Doggystyle

Middle of the road for this artist. Not bad by any means but not essential.

An extraordinary piece of art. Simply transcendent.

I wanted this to be better than it is. The ingredients are all there — the talent, the ambition, the production budget — but it never quite gels into something greater than the sum of its parts. Still a pleasant enough listen though.

I slept on this for way too long. A friend kept recommending it and I kept putting it off, and now I feel like I wasted years not having this in my life. The songwriting is remarkably assured — these aren't the kind of hooks that grab you immediately and then fade. They're the slow-burn kind that embed themselves in your brain and only get stronger over time. The production deserves a lot of credit too. It's detailed without being cluttered, polished without being sterile. There's a warmth to the sound that makes it feel alive and breathing. A few tracks could have been trimmed but honestly that's a minor complaint about an excellent record.

The production is interesting but the songs themselves are lacking.

This is one of those albums where even the deep cuts could be singles. The level of quality control here is insane. You can tell every decision was agonized over and it shows in the final product. A genuine landmark.

Actively unpleasant listening experience for me. I can appreciate craft without enjoying the result, and that's exactly what happened here. Well-made music that I never want to hear again. Different strokes, I suppose.

A high watermark for the genre. Essential listening.

I appreciate the artistic risk-taking even if the result is a bit of a mess. There are kernels of good ideas scattered throughout but nothing is developed enough to really land. Frustrating because you can hear the potential.

This album exists in its own universe. Nothing compares.