DR. DRE - COMPTON: A SOUNDTRACK BY DR. DRE (Official Discussion)

[DJSpin]

Just bought Compton, finally.  After the first few tracks I took it out and popped in my dk quik summertime mix. More in the mood for some funky feel good music than what I heard so far on Compton.   Hope to give it another shot today.

[Blood$]

bought a hard copy today finally... shit sounds insane on CD in the whip

[Jay_J]

Looks like the CD dropped today in the UK
http://store.hmv.com/music/cd/compton?_ga=1.8025204.711516639.1440193136

Yep, I bought it yesterday after avoiding it at every cost for the past 2 weeks and listened to it for the first time in one sitting.
A few observations at the moment:

- This doesn't sound like a Dr. Dre album, let alone a west-coast album.  Now that can be interpreted as both good and bad.  Good in the sense that it's a modern and new sound for Dre, showing that he's setting a trend yet again for the overall production and direction of albums, but bad in a sense that, going on my first couple of listens, it's almost as if this could be anyone's album due to the sheer number of guests all over the album, popping up every 30 seconds or so which can sound a bit overwhelming at times;
- Why has Dr. Dre changed his rapping voice and flow so drastically? Why?!  He's been rapping for nearly 30 years now, and was always immediately identifiable on a track owing to his strong, commanding voice, but on here he sounds so different to before that it's almost off-putting.  That's not to say he's gotten worse, it's just that he (and a couple of other guests on the album) are trying to sound too much like Kendrick Lamar and it sounds a bit unnatural for them to do this;
- There doesn't appear to be any standout tracks on here, in the way that 'G Thang' and 'Still D.R.E' were on the previous efforts.  Will listeners be able to recite the lyrics to certain tracks word-for-word in a few years time? Will any of the songs transfer to radio and into popular culture?  It feels like there are no quotables on here, no real standout lyrics;
- Anderson .Paak, Justus, King Mez and Jon Connor are interchangeable to me and I can't tell them apart.  None of them standout and as a result I have little to no interest in hearing any of their previous or forthcoming work;
- Some of the guest spots are underwhelming - You would never know that was Cold 187um on 'Loose Cannon's' unless he was listed in the credits, and Snoop's appearance on 'One Shot One Kill' doesn't sound right to me, he should have come more funky and melodic on a Dre album. I'm glad he got to feature on another track;
- On a more positive note, I love the different sounds on the album - all the background noises, voice samples, trumpets, weird, distorted voice effects etc.  This was to be expected on this album and the production doesn't disappoint.  The intro is brilliant too.  Also, who would have thought that the two Dre solo cuts on here would be the best two tracks on the album (the particularly strong one being a Detox scrap)?

So overall, a slight disappointment for me, but a good listen nonetheless.  Now I know I've been very negative and this is going on only having had the album for one day, but I am confident that the album will grow on me and I'm going  to continue to listen to it intensely for the next few weeks to pick out new things that it has to offer.

best comment about compton album i ever read.especially the fact about there is no standout track.

[Blood$]

"Gone", "Deep Water", "One Shot Kill", "Just Another Day", "Medicine Man", and "Talking To My Diary" were stand-outs IMO

[Will_B]

Hopefully this is like when Ridley Scott went back to do the Blade Runner final cut, then dropped Prometheus

[dnjp4life]

A few more thoughts now that I've listened to the album some more and let it sink in:

- I was overly critical of my initial assessments of the new rappers on here.  Of course you can tell Anderson .Paak, King Mez and Jon Connor apart after listening some more (though I stand by my original opinion of Justus - I still have no idea where he appears on the album and what he sounds like).  I'm still not blown away by any of the new guys though, and not overly keen to listen to their solo stuff, but I'm open to that changing;
- I find Anderson .Paak's voice to be grating on certain joints on here.  He's alright and is clearly multi-talented, but at the moment he sounds a bit whiny and I think the beat to 'Animals' is wasted on him.  Even a more mellow Snoop would have done that beat more justice;
- At the moment, I tend to enjoy the first half of the album more than the second.  The second half contains some songs that I'm not particularly feeling right now and it makes the album lose a bit of steam for me, but again, I hope that changes with more listens;
- I was hoping that The Game's track would be a bit better than it actually is.  After reading some of the reviews of the track here I was really hyped to hear it, but the beat is just so pedestrian and quite boring.  I can't wait to hear the Documentary 2 though, if Game is as hungry as he sounds on this track;
The track 'For The Love Of Money' sounds very similar to 'Swimming Pools' by Kendrick Lamar and the beat was clearly inspired by it;
Saying all that, the album sounds amazing on surround-sound mode on my system.  Certain sections such as the chain-gang sound, parts of 'Deep Water' and the breakdown at the end of 'It's All On Me' just sound so epic that it makes you forget some of the not so enjoyable moments on here. 

[donfathaimmortal]

"BIG BASS" BRIAN tells about his mastering session with Dr. Dre for his Compton album > http://t.co/FAvAfGYx5y

[Sccit]

"BIG BASS" BRIAN tells about his mastering session with Dr. Dre for his Compton album > http://t.co/FAvAfGYx5y

THATS GOTTA BE TAXIN

[jaytee]

though I stand by my original opinion of Justus - I still have no idea where he appears on the album and what he sounds like

Justus isn't really rapping on the album. He's only doing hooks and ad-libs.  Talk About It, It's All On Me and Deep Water.

[Sccit]

though I stand by my original opinion of Justus - I still have no idea where he appears on the album and what he sounds like

Justus isn't really rapping on the album. He's only doing hooks and ad-libs.  Talk About It, It's All On Me and Deep Water.

he's actually pretty good on hooks.. dre was smart to not let him rap

[Eddz]

Are they planning on dropping any videos?

[Westdog]

I love:

Animals
Issues
It's all on me
All in a day's work
Loose cannons
Talk about it
Talking to my diary (classic dre)
One shot  one kill
Just another day

Others r bad for me

[Sir Petey]

fux with all of it almost

satisfiction and deep water being the best.


i gotta say its kinda wierd that so many albums and songs use martha ambrosia for so many songs over the years. she was great on here and on kanyes cruel summer or whatever his compilation was called but im bored with this bitch kinda. its cliche to hear her on a hip hop track now.

[Sccit]

fux with all of it almost

satisfiction and deep water being the best.


i gotta say its kinda wierd that so many albums and songs use martha ambrosia for so many songs over the years. she was great on here and on kanyes cruel summer or whatever his compilation was called but im bored with this bitch kinda. its cliche to hear her on a hip hop track now.

she sound good tho, dre brought the best outa her

[Blood$]

fux with all of it almost

satisfiction and deep water being the best.


i gotta say its kinda wierd that so many albums and songs use martha ambrosia for so many songs over the years. she was great on here and on kanyes cruel summer or whatever his compilation was called but im bored with this bitch kinda. its cliche to hear her on a hip hop track now.

she sound good tho, dre brought the best outa her

I'd say she's the best female singer for hip-hop records... Jill Scott was dope on this album too