Kanye West – 808s & Heartbreak (4 out of 5)

So yeah, I know.  I need to be more up to date with these things.  This album came out at the end of LAST month, and I’m just now doing my review of it.  I’m bad at this, I apologize.

Before I get started on my thoughts of the album, lets get my thoughts on Kanye out of the way first.  He’s arrogant, cocky, loud, angry, and bitchy.  I fucking love this guy.  You really have to take him how he is.  He’s incredibly talented, and yes, he is one of the biggest voices of our generation (I’m just not sure if he is “the” voice as he tries to convince).  I’m a huge snob, and if there is one thing I get cocky or over-confident about, it’s my opinions on music.  The genres I am the most picky and critical on are metal and hiphop.  With that said, I FUCKING LOVE KANYE WEST.  Here is my review of the new album:

This is by far the most artistic album Kanye has ever done, and that statement sounds all too obvious if you have heard any of the songs from it.  He doesn’t rap, he sings, and not very well.  With the help of overly used autotune and vocoder, Kanye tries his best to melodically  make his way through each song.  It’s difficult to listen to at first, but it does grow on you.  And for the record, rappers need to FUCKING STOP with the autotune and vocoder.  I’m talking to you Lil’ Wayne, T-Pain, Birdman, Stephen Hawking, etc.  Kanye initially sounds kinda dumb with the vocoder, but he uses it for its actual purpose.  Rappers were not meant to use this Pro Tools effect, sure it was interesting at first, but goddamnit, this needs to STOP.

808′s & Heartbreaks is not only the most artistic album from Kanye, but it’s also his most personal.  The inspiration of this album came from his breakup from his then-fiance, Alexis Phifer, and the tragic passing of his mother from a botched plastic surgery incident.  The album is angry as well as depressing.  These two moods coincide and jump back and forth constantly throughout each song, leaving the listener a little confused but wanting to break something and then cry.  The best song on the album, by far, is “Robocop.”  It’s orchestrated synth is part of the few and far between uplifting moments in the album.  The song “Paranoid” is good as well, but plays too much on the “ironic 80′s influence” which is plaguing the music industry.  Let me vent really quick:

This whole 80′s thing needs to fucking stop.  You wanna keep the vocoders? Fine.  Just stop with the fucking 80′s.  That decade died for a fucking reason.  In the early 90′s, people suddenly realized “holy shit, I have a fucking mullet and my girlfriend has gold leggings and ugly-ass scrunchies in her teased hair.  What the fuck was I thinking…”  The emergence  of that style in recent years began as a joke, with bands doing their “ironic 80′s cover song,” but it has gotten completely out of hand.  The emo scene is finally learning of its ways, and so should you.  Put down those ugly fucking glasses and grab a pair of jeans.  

Now, back to the Kanye album.  The few gripes I have about the album is Kanye trying to be a little too artistic with it.  The beats sound a little too similar to one another and there are certain moments that seem completely unnecessary.  For example, the song “Say You Will” should only be about three minutes and fifteen seconds.  It carries on for a total of 6:18.  The whole last three minutes is empty of vocals, repeating the same beat over and over.  Bold? Yes.  Artistic? I guess.  Good choice? Not really.  

Many don’t like this album, and it shows in the album sales.  This album didn’t even sell half the amount that his previous album did in the first week, but not because it wasn’t good.  This album is NOT a commercial success.  It is, however, a success for Kanye because after listening to this album, you realize that he NEEDED to release this work. 

This album gets a 4 out of 5. While it’s certainly not Kanye’s best work, it is his boldest and it does deserve a good listen.