Customer Reviews
TWO FOR PUSHING BOUNDARIES, BUT NOTHING ELSE - By: Easily Me, 10 May 2008 
Criticising De La Soul? Are you crazy? They're groundbreakers. They pushed the envelope & allowed hip-hop to expand as a form of music.
True, true, true. Couldn't agree more; they did all that.
Unfortunately,in being so experimental & insisting on putting irritating & extended skits between every track - & sometimes between every skit - they produced very inconsistent music whose rhythm is destroyed further by the aforementioned skits.
Bought this as I bought 'Three Feet High & Rising' on release and, similarly, was disappointed with it. Again, with the exception of one or two tunes. This being marketed more seriously suggested that the silly, self-indulgent skits would be a thing of the past. But no.
Of course, throw a lot of stuff at a wall & some will stick. 'Pease Porridge': good production & an interesting stutter vocal. Novelty does tend to wear off with the vocal though. 'Millie': easily the best tunein terms of beats & rhymes. Others? Well, I'm tired & am head nodding with Gang Starr's 'Hard to Earn'in the headphones & hearing how it should be done.
To sum up though, respect for being out there & creating a space for more consistent performers to fill, but don't let that fool you into thinking you're getting a good album to listen to from end to end, cos you ain't.
Don't believe the hype: it's an exercisein self-indulgence, misplaced arrogance (Kicked Out the House), experimentation & commercialism ('Roller Skating Jam' & 'Ring Ring'), & that's it.
An album of great rap tracks about life, rather than rapping about MCing - By: Nobby Hendrix, 22 Sep 2006 
I got this album because I'd heard & loved "Roller Skating Jam Named 'Saturdays'" - I wasn't dissapointed. There are so many funky, jazzy & downright catchy tracks. There's maybe one or two that's a bit dull, but that's 1 or 2 out of 20 tracks, fellas.
Zoom forward 13 or 14 years & it's still a great play. The lyrics are interesting & funny & most importantly, THEY ARE NOT MCING ABOUT MCING - I find nothing more dull than hearing someone rapping that they are they best mo-fo MC this side of Jersee or something similar.
Back to the early 90s, after wearing out my cassette of "De La Soul Is Dead", I then went out & bought "3 feet high & rising" & frankly, I was dissapointed. It's a bit warm & fluffy - not as edgy, not as boundary pushing. Shame. Then I got "Stakes Is High" [sigh] - it's all about what great MCs they are, but all the evidence of this is on "...Is Dead".
It's possible that "De La Soul Is Dead" is the only great hip hop album De La made.
What happens when you rise higher than 3 feet... - By: , 05 Aug 2005 Nostalgic music journo's always cite De La Soul's massively successful debut album "3 Feet High & Rising" as a Hip Hop classic, & yet while few would argue with that sentiment, it was their sophomore LP "De La Soul Is Dead" that,in my humble opinion, was the superior release.
De La Soul obviously had a problem with their 'Daisy Age' concept that formed the backbone of their artistic direction on their first album. Maybe they were sick of the idea, maybe they were worried about getting pigeon-holed as a novelty rap act. So their 2nd album had a much different concept...kill the 'Daisy Age' off completely so they can get on with doing what they do best, make phat Hip Hop music.
Of course, reviews at the time weren't kind. With the first LP so well-received, critics & some fans alike were upset that De La had chosen such a different direction & chose to discredit this album. Bottom line is that "De La Soul Is Dead" has all the ingredients that made "3 Feet..." so compelling (the skits, the Prince Paul production, the wildly-varied subject matter etc.) but rather than get bogged down with 'hippy' stylings & day-glo 70's-esque imagery, De La evolved with the times. Perhaps they were too far ahead of their time with this one, who knows.
So much has been said about the tracks on this album...all I'll say is that rarely do you find an album as cohesive as "De La Soul Is Dead" which is devoid of filler, contains at least a half-dozen stand-out singles & some of the most original lyrics & production you'll ever hear. Buy it NOW!
De La is still alive........ - By: , 23 Apr 2004 
.........but don't kick quite as hard as their first release, or BuhlooneMindstate. For me, this album is too long & has far too many skits. Ifthese skits where removed the album would be alot doper, but after twolistens the record just becomes annoying. There trade mark innovativerhyme schemes & interesting concepts (check out "oodles of o's) are allin check, but the beats don't always match those on Three Feet High.
Flawed masterpiece - By: J. Smith, 29 Jan 2003 Finding it impossible to follow up on their instant classic "3 Feet High & Rising" & sick of the misinterpretations of their "hippie" message De La Soul released this album as a pre-emptive strike on the critics & fanbase they had aquired over the previous 18 months. "De La Soul is dead" is everything that their debut wasn't; cynical("Ring ring ring"),angry(My brother's a basehead")and full of black humour ("Mollie pulled a pistol on Santa").Everything that is, except brilliant & imaginative. One of the few concept albumsin rap that bears repeated listening, even the most obnoxious sentiments on the album ("Bittiesin the BK Lounge") are laced with that distinctive De La sense of humour, although at times the joke seems to have worn itself out ("Not over till the fat lady plays the demo")Bold, brash & brilliant, this is a flawed masterpiece.
