Customer Reviews

Take a Look Over Your Shoulder

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Warren G's sophomore album Take A Look Over Your Shoulder is one of hip-hop's greatest albums. This fun and interesting album has it all: bouncing party beats, the thoughtful lyrics, and that great G-Funk style and flavor. The songs are all touched with sun-soaked keyboards, and most notably the great guitar in many of the songs. The innovative styles and rapping on this album are breezy and laid-back, which is definitely Warren's style. In my mind, he is the true originator of G-Funk production, not Dr. Dre or Big Hutch, and Daz Dillinger would be G-Funk's greatest innovator. Warren also is a great rapper, his lyrics are comical and thoughtful at the same time. This was Warren's first album to be released on his new label, G-Funk Recordings, and this album has excellent guests as well. Nate Dogg, Ron Isley, Jayo Felony, Mr. Malik, The Five Footaz, The Twinz, Reel Tight, and Erick Sermon, plus many others. These guests fit well with Warren's beautiful beats.

Highlights on this album include "Annie Mae", a great duet with Nate Dogg, which will remind many of Warren's hit "Regulate", because it once again has Warren and Nate trading lines. This time though, it's about a girl named Annie Mae, and Warren and Nate compliment each other well here. The second single "Smoking Me Out", features Ron Isley singing the hook for a bouncy party track. Warren puts in a very nice rap, as well as on the excellent "Reality", a laid-back track celebrating a sunset gangsta scene. On "Young Fun", Jayo Felony and Knee-Hi join Warren for a funky gangsta track about life as a kid. Even though the promotional version of "What We Go Through" features Kurupt and Daz Dillinger and was taken off of the album, the new one is an excellent track, featuring Bad A$$, Mr. Malik and Technique (who is listed on the album as Perfect) for a pretty piano-laced track. On this song, Warren disses LL Cool J, really tearing him up. Many have wondered why Warren did diss LL, and it was because LL dissed Warren on his 1995 Mr. Smith LP. "We Brings Heat" is a nice track that features The Five Footaz and The Twinz, and is very good though Warren's beat sounds kind of like West Coast Mobb Deep (if one can picture that), it's still a great beat. "Transformers" is another nice keyboard-laced track, extremely nice laid-back track with a vocoder chorus. My favorite is "Relax Your Mind", which features Reel Tight singing the chorus, and a relaxing beat that really does clear your thoughts. "To All DJ's" is sure to get the party up, an extremely funky track with Mr. Malik. The first single "I Shot The Sheriff", is another one of the album's best, while the remix is included and done by Erick Sermon of EPMD, and the beat is a sample of "Strictly Business", performed by EPMD. On the European version, there is the bonus "What's Love Got To Do With It", and the song's remix. I have heard it and it's a great song, with cool guitars and lyrics. All of the tracks are good, "Back Up" is probably the album's worst, but it still is excellent.

To conclude my review, I would recommend this if you like G-Funk. If you do, it's a must.

I challenge you to name 10 producers from the west coast that were better than Warren G in the 90's. There's DJ Quik (yes, I put his name first...Dre is overrated), Dr. Dre, and...well..... While there are other notable producers that may have been just as good, like DJ Muggs, Daz, Battlecat, Sir Jinx, Bud'da, Soopafly, E-Swift (Alkaholiks), Shock G, and Johnny J (I know I've left out a ton of legendary westside beatsmiths, but I'm trying to make a point, not write a novel). I wouldn't necessarily say that any of them were BETTER than Warren Griffin III. As a matter of fact, the problem Warren G runs into most is the fact that he's so heavily slept on (his own brother, Dr. Dre, didn't take him seriously as a producer). Even the editorial reviewer of this album grabbed a pillow and took a snooze -- I noticed that Amazon has a knack for posting bogus editorial reviews, but that's another story. Anyway, I think what turned people off to Warren G is because he took 3 years off from his classic debut and a lot people expected the Regulate II LP. Instead of trying to duplicate that album, he went in a different direction (something that I actually respect people more for doing -- more "artists" should do it). The truth is, this album is off the charts. Despite being totally ignored by his label (Def Jam), this joint still had a few classics (We Brings Heat, Transformers, What We Go Through, I Shot The Sheriff (EPMD Remix), Back Up, & Smokin' Me Out) getting spins on the radio. The quality of the album kept it afloat because, trust me, there were NO promo dollars put behind it. And on top of all that, with the exception of one or two fillers, the rest of the tracks are strong.

There are a few tracks on the album that should've been left off the album. "Annie Mae" suffers from lazy production and the original version of "I Shot The Sheriff" is skip material in my book. As a matter of fact, a lot of the production is so laid back that I'd have to say that it's almost too smooth. Don't get me wrong though, the beats are still top notch. Some will tell you that Warren's rhymes aren't up to par, but the editorial review summed it up best when it said: "...like his brother, Dr. Dre, Warren is a rapper only by circumstance and a producer by passion..." With that being said, I don't really expect much from him on the lyrical tip (nor does he -- hence the abundance of guest rappers).

Take A Look Over Your Shoulder (Reality) is easily Warren G's second best album. The production is on point and the guests all do a great job of sharing the load. Warren G is a capable rapper, but the focus for me was on the beats. I recommend adding this one to the collection. Amazon is selling this for less than a buck. If that ain't a steal, I don't know what is.

Standout Tracks: Back Up Feat. K-9 & P-C, Relax Ya Mind Feat. Reel Tight, What We Go Through Feat. Mr. Malik, Perfec & Bada**, Reality, To All D.J.'s Feat. Mr. Malik, We Brings Heat Feat. The Twinz & Da Five Footaz (My Favorite), Smokin' Me Out Feat. Ron Isley, Transformers, and Young Fun Feat. Knee-Hi & Jayo Felony

Following the surprise multiplatinum success of his classic 1994 debut Regulate...G Funk Era, Warren G sat back and watched the g-funk genre he helped originate explode. Outside of some production work and scattered guest appearances, Warren was relatively quiet for a full three years, finally dropping the follow-up, "Take a Look Over Your Shoulder (Reality)" in 1997. People seem to be pretty split in their opinions on this album, and I think that's because people were hoping for another Regulate...G Funk Era. That album was an ingenious blend of simple yet catchy, low-fi, and sunny, soulful beats teamed with fun raps. They were so beautifully laidback and made for perfect chilled-out listening. His raps are almost as appealing as his incredible production because he's so real; he seems more like a regular guy than any other Long Beach gangsta rapper. His raps are somewhere between talking and rapping, and his singing is somewhere between rapping and singing. So on this album, rather than just try to duplicate his debut with a sound that had been tiredly imitated for the previous three years, Warren instead took an admirably artistic route and made a very different album. "Take a Look" is pretty experimental, drawing from a more diverse range of influences. The beats are more dense than they were on his debut, often using a fuller range of instrumentation rather than the simple arrangement of synths, bass, and light sampling. He's really inventive a lot of the time, and it's cool. A lot of the music borders closer to R&B than rap, it's definitley hookier, and there are some more obvious singles. One of the coolest things I like about this album is how he reworks famous songs. For instance, his spirited version of Eric Clapton and Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" is surprisingly successful. He's looking beyond hip hop on "Take a Look," and the result is beautiful.

The one big similarity between this and his debut is the result of the production. These beats are literally the smoothest around. I don't know how he does it, but every gorgeous beat on "Take a Look" is so chilled out and relaxing that it makes for the ultimate summertime or late-night listening. The pure funk and smooth instrumentals just make you feel good. In that way, it is a lot like Regulate...G Funk Era. Lyrically, Warren is on a different page. Mostly, he just lets the beats do the talking, and much of the actual rapping is handled by his large list of guest rappers. There's a much higher-profile feeling to this project, and this is reflected in the lyrics and guests. Whereas his first album featured a small crew of underground Long Beach artists, "Take a Look" has a few more A-list MCs. Unfortunately, Warren would learn the hard way just like his labelmates Jayo Felony, the Dove Shack, Twinz, South Central Cartel, and WC that Def Jam was completely incapable or unwilling to promote its West Coast artists, and the lack of publicity led to disappointing sales for "Take a Look."

After the intro, the album begins with a Nate Dogg collabo called "Annie Mae." Over a quirky and bluesy beat, the duo speak of a woman they both knew, and this song is all-around great. "Smokin' Me Out" features a particularly soulful Ronald Isley, providing an awesome appearance to a beautiful production, the hook is awesome. He kicks some nice lyrics on the cool "Reality," and Jayo Felony and Knee-Hi guest on the discretionary "Young Fun." A matured Mr. Malik, Bad Azz, and Perfec show up to collaborate on the memorable "What We Go Through." "We Brings Heat" has an awesome vibe and features Jah-Skilz and Twinz, Warren's proteges. "Transformers" is gorgeously relaxing, with a space-age hook, and the classic "Relax Ya Mind" follows in a similar fashion. "To All D.J.'s" is the weakest song on the album, the beat's a little too sparse and subject matter a bit uninspired. K9 and PC assume the rapping duties on the funky "Back Up," which is followed by another West Coast classic in "Can You Feel It." His cover of "I Shot the Sheriff" is ingenious, adding a g-funk twist to a classic standard, and Erick Sermon's EPMD remix is also great.

"Take a Look" is musically genius and very experimental and is really a joy to listen to for its phenomenal production. Warren G steps outside the g-funk box to help push his genre even further than it had been pushed before, extending into R&B and pop music for this album. Even ten years after its release, I find this album perfect to pop into the player just to chill and relax, especially in the summer. It's sad that it's out of print now, but as it's still widely available, I highly recommend it. Warren G is a musical genius, and I really can't get enough of his production, and if not for the sheer brilliance of his debut, I believe this would have been hailed as the quality music it is. No, it's not Regulate...G Funk Era, but nothing really is, and "Take a Look" is an underappreciated gem of hip hop.

I'm a laid back type of guy, who enjoyed laid back type of music, especially from the west coast. To me, I find a lot of Warren G.'s music to be laid back and fit my prefrence of my enjoyment, and that is why I listen to his albums. Like everyone realized, Def Jam hardly promoted any west coast artists on thier label, despite his multiplatnum debut Regulate...G Funk Era. True, this album isn't his first, but it holds it's own as well.

Like most of Warren's albums, what stands out to me is the production. It's the type of west coast production that anyone can vibe to. "We Brings Heat" is the type of west coast production that I love so much. "Transformers" carries another dope beat. A personal favorite of mine is the song "Relax Your Mind" featuring Real Tight, more of that laid back feel here.

Lyrically, Warren is still good. "Reality" and "Can You Feel It" show off his lyrical skills. The EPMD remix of "I Shot The Sheriff" is dope lyrically and production wise.

What weighs this album down for me is first the skippable tracks. I wasn't feeling the origonal version of "I Shot The Sheriff". It's not a bad job, but really don't think Warren is good at producing reggae sounding tracks, as you can see Erick Sermon did a better job remixing it, and the two tracks are side by side in comparison. Also some of the guest appearances aren't all that good as well, although others were nice.

But overall, I find "Take A Look Over Your Shoulder" to be a highly underrated LP for 1997. It sucks that Def Jam didn't push their west coast artists, and the fact that this is out of print shows how much they care about this LP. If you're a fan of west coast rap music, I recommend that you check this out. Peace.

Lyrics: A

Production: A+

Guest Appearances: B-

Musical Vibes: A+

Top 5 Favorite Tracks

1. Relax Your Mind (featuring Reel Tight) [personal favorite]

2. Reality

3. Transformers

4. We Brings Heat (featuring Da Five Footaz, The Twinz, Knee-Hi, and Ricky Harris)

5. I Shot The Sheriff (EPMD Remix)

Honorable Mention Tracks

1. Annie Mae (featuring Nate Dogg)

2. Young Fun (featuring Knee-Hi and Jayo Felony)

3. Smokin' Me Out (featuring Ronald Isley)

After taking nearly 3 years off, Warren G returns with his 2nd effort, which may be his best to date (along with "Regulate ...G-Funk Era" & "I Want It All" - they're all about equal but I think this one has a slight edge). It has 3 classics, 1 near classics, and 3 ok songs but noe that I'd skip. He producers all the songs on here but one, which Erick Sermon does. He still has that G-Funk sound that helped make him a multi-platinum star, and he released this one on Def Jam (who has a thing screwing over artists from the west - see Jayo Felony, Richie Rich & South Central Cartel). A must have CD.

#2 - 9.5 (f/ Nate Dogg - about a trick they once knew)
#3 - 10 (classic f/ Ron Isley - very relaxed laid back song)
#5 - 9
#7 - 9 (f/ Jayo Felony & Knee-Hi)
#8 - 10 (classic f/ Bad Azz, Perfec & Mr. Malik - has a tight beat - see if you can find the original version f/ Dogg Pound {Kurupt & Daz})
#9 - 7 (f/ Twinz & jah Skillz)
#10 - 9
#12 - 10 (another laid back classic f/ Reel Tight)
#13 - 8
#14 - 8.5 (K-9 & PC, no Warren on this one)
#15 - 7.5
#16 - 7
#17 - 8 (same as #16 but a remix by Erick Sermon - better beat)

Warren Griffin III -- b. 11/10/70 -- Long Beach, CA
LONG BEACH - 213

check all my reviews

Warren G's sophomore album Take A Look Over Your Shoulder is one of G-Funk's great albums. This fun and interesting album has it all: bouncing party beats, the thoughtful lyrics, and that great G-Funk style and flavor. The songs are all touched with sun-soaked keyboards, and most notably the great guitar in many of the songs. The innovative styles and rapping on this album are breezy and laid-back, which is definitely Warren's style. In my mind, he is the true originator of G-Funk production, not Dr. Dre or Big Hutch, and Daz Dillinger would be G-Funk's greatest innovator. Warren also is a great rapper, his lyrics are comical and thoughtful at the same time. This was Warren's first album to be released on his new label, G-Funk Recordings, and this album has excellent guests as well. Nate Dogg, Ron Isley, Jayo Felony, Mr. Malik, The Five Footaz, The Twinz, Reel Tight, and Erick Sermon, plus many others. These guests fit well with Warren's beautiful beats.

Highlights on this album include "Annie Mae", a great duet with Nate Dogg, which will remind many of Warren's hit "Regulate", because it once again has Warren and Nate trading lines. This time though, it's about a girl named Annie Mae, and Warren and Nate compliment each other well here. The second single "Smoking Me Out", features Ron Isley singing the hook for a bouncy party track. Warren puts in a very nice rap, as well as on the excellent "Reality", a laid-back track celebrating a sunset gangsta scene. On "Young Fun", Jayo Felony and Knee-Hi join Warren for a funky gangsta track about life as a kid. Even though the promotional version of "What We Go Through" features Kurupt and Daz Dillinger and was taken off of the album, the new one is an excellent track, featuring Bad A$$, Mr. Malik and Technique (who is listed on the album as Perfect) for a pretty piano-laced track. On this song, Warren disses LL Cool J, really tearing him up. Many have wondered why Warren did diss LL, and it was because LL dissed Warren on his 1995 Mr. Smith LP. "We Brings Heat" is a nice track that features The Five Footaz and The Twinz, and is very good though Warren's beat sounds kind of like West Coast Mobb Deep (if one can picture that), it's still a great beat. "Transformers" is another nice keyboard-laced track, extremely nice laid-back track with a vocoder chorus. My favorite is "Relax Your Mind", which features Reel Tight singing the chorus, and a relaxing beat that really does clear your thoughts. "To All DJ's" is sure to get the party up, an extremely funky track with Mr. Malik. The first single "I Shot The Sheriff", is another one of the album's best, while the remix is included and done by Erick Sermon of EPMD, and the beat is a sample of "Strictly Business", performed by EPMD. On the European version, there is the bonus "What's Love Got To Do With It", and the song's remix. I have heard it and it's a great song, with cool guitars and lyrics. All of the tracks are good, "Back Up" is probably the album's worst, but it still is excellent.

To conclude my review, I would recommend this if you like G-Funk. If you do, it's a must.

Warren G came on to the scene with a bang because of his highly successful debut album "Regulate...G-Funk Era". Since then Warren G's albums have not been given as much notice publicly, despite the fact he has continued to make solid albums. "Take A Look Over Your Shoulder" is case in point, as it has sold nowhere near his debut, but musically is nearly (not quite) its equal. Deserving a rating of 4.5 stars (5 stars for his first).
The album starts off with "Annie Mae" featuring Nate Dogg. This is a great song as Nate and Warren go back and forth over a great G-Funk beat. Of course it isn't as good as their first combo "Regulate", but what could ever be. "Smokin' Me Out" is the sleeper and surprise of the album. It sees Ronald Isley on the hook and is one of Warren's best songs. "Reality" has a real smooth beat with a nice rhythmic bass guitar in the background. In this song Warren patrols Long Beach for all the haters that have been giving him heat lately. This song will definitely grow on you. "Young Fun" is a nice bouncy song, with great appearances featuring Knee-Hi and Jayo Felony. "What We Go Through" is a real funky beat, with a nice piano that comes in and out of the background. More great guest appearances. This time coming from Malik and Perfec. "We Brings Heat" is probably the weakest song on the album. The beat's real nice, but the guest appearances take awhile to get into. Most will probably either love it or hate it. "Transformers" is classic G-Funk with a boomin' beat and synths moving in and out of the song. "Relax Ya Mind" is a one of the albums best as Warren's R&B group, Reel Tight, is featured on the song and they make a solid contribution. "To All D.J.'s" was a song I wasn't feeling at first, but I really like it now. Great funky song with a good appearance by Malik, who I really like. "Can You Feel It" will have you saying just that. The bass on this song is continuous throughout the whole song. "I Shot The Sheriff" and the EPMD remix are highlights of this album. This was a really nice concept that Warren G did. The first is produced by Warren G and has a real relaxing G-Funk beat. The remix is produced by Erick Sermon and has a bouncier P-Funk beat. Great contrasting styles between the two songs as you really see how G-Funk and P-Funk are able to take the same beat but make them individually their own style.
This album is traditional Warren G as lyrically he won't blow you away, but he does more than hold his own on this album. The production is great and as everyone knows nothing sounds better in your stereo than Warren's beats. "Relax Ya Mind" and "Can You Feel It" bump like nobody's business. If you're looking for an intellectual album with mind-blowing lyrics, this probably isn't the album for you. But if you want smooth, quality production with Warren's fluid voice than pick this one up.

It boggles my mind to this day how this CD failed to garner anyones attention after the superb CD that was Regulate: The G Funk Era. Perhaps it was the delay between his last album and this album? Or perhaps people have no taste?

Warren G serves up another great CD with non-stop quality (well not exactly, the skits are not needed and once you hear them once you need not hear them again) and his beats are as equal to what he released on first cd.

The classics:

Annie Mae - Warren G tags with his life long buddy Nate Dogg and drops another hit. Nate Dogg's hook is amazingly smooth and Warren G is at ease. Warren and Nate talk about a trick they once knew.

Smokin' Me Out - One of the best beats on the CD, Ron Isley delivers the best hook on the CD, and Warren G calmly raps to another classic of his own. Warren talks about a girl smokin' him out.

Reality - Probably my favorite rap on the album. Warren talks about people talking junk about him.

To All D.J.'s and Can You Feel it: Love both these raps, don't know which is better but they are both very good and are just behind Reality in quality.

The rest of the raps are of four star quality, possibly higher.It's a shame that this CD is long forgotten, because It almost matchs Warren's original CD in quality (Although Regulate and This DJ are still his best efforts to this date). I highly recommend this item to anyone who is a fan of Warren G or still listens to Regulate to this day.

Warren G still has that G-Funk passion in his second album. He puts more songs on this album, thank God!! He still has that fun, easy listening, rhythmic flow that makes him fun to listen to. His standout track, "Transformers," has a faint, whistly keyboard synth, and a neat use of a talk-box, and a funky, bass-heavy beat. He refuses to become a gimmicky rapper, and for that I give him props. He sounds calm and collected in the nice chill-out track "Relax Ya Mind." He does step up the hard-core factor a little since his first album. Songs like "What We Go Through" and "Reality" get into more of a gangsta mentality, but he does not overdo it. So, he offers something for gangsta rap fans, and fans of more laid back rap.

This is an unreal album, with phat beats and great lyrics the whole way through. The only problem i have with this CD is that i have this CD and it has a totally different cover, and two extra songs. On my version of this CD it has song number 16 as What's Love Got To Do With It (featuring Adina Howard) and track number 18 What's Love Got To Do With It REMIX. So i would advise you to buy the version of this cd i have as you are missing out on a great song if you get this version. Still i would recommend this CD to anyone who likes the G-Funk style of music.