The Chronic
by Dr. Dre

This is some well produced synth and sample based hip hop (even if the line between sample and cover gets blurry at times). There's enough live instrumentation to keep things interesting, I especially liked the deep funky bass. I didn't think much of Dre's rapping, and the themes of rivalry, boasting and threats are rather dumb. But some of the guest singers/rappers such as Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, and Jewell did a very good job. The creativity drops in the second half, still overall it's a fairly good album.

(Though the glorification of drug use is unfortunate, given the overdose epidemic we now find ourselves in.) (Edited)

An excellent album that is almost brought down by its length and lack of variety in production and rap delivery. Other albums of the time period hold up better, but it's still worth a few listens. 9.5/10! (Edited)

Most of the good stuff happens in the first half, so I say this album is too long, but I can't deny how amazingly it is produced, ultimate west-coast feeling.

From Brad1770 TOP 100 COMMENTER 03/13/2023 07:47 | #294975

Whoa baby, man has this album not aged well in the 31 years since realise

‘The Chronic’ is chock full of misogynistic and extreme sexism against women , strongly promotes gun violence and violence in general, glorifies incarceration and contains purile snickering school boy humour in the form of offensive & unfunny skits. Pretty much everything I detest in the world

HOWEVER . . . .

I am a believer in freedom of speech and in particular an artists right to demonstrate artistic expression. I also understand there’s a market for this sort of stuff with plenty of fans

Soooooo

The Album Itself = 20/100

Plus

Artist Expression + Cultural Impact = 40 / 100

Equals = 60/100 Overall (Edited)

I never been more ashamed to love an album. Base and degrading in almost every way but some of the tunes are absolutely flawless.