So out he came with this Aftermath sampler compilation, and we didn't hear from him again for three years. The reason? The album more or less ... and Dre's midas production touch was missing on most of the four or five songs he actually had a hand in.

It's a shame, too, because the one Dre track on the album, "Been There, Done That," is really good. The production is smooth and silky, with distinctive percussion and a lazy bass line, and Dre sounds more confident and comfortable than ever as he brags about his earthly possessions. ("I've got a palace in the hills overlooking the sea / It's worth eight, but I only paid 5.3.") An entire post-gangsta Dre album in this vein would have sold through the roof, but alas, he hadn't the creative energy for it.

The other album highlights can be summed up in a couple paragraphs. KRS-One, Nas and B-Real of Cypress Hill perform under the name Group Therapy with "East Coast / West Coast Killas," a Dre-produced track that picks up where "Natural Born Killas" left off. The vocal trade-offs are seamless, the bass is solid and the whistling Dre synth is bad@ss as ever.

Mel-Man, who co-produced Dr. Dre 2001, gets his solo track in "Sh**tin' on the World," which overcomes its rather non-descript Dre beat with humor, intentional and otherwise. (Mel's liner notes read, "I grew up with roaches y'am saying straight reppin' the projects to the fullest!")

The aborted R+B girl group Hands-On turns in the piano-heavy, sultry groove "Got Me Open" with a Dre rap reminiscent of the same era's "No Diggity." And RC (the only artist on the album with two songs) turns in a decent, funky remake of David Bowie's "Fame."

Otherwise, the album is indistinct, passed down to Dre production apprentices like Bud'da, Floyd Howard, Flossy P and Maurice Wilcher. There's a reason acts like Miscellaneous, King T, Nowl and Sharief never took off. As an intro record-label sampler, you have to wonder if Dre planned to produce or oversee albums from all these acts or if he was just looking to put together a half-@ssed compilation and laugh all the way to the bank while Death Row went under. Either way, it was a mistake.


So Poor, So Bad...   February 29, 2004
Yuri Cunha (Brazil)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful

I bought this album simply because I owned The Chronic and 2001 and I loved them both... But this.. Well, this can't be considered a Dr. Dre CD.
First of all, just one of the sixteen songs in this CD is Dre's. So Dre is presenting something (his label), but it doesn't mean he's presenting himself, if you know what I mean.
This album has a lot of gangsta raps like Been There Done That (by Dr, Dre), but also "soul" raps (calm raps) like Choices (by Kim Summerson).
But what you must really be asking yourself is: is this CD worth my money? The answer is no, unless you're a total hardcore Dre fan and you want to own every CD with his name on it. Well, because, in my opinion, he's just a mere guest in this CD.
So if you're looking for a good Dr. Dre CD, look elsewhere for The Chronic or 2001. If you're looking for quality rap, look elsewhere too.


Strangly Bad   June 7, 2000
Matthew Bennett (The UK)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

Dr. Dre, the person that brought us 'The Chronic' and more recently '2001' really made a big mistake making this album. It's not that bad but if you compare it to either of his two solo albums, which you can't help doing, it just seems compleatly terrable. There are two good songs on it; 'Sh**tin' On The World' by Mel-Man and 'East Coast/West Coast Killas' by a super group containing Nas, B-Real, RBX and KRS-1. An RnB group on there called Whoz Who just sound and look like the boy bands dominating are charts at the moment and the only half decent RnB group on there a all female line-up called Hands-On still won't stand a chance when put up against any of the other popular RnB groups. RBX makes a bad job of his song 'Blunt Time' and Dr. Dre's only song on there, well the less said about that the better. I never thoght I would say this but Dr. Dre's production on this is also terrable. I recomend for you to avoid this album and even the two good songs don't make it worth buying.


C'mon now, this can't be Dre!   June 21, 2003
RapSuperstar (New Jersey)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I'm glad I didn't bougth this new, I bougth it used, and gave it away a couple of days later. Simply because the album hardly got any good songs, the only ones worth mention is the intro, eastcoast/westcoast killaz, been there done that and the mel-man track called shi---n on the world. And for does songs I wouldn't pay this much. Skip it, unless you're a TRUE Dr. Dre fan that buys everything he touches. I recommend either "The Chronic" or "2001" if you want Dre at his best.


I like his other cds better   May 3, 2000
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I really like Dr. Dre, and I love "The Chronic" and "Chronic 2001" but I was dissapointed with this album. I didn't like any of the songs. Maybe it was because they were by other people, not Dre. My advice is to buy 2001 instead, that is my favorite cd!