The Return of Dr. Octagon

The Return of Dr. Octagon is the eighth solo studio album by American rapper Kool Keith (Keith Matthew Thornton), and his second release under the 'Dr. Octagon' alias, following Dr. Octagonecologyst. It was released on June 27, 2006, on OCD International in the United States. The album revives the character of Dr. Octagon, who was killed off on Thornton's 1999 release First Come, First Served. Production for the album began in 2002 under the title The Resurrection of Dr. Octagon with producer Fanatik J.

Thornton signed a contract with CMH Records to release the album. Following a contractual dispute, Fanatik J was released from the project. The album's production was completed by the One Watt Sun production team based upon three completed vocal recordings and older unfinished recordings. Thornton had little involvement with the production of the album. He later stated that he liked the completed product, but that it hurt his musical reputation. The Return of Dr. Octagon initially received great reviews. The first single "Aliens" garnered the coveted The Guardian Single of the Week in the U. K., and also was given a place among The Wire magazine's top hip hop records of the year, but what followed were much more polarized reviews. The album did not chart. Much praise and criticism centered on the production, with HipHopDX stating "This is Kool Keith's best album in years—arguably even better than his classic Octagonecologyst," and Newsweek stating that "If this album surpasses its predecessor, full credit goes to the Berlin production trio One Watt Sun, who come off sounding like a cross between Parliament Funkadelic and Kraftwerk." Yet others felt that the production fit neither Thornton's lyrical style nor the Dr. Octagon character. Thornton revived the character for the albums Moosebumps: An Exploration Into Modern Day Horripilation and Space Goretex.

Keith Thornton, best known by the stage name Kool Keith, released the album Dr. Octagonecologyst in 1996, under the name Dr. Octagon, produced by Dan "The Automator" Nakamura. In 2002, Thornton announced The Resurrection of Dr. Octagon, a proposed sequel to Dr. Octagonecologyst that would reintroduce the character. Thornton himself took part in the production of early material for the project, playing bass, guitar, and keyboards on many of the tracks. Thornton signed a contract with CMH Records to release the album. The remixers appear in the story as "interpreters" hired to decipher the meaning of each remixed song, reportedly sent in a package to the offices of OCD. The story begins three weeks after OCD received the package. Still unable to decode its meaning, the record company receives a phone call from an unknown source, tracked to Los Angeles, New York, Australia and Saturn. The caller claims to have received the same package five years ago and that it had brought destruction and chaos upon his society, and warns that they are coming after Octagon. Cassettes Won't Listen reveals that Dr. Octagon was imprisoned in the cell next to him, as "a prime candidate to study all things regarding grills, pills and bills". The story concludes with the remixers and OCD's staff escaping with the package on Kid Loco's plane. An intern briefly sees a figure standing on OCD's rooftop, wearing a labcoat with a stethoscope around his neck, holding the head of "some black hairy creature" in his hand. PopMatters writer Michael Frauenhofer wrote that "Dr. Octagon's lyrics on this album typically appear to be unconnected, but over the course of each track can be seen building around a general theme, be it conservation, societal conformity, American militarism, or, yes, his characteristic fascination with sex." A remix of "Aliens" by British drum and bass producer Sub Focus was chosen as compilation of the month in the May 2006 issue of Mixmag.