Customer Reviews

Dr. Dooom 2

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First, a little background: Like many people, I was disappointed with The Return of Dr. Octagon, the long-awaited sequel to Kool Keith's highly acclaimed solo debut as Dr. Octagon, the evil "Octagonecologyst". It seemed disjointed, with weird lyrics that didn't appear to have anything to do with the character, as well as a low proportion of real songs to throwaway tracks. Come to find out recently, The Return was cobbled together by an unscrupulous label out of some random old, unused tracks Keith had turned in to fulfill his contract after the original attempt to make the album fell apart. The last contact he'd had with them was in 2004 or something like that, and (according to an interview I read) Keith had no idea of the album's existence until it magically appeared in 2006.

Apparently the most logical thing to do was to bring back Dr. Dooom, who killed Dr. Octagon at the start of the 1999 album First Come, First Served, and have him kill Octagon again. He does just that on the lead single "RIP Dr. Octagon", and indeed the rest of that song's lyrics are based around the debacle of Octagon's supposed "Return". It's a symbolic gesture that will probably miss a lot of the people turned off by The Return, but the message is clear.

As for the actual content of Dr. Dooom 2? Fantastic. Longtime collaborator, and producer of the first Dr. Dooom album, DJ Kutmasta Kurt is back again with his inimitable beats. The beats are totally original--instead of sampling existing songs and laying a beat over them, or really building around samples in any way at all, he creates fresh melodies and beats out of individual sounds (technically samples, but you know). As with the original Dooom, the beats are varied between orchestral sounds ("Step-N-Fetchers", "Run for Your Life"), menacing horns ("Take That Ride", "The Countdown"), and deceptively laid-back sounds that still pack a punch ("I Followed You", "Surgery").

As for the actual rapping, listening to this CD should make Kool Keith fans remember what makes him great. The overall pace is slower than its predecessor, which threw me off originally, but I quickly realized that this was a more focused and precise effort. As usual, the lyrics are the real treat here. The Dr. Dooom persona is in full force with songs about gruesome murder, insane and hilarious dissing, and gross women. My personal favorites are "Surgery", a good old duet with Motion Man that warns "You can look, act like but can't hold our jocks up," and the awesome "Step-N-Fetchers" which sets its sights squarely on today's mainstream rap scene with some hilarious burns on popular rappers that you might recognize.

I can't recommend this CD highly enough. The only problem with it is that after you hear Dr. Dooom 2, very few rap albums in 2008 are likely to measure up. This is the real deal.

I have probably more than 20 Kool Keith albums, and the original Dr Dooom is one of my top 10 favorite albums of all time by any artist in any genre. I'm saying this so that you understand when I say that Dr Dooom 2 is even better than the original. The hooks are ruthless, the analog synthesizers are fighting with the samplers, the verses are angry...

The strait up raw uncut...!!!

THE DOC IS BACK!!!! I WAITED FOR THIS IT SEEMS LIKE FOR A LONG TIME AND IT WAS WELL WORTH THE WAIT. DR DOOM AKA KOOL KEITH IS STILL THE MOST EXPLOSIVE MC ON THE PLANET ESPECIALLY WHEN HE TEAMS UP WITH KURT. THE WHOLE ALBUM IS CLASSIC KEITH AS HE GOES IN AND OUT WITH HIS FLOWS TALKIN ABOUT A LOT OF CATS WHO STILL JUST DON'T GET IT. IF YOU THINK YOUR DOWN WITH "REAL" HIP-HOP THIS IS AS REAL AS IT GETS. THERE WILL BE ANOTHER ALBUM FROM KEITH COMING OUT IN DECEMBER UNDER THE NAME TASHANN DORRSETT PEACE!!!!

The production is excellent, and Keith keeps it interesting with insane dissing and bizarre horror raps. Not quite as incredible as the first Dr. Dooom, but an excellent return to form for Keith and Kurt here. A must have for Kool Keith fans!

DR doom is back , the long awaited sequel, fantastic, solid beats from kurt , raw lyrics, tracks like simon and the god of rap , what more can i say , the whole album is awsome , kool keith fans will love this , the dissing the usual antics , lovely!!!

Dr. Dooom is back with his sequel to first come first served. This is classic Dr. Dooom rapping about esophaguses, poison, rats and german masks. He comes raw on every song and the guest appearances are also great, especially fathead. Cop this album if you liked first come first served. Kool Keith comes out with another classic!

At first, I wasn't impressed with this album. Now I'm really feeling this sequel. This album came out as a diss to the Return of Dr. Octagon, which IMO was the most experimental and interesting recent release with Keith's name. But it wasn't what Dr. Octagon fans were wanting. This album is definately a direct sequel to Dr. Dooom.

The beats bump hard the samples are the kind of sound Kool Keith really shines on. Lyrically, Keith hasn't been this focused and sharp in a few albums. I mean, the metaphors and wordplay are funny and actually make sense! Its the same topics you'd expect from Keith, especially when in Dooom mode. The strange Simon Cowell diss is kind of skippable, but nice in concept.

My only gripe is that Kool Keith's most successful albums are getting kind of same-songy. This album sounds just like "Project Polaroid" and to a lesser extent "Mr. Nogatco". The same formula: Keith playing it more sane, dissing mainstream rappers over old-school boom bap sample-heavy beats. I'm waiting for him to really come with an original idea again like the first Octagon, Dooom and Lost Masters 2 releases.

the music media has generally torn this album apart based on the notion that its another terrible album not unlike the terrible albums keith has released the past 6 years. i am a huge keith fan who places the first dr. dooom release as number one in keith's discography and top ten among hip hop albums period, but must heartily agree with the media. the first three tracks are particularly bad, track one a timely(?) and violent jab at american idol. step-n-fetchers sounds like a spankmaster reject cut, and the album as a whole is essentially the same general trash talking without any real focus on a theme. this is really what makes this just another keith album, strange themes are implied but never executed, there is little mention of dr. dooom and his twisted life at all, just a thin veil of violent descriptions that become a tired exercise to fill time. the final straw is track 8, god of rap. the intro sermon would have to be a joke, but its not. keith actually says, "ever notice you hear the same guys talking the same stuff, every year after year using the same concepts, kick the same stuff just gets monotonous over and over." i laughed out loud! he said it all right there! "i'm the god of rap, the lord of music, the one who brought hip hop back to life" is the inspired chorus to track 8 and i'm afraid its all dead serious. instrumentation effects as well as lyrics are rehashed from the original dr. dooom("yoo-hoo and donuts you think i'm so nuts") which cheapens the sound and further confirms my suspicion that keith is pretty much out of rhymes. i really dig the album art, but the album does not come through and i really can't understand how my fellow reviewers can enjoy this debacle. unimaginative beats and predictable themes, keith somehow flexing his ego even more and as someone else, no less. keith is either totally out of touch or he has set the bar for lazy rapping, as i felt del did on his last album. keith really needs to spit a decent rhyme soon. i guess i can try to forget this was ever made and just listen to first come, first served over and over.