Dr Octagon - Dr Octagonecologyst (20 tracks) +Album Reviews

Kool Keith's best

J. McQueen | 06/16/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"(In my opinion), since his early days with the Ultramagnetic MCs.In this album (produced by Dan the Automator), Kool Keith plays the deranged Dr. Octagon. This album is full of bizarre lyrics and is filled with electronic and unusual beats.
A crazy album from a crazy MC (who has spent time in a mental asylum) -- makes senseThere are several great tracks to listen to on this album such as:"3000", "Blue Flowers", "Bear Witness" 1 (1st of several by Dan the Automator and Prince Paul), and "I'm Destructive".
And there are entertaining and perverse skits throughout the album.There are also musical contributions by: Prince Paul, DJ Shadow, and DJ Qbert.If you like Kool Keith or unusual and innovative hiphop this is a good album.Considered a classic."

Some Earth People Will Feel Alienated...

Ashley M. Blanchard | Syracuse, New York | 07/19/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"But that's because Keith is an alien himself. When a collective of hip hop enthusiasts from the Ego Trip staff ranked Kool Keith as the number 19th greatest emcee of all-time (one ahead of Tupac) in there book of lists, they were not taking it lightly. He wasn't your standard A-B rhymer. He was shattering rules of rhyme structure since his glory days with the Ultramagnetic Mcs. He always possessed an unorthodoxed off-beat flow, passionate vocal tone, and boasts so brazen they stunned his listener into silence. Who would have thought that the leader of that group would turn into a perverse alien who happened to have his record drop from another planet to turn from thermal nuclear residue to Earth in compact format (read the album cover notes to understand where i'm comin' from).

Dr. Octagon is a groundbreaking release that is best enjoyed after countless listens. The best records are the ones you have to go back over and decipher new meanings. Never one to waste a rhyme, Keith opens up with "3000" on some bugged out wordplay, "Channels and handles Automator's on the panels/ turnin knobs you slobs suckers like Baskin Robs/carvel don't tell your whole crew is ice cream fudge/rappers that budge makin moves step in grooves/and ride the pace like at thirty-three dark shades/ now you seein me/ rap moves on to the year three thousand". Just a few bars of his breathless liners doesn't do the space alien gynocologist much justice. You could spend your whole summer vacation trying to get a grasp on these otherworldly phrases.

Even with the off the wall lyricism, the album wouldn't be the nearly enjoyable experience if it wasn't for Dan Automators genius turntable techniques and sci-fi horror backdrops. Just peep "Halfsharkhalfalligatorman" (long winded title!) and the incredible "Blue Flowers" for proof! The album is just filled with surprises at every corner. However, no other song on Dr. Octagon captivated me more than "Girl, Let Me Touch You". To this day, it stands as one of my personal all-time favorite non-singles on any hip hop record. Automators production is effortlessly hypnotic, Keith's persona is as abstact as ever, and no matter what mood I was in...the song would just set things straight.

In conclusion, Dr. Octagon is a stone cold classic. I don't care how many non-believers this record sparked. So what if he's different. His individuality separates Keith from the rest. How many emcees have the ability to go as far to credit "Kelly Wootang" on drums and "Curt Kobane" on vocals (you should be buggin' out with those references). Besides, too many hip hop records take themselves way too seriously with yet far too many more gimmicks. Kool Keith doesn't care. He wouldn't take sides, regarding the Tupac Biggie beef. He would rather diss both of them and be done with it (Pluckin' Cards ring a bell)? Keith would put out some good material after this, but after "Sex Styles", there was far too much B.S. Hell, even DJ Shadow got in on one cut and this was the same year he put out the timeless, "Endtroducin'". Grab this record anyway you can before it criminally goes out of print."

With a COVER like THAT you know you just got to have it

OverTheMoon | overthemoonreview@hotmail.com | 05/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Dan The Automator demands space on you iPOD. Here Dan escapes from producing his classic blues variety of hip-hop to produce a sort of darker 'Deltron 3030' with the same futuristic feel. Although this album is nearly 10 years old this is where where hip-hop is moving at the moment! It is also (like all of Dan's other works) eons more musically ahead of the game where ganga' hip-hop is kinda stuck coming up the next harder than thou rapper who can impress eight year olds too. Although Dr. Octagonecologyst is not as fast as modern raps it is just as complex with great artists like MF Doom probably nodding at this album which obviously has majorly influenced them. Like I have said before, once you have finally gone through the mainstream stuff you will probably venture down the avenues of MF Doom, Aesop Rock, Mr. Lif and most certainly you will want to start a Dan the Authomator collection. And again, with a COVER like THAT how can you refuse?"

A modern classic.

J. Michael Showalter | Nashville, TN United States | 08/11/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is five years old and still eons ahead of what most people are doing with hip hop. In every facet of its being, this is the BEST record I have ever heard. Its beats-- spartan yet dense, dark and trippy, laid together by Automator, have not even been approached on any other album. DJ Q-bert's scratching comes from a different world. Sir Menelik, the guest rapper, raps like he is a computer-- this plays right into Keith Thorton's hands as he weaves together some of the most far out lyrics that have ever been thought. Its a Darius James book put to music (read Negrophobia!)In a day, if you listen to his statments regarding it.....One comment, the Mo' Wax version is a good bit better than the Dreamworks one (because the additional tracks are tight...) Look for Biology 101 on Napster and tell me that it is not the most mind-blowing thing ever.....BUY THIS if you don't have it. You could put it in your car next year and people would still go out of their head for how futuristic is sounds...."

What is there to say that hasn't already been said?

Pablo | 10/18/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"To some, bugged-out is an insult. To Kool Keith, it's a lifestyle. While other emcees talk about how insane they are, and use it merely as a gimmick, Keith has time spent in an asylum as proof of his authenticity. Is spending time in a padded-room neccessarily something to take pride in? Absolutely not. But for Kool Keith, it's something that has greatly set him apart from his contemporaries.

There isn't a moment on this album that Keith, under his Dr. Octagon alias, is even close to being sane; the stuff he spits is so outrageous, and so absurd, that even if you lived your life as a continuous acid trip, this album would still fly over your head like the UFOs Keith's so obsessed with. When he does the chorus to "Earth's People," spitting "Earth's people, New York and California, earth's people, I was born on Jupiter," he'll literally leave you scratching your temple for days on end, pondering what the heck he just said.

Yet he's so dope on the microphone, it doesn't matter. Track after track, he comes correct with tight, albeit off-beat flows, with intricate rhymes about the most random of things. On No Awareness, he opens the song with "Your organic medical talk propels off my arms, the atom bomb final Lionel Richie not couth for this battle. I battle sing-sing-sing like bing-bing-bing," and understanding that is next to impossible. Sometimes Keith doesn't even bother to rhyme, yet his flow will have you thinking otherwise, as he never loses it throughout this release.

The production is absolutely phenomenal. Dan The Automator is clearly one of the best behind the boards, and doesn't get the proper credit he deserves in most hip-hop circles. The production is eery, and the science-fiction influences are heavy; much like Keith's rhymes themselves. There is not a single bad piece of music on this album, from either the emcee or his producer; creating a masterpiece which, unfortunately for Keith, greatly overshadows his enormous catalogue.

While Keith may've disowned the Dr. Octagon alias due to this album's success, and not attracting the audience he'd wanted, that doesn't change the fact that this as original an album as you'll find in any form of music. Recommended to any hip-hop head with an open mind."

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