King Geedorah - Take Me To Your Leader Review

GLORIFYING THE SELF; DESTROYER OF WORLDS

How, after all these years, had I not fully listened to Take Me To Your Leader? I've heard basically every song off the record in scant quantities, scattered across DOOM playlists. 'Krazy World,' 'No Snakes Alive,' and 'The Fine Print' graced my library, even back in the days of the fabled 8 GB iPod. Hearing the context - that of King Geedorah, three-headed dragon whose come to ravage Earth - through the copious samples, dusty Lo-Fi aesthetic, and numerous rappers disguised as side villains, was a blessing and glorious representation of MF DOOM's idiosyncratic style. Though the lyrics rarely bear reference to the album's overarching concept, the sheer bulk of samples - with three entire songs, including the five-minute 'Monster Zero,' entirely composed of them - welcomes new perspectives, giving Take Me To Your Leader a Sound Collage angle that can be appreciated just as much, if not more so, than the oftentimes absent DOOM. Seriously, he's on five songs. One of them, 'The Final Hour,' is a minute. Yet, his presence is perpetually felt (him being the sole producer helps, of course), stealing the show every time he arrives, lending blessings to a vicarious crowd when he's not.

The features, as to be expected with DOOM's gruff, inner-city circle, is inconsistent at best. But they hit hard when it matters the most, as seen on 'Krazy World' and 'I Wonder,' two surprisingly-pensive cuts dominated by Gigan and Hassan Chop respectively. Here, their low-cut strife grounds an otherwise eccentric album, exorcising emotion one would typically not expect, nor want, when hulking monsters are demolishing the Earth. It's a paradox, one bolstered by DOOM's weeping string samples and hoarse drums. Never forget, he always plays puppet master, toying with others' sorrow for his own amusement. In fact, without the DOOM tracks, there ain't a single humorous moment on Take Me To Your Leader. It's DOOM who celebrates his own presence on 'Fazers' ("All hail the king, and give him three cheers, fam! / Like "Hip, hip, hooray!"), DOOM who rhymes sloppy flurries over raw siren calls on 'No Snakes Alive,' DOOM who relishes in indecencies on 'Fine Print' ("Uh-oh, heads up! There she blows / A whole load of Head & Shoulders, and who care where she goes"). Though the lyrics rarely adhere to the concept, the tone and performances do an exceptionally-fine job.

Somehow, with only eight legitimate Hip-Hop tracks to boot, Take Me To Your Leader feels complete and satisfactory. The samples are just that good, providing a sense of purpose and peculiarity, necessary staples of DOOM-affiliated works. Though there's some questionable ones ('Fine Print's' final, plucked commentary a point of contention), the vast majority fit the mold of animated monster flick. Most obviously, because the bulk of them come from said source. Cheap and easy? Sure. Anomalous and novel? Absolutely. Take Me To Your Leader doesn't achieve the ranks of Madvillainy or Vaudeville Villain, but the sample-rich curiosity and meddlesome fascination with human-destroying perversion makes this an epitomizing addition to his storied discography.