Customer Reviews

Take Me to Your Leader

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Okay, if you know MF Doom/Zev Love X/Viktor Vaughn already- then you know what to expect.

One should expect skits that come from old science fiction movie samples, in this case - old Godzilla movies. Also, some samples from animes.
Also, expect strange and grimey beats, which he creates himself.
Expect, Doom to rip the mic in a way that only Doom does. But not that much on this album - Doom mostly focuses on production instead of MCing
Finally, expect contributions from his fellow Monsta Island Czars.

(In my opinion, maybe too many guest MCs. I would have liked to hear more from the 3-headed monster on this one. Also, maybe too many skits.)

If you haven't caught any of Doom's other releases.
I think you probably should check out his other releases before this album.
I would recommend VIKTOR VAUGHN, then OPERATION DOOMSDAY (only available on vinyl until it's re-released), then this album.
Not to say that this is a bad album. But this maybe an album that is better for people who have heard his other stuff and are fans.

My favorite track has to be:
Track 8 - "Anti-Matter" with Mr. Fantastik
(I can't wait for the MF Doom/Mr. Fantastik album that is coming out.)(oh joy.)
Track 10 - "Lockjaw" with Trunks
Track 11 - "I Wonder" with Hassan Chop
Track 13 - "The Fine Print" (with the kick @ss beat box beat)

The Metal Fingered Villain (aka Zev Love X, Viktor Vaughn, [born] Daniel Dumile) returns to the scene as King Geedorah with one of his greatest albums yet. Although Doom demolishes his peers on the two tracks he's featured on, this is more of a production feat for him. He spends most of the time behind the boards cleverly boasting samples from old Godzilla movies (among others), fused together with a enthralling production. The production has a lo-fi feel to it (since many of the samples are recorded straight from a VCR), but it certainly doesn't suck any life out of the songs. The production is often times inspiring, dark, creepy and uplifting. At first glance, I thought I wouldn't like this album that much because of the massive amount of guest rappers (which include Biolante, Gigan, Lil'Sci, ID 4 Winds & Stahhr, Jet-Jaguar & Rodan, Mr. Fantastik, Trunks, Hassan Chop), all of which I have never heard of. I was simply amazed at the unity of the album upon my first listen. And to my amazement, all the guest rappers are excellent, which isn't always the case with Doom releases. My favorites would include "Fastlane" featuring Biolante, "Krazy World" featuring Gigan, "The Final Hour" featuring MF Doom, "Monster Zero", "Anti-Matter" featuring MF Doom & Mr Fantastik, and "The Fine Print".

Clocking in at a tight 42 minutes, the album feels very complete, and completely stripped of filler. Anyone interested in hearing an alternate side of MF Doom (the production side) will find more than they were expecting. Definitely one of the best hip-hop records of 2003.

MF DOOM doesn't release wack material. This album is no exception. I couldn't agree more with that cat who wrote in his review something about the 1st 7 seven songs being some of the dopest beats ever made. Out of everything I've heard from DOOM, i'd have to say this is my favorite. I know this CD has been out for a minute but i got this about a week ago and it hasn't left my CD player since the day I got it. If your already familiar w/ the metal fingered villian and you don't have this yet, make sure its next on your list. If you haven't heard of him get this, Viktor Vaughn, Madvillian, f**k it, get anything you can find by Doom. You won't be dissapointed unless your idea of hip hop is Chingy, or Lil John or whatever else MTV tells you is cool.

this album is excellent..doom is a genius...the production is phenominal (some can be found on his instrumental material)...the alter-ego monster persona is an exclusive doom concept, but many guests appear (ie-Monsta Island Czars).which provide for some emcee diversity.....this album is up there with Dr.Octagon...a true gem...thank you doom..damn this album is rockin'..

Such creativity, craftiness is incorporated in Dooms product and what I like best is that he knows how to spit the illest flow about the most undesirable or derogatory situations without making them too graphic often in lyrics that have to be decoded, so they make you think. This is unfounded in most all commercial hip hop and rarely found on da underground scene, but Doom is definately the wordsmith who consistently challenges our brains and thought processes. Unfortunately, this joint was lifted from me so I will have to cop another before they are no longer available. It is definately an underground "classic".

DOOM took up another mask for this release, this time a Godzilla-inspired guise known as King Geedorah. The Three-Headed Monster delivered an album with epic production, and stupendous rhymes from the Metal Faced Villain. Though DOOM, the emcee wasn't on enough of this album's cuts(it'd have been in Vaudeville Villain/Operation: Doomsday territory if it was), he is behind the boards on the entire product. Some the emcees he collects for the product range from dope, to average, but none compare to Villain himself. When DOOM does flow over his own beats on this album, it's easily five stars; however, for the times we have to listen to an emcee like Gigan rhyme over a beat which should've been used for a Geedorah solo cut, I just can't feel comfortable giving this a five star rating. If it were anyone else, then it'd be five stars; however, this album taunts you, and in some cases, frustrates you by showing just how exsquisite it'd be if DOOM got more microphone time, instead of his vastly inferior guests.

Still, if you're a fan of DOOM, or any of his alter-egos, this is a must-have for your collection. If you're a fan of good, abstract hip-hop then you'll also appreciate this release. A wonderful album, which, unfortunately, could've been much better.

King Geedorah aka MF DOOM's second album, Take Me To Your Leader, is not as good as Operation: Doomsday, but not far from it. DOOM's use of old '50 B-movies and samples makes this more of a concept album than Op: D. The first song, "Fazers", is a timeless classic, and may be the best DOOM verse at that point. "Fastlane", ft. Kurious Jorge, is a very good one as well. Kurious, or Biolante, as he's named here, rides the track not very well until the 1st "chorus" comes in, and from then on, fuggedaboutit...

The next track, "Krazy World", with Gigan, is pretty good but gets a little annoying...but I had no idea of the magnitude the next song would bring..."The Final Hour", only 49 sec., is CLASSIC ALL THE WAY THROUGH...they even slow the beat down like in "Tick, Tick..." from Op: D. Whoo.

The first skit, "Monster Zero", is good, but you probably won't feel like listening to it all the time. It's just cut samples from Godzilla movies. "Next Levels", with only ID 4 Winds, Lil Sci, and Stahhr (noticed that DOOM's only been on 2 songs at this point?) is very, very good indeed. After that, it's the timeless classic "No Snakes Alive", featuring MF DOOM, MF Grimm, and Rodan, from MF DOOM and MF Grimm's EP, but revised, and a little more rapping from DOOM. "Anti-Matter", featuring Mr. Fantastik, may not be the best song on here (still "Fazers" at this point), but it certainly is the best song featuring an MC. DOOM and Fantastik are SO good together, it's crazy!

The next track, ANOTHER skit, "Take Me To Your Leader", the title track, is very monotonous, and slow. Shouldn't have put this skit on here.

And here we are with "Lockjaw", the next classic after "Anti-Matter", with only Trunks rapping. This song starts off SO damn GOOD, the intro w/ the bass bumping is..whoo-hoo! And then Trunks goes..

"Before I rock raps, I drink a keg of Listerine, then I spit the freshest rhymes never heard for centuries..." and gets better after that!

Next, we have "I Wonder", the 2nd least played track of mine (Take Me To Your Leader is #1) with only Hassan Chops rapping (DOOM's only been on 4 songs so far). He's all right, this one I give an OK.

UHHHH!!! Another skit!!! AAHH!!! "One Smart N*****", the next skit, is better than "TMTYL", but not as good as "Monster Zero". This one's about child illiteracy, and racial profiling. Real deep.

Uh oh! Here we go! The last song had to be a classic! And it is! "The Fine Print" is the ONLY song on the album (MAYBE "No Snakes Alive", "Fastlane", and "Anti-Matter", MAYBE.) that rivals "Fazers" as the best song. "Fazers" easily wins, but this song got damn close. First second of the song is CRAZY and it doesn't let up until the last second...

So anyway, some Pros of the album...

1. "Fazers"
2. Very goofy skits
3. Nice concept
4. Great featuring MCs

And cons...

1. DOOM's only on 5 songs
2. The last 2 skits weren't that good
3. "I Wonder" wasn't up to par
4. Some ok MCs (Gigan, Hassan Chops)

Grading:

Fazers (10/10)
Fastlane (9.5/10)
Krazy World (8.5/10)
The Final Hour (10/10)
Monster Zero (9.5/10)
Next Levels (9.5/10)
No Snakes Alive (10/10)
Anti-Matter (10/10)
Take Me To Your Leader (8/10)
Lockjaw (10/10)
I Wonder (8/10)
One Smart N***** (8/10)
The Fine Print (10/10)

This album proves MF Doom to be one of the best producers in Hip-Hop. His flow is very unique, quite different from anyone else I can think of, but it is his skills as a producer that makes Take Me To Your Leader a classic album. He takes soothing, cheesy, half-remembered melodies and marries them to simple beats for an infinitely accessible and fiendishly creative soundscape. The first seven tracks are, simply put, some of THE best hip hop beats I've ever heard. Personally, I think this is his best album, and whether he calls himself King Geedorah or MF Doom, he deserves to be experienced.

This whole album is dope. The first two songs "fasers" and "fastlane" have a holy-devil type beat that is just ill! On "fazers" sometimes I just loop the last 50 seconds of it and play it for like 30 minutes just feelin the beat! At the end of the album is a song called "the fine print" brings back beat boxin in a dope new way! This (along with MF Doomsday) takes over where 1988 left off and shows us what Hip Hop should've sounded like by now!

I had to re-review this album. I've been playing it as much as any other DOOM album and it's sounding better all the time. 4 stars. In todays world of gangsters/CEO/corporate pitchmen/actor/pimps stepping up to the microphone all in the noble pursuit of keeping it real, it's refreshing to have an MC take on the moniker of a three-headed space monster. Having said that the only thing that dissapoints here is the fact that we don't hear Geedorah enough. As in the Godzilla movies it seems you just don't get enough of the monster scenes. The comical cut-out army and King Geedorah figures on the inside sleeve may be worthy of the price of the album alone.