Dr. Dre: 2001 Vinyl 2LP

UNCENSORED VERSION, finally. This high-tech as fuck-sounding album floored me when I first heard it almost 20 years ago, and the production values exhibited here are peerless, even now. The rap world couldn’t wait to hear what Dre cooked up after this. The mythologized Detox album never materialized, and the lukewarm Compton LP came too little too late. I’ll never forgive Dre for ditching music to cash in on overpriced branded headphones (“things just ain’t the same for gangstas”), but luckily the two Chronic albums have infinite replay value - due in part to Dre & his collaborators’ avoidance of fleeting references to modern technology in their verses - something I always noticed and appreciated in contrast to their contemporaries’ constant calling out of cars and pager models that seem dated as hell now. Album highlights: none; pour up a Chronic Iced Tea© and bang this from start to finish. Recommended.

• black double vinyl pressing
• explicit / uncensored version
• music label: Aftermath 2019

reviewed by Jheri Saltz 10/2017