tracks and released a contemporary, albeit suitably nasty, R&B album on the side). Given that many of the key songs showcase Snoop in lean and mean fighting shape, it would have been keeping in tune to have had the album just as lean and mean. Still, regardless of such a quibble, the album is one of Snoop's strongest efforts in a long time, with the beats, rhymes, and guests all complimenting the Doggfather with grand immediacy.

IGN Rating - 7.9/10
Reader Rating - 8/10

http://music.ign.com/articles/746/746850p1.html

[driko95400]

good review

[Vegasmac25]

i liked snoops album fuck the haters.

[Paul]

good review

[.:Hercy Buggz:.]

yep great review, and good album also... Oh and I have a question, is Dj Pooh the only produce/artistr signed to DoggyStyle Records?

[R-Tistic]

Pretty damm accurate...I would have given it an 8.5 though, and my complaints are different from theirs.

For one, I am one of those who thinks "Which one of you" is great, mainly because that beat sounds like it was locked up in a 80's production vault. I don't think the number of guests affects it much...I think West Coast albums have always been known for having many guests...Chronic, Doggystyle, Dogg Food, 2001, All eyez on me, and Da Last Meal all had a grip of features on it. Also, I think the beat for "10 lil crips" is weak as hell though...it has a head nod to it, but the melody is terrible to me.

That intro is great though!

[PLANT]

That intro is great though!

ya, no doubt....one of my fav tracks on the album for sure

[Slikk_J]

I thought the review was spot on accept a few differences in opinions......Instead of the rnb tracks, I didn't like the Dre/Akon tracks (apart from Imagine which is cool, but not great as it was hyped to be)....IMO

But Banging album though....