From Amazon.com: Something must have flipped Kool Keith's wig like a mescaline pizza. I can think of no other way to explain the mutant birth of Dr. Octagonecologyst. Literally assuming another personality on this record, Dr. Octagon--Kool Keith on the mike, with Dan "The Automater" Nakamura producing--transmits unearthly rhymes like tractor beams to your cranium. Then he squirms around in there, grabs some Vaseline from your medicine cabinet, and does a little dance. The first time you listen to cuts like "Earth People" and "Blue Flowers," you might have to change the way you listen to hip-hop. The standards are the same--verse, chorus, verse, with plenty of nasty skits in the middle--and there are electro-beat shades of his predecessors, such as Afrika Baambaata, but the wordplay and beat compositions are truly light years from most hip-hop. Listening to this album is like trying to read the glyphs from Stargate. --Todd Levin
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Seminal stuff
What an album. For something released in 1996 this sounds miles ahead of its time, and still does. Kool Keith raps as his Dr.Octagon persona, adding a medical twist to his usual diet of porn and insanity lyrics. Acclaimed as his best album, his seemingly nonsensical battle rapping is as great and original as ever, with his speedy but watertight flow and sick, cryptic, twisted rhymes ranging from pop culture references, dark and nasty porn/horror imagery and out-and-out weirdness. What really shines ... Read More
Rating: - Best Album Ever!
I've read the other reviews with interest, because this album really is either love it or hate it. My mates listen to it (DJ Shadow fans) and think i'm mad to rate it so highly.
I first heard of Dr Octogon on a James Lavelle album called Cram Live 2, which is also worth a mention. Blue Flowers was on, so I tracked down this album. I recon i've listened to it about 10,000 times, and for those who thought it was pants, well you haven't a clue. The lyrics border on amazing, if you actually listen ... Read More
Rating: - See abstract rap in anyway u want but i see it as INGENIOUS
It is very difficult to put across how i feel about this album. I guess ill have to put it on the scale of rap originality. On which it is 25 out of 10. But originality doesnt make it good. It could be an original piece of excrement. But what makes it good is its meticulous concoction of hellish production, mellifluos cuts and the indelible, indefatigable, totally indescrible rhymes of Kool Keith. His lyrics are unknown to the hiphop culture. His flow is not continuos or nursery ryhme like. He is not a foolish ... Read More
Rating: - Over-rated...
This album isn't terrible, though it certainly isn't a classic and doesn't deserve the props that it has got. Dan The Automater's yawn-tastic 'dark' beats bring nothing to the imagination and definately don't bring the best out of Kool Keith.
Sir Menelik, who I feel showed himself as one of the most progressive rappers ever on his Scaramanga debut, rhymes terribly on this, really poor and it's this feel of not fulfilling true potential in so many areas that makes this album fall short.
Rating: - An instant classic! Best Rap album of the 90's
Kool Keith at his super wierd best. The Automator with sci-fi beats and production. World champion scratch DJ Q-Bert with some unbeleivable scratching (Visit to the Gynecologyst). The skits are highly original and very funny, from the moment the intro sinks in you know this record is special. A must have for hip hop fans and, since it really is peerless a must have for anyone else who likes a break from the norm. Everyone should have a doctor like this ;-)
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