Anyway, ignoring the Auto-Tune nonsense for a minute, 808s and Heartbreak is, at its core, a break-up album (as Kanye broke up with his fiance earlier this year). He can deny it as much as he wants, but it's pretty clear that most of the songs on the album deal with that very break-up. A few of those tracks are pretty decent ("Paranoid," "Love Lockdown"), but the theme gets tired halfway through the album. And so do the beats for that matter, with each track sounding not much different than the one before it. What happened to the Kanye that we all knew and loved? I guess that's what happens when you get your heart broken, your art can either prosper or suffer, and I'll give you one guess as to which direction Kanye chose to go in.
DOWNLOAD: Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak [Roc-A-Fella/Island Def Jam]
Recommended Tracks: "Welcome To Heartbreak (ft. Kid Cudi)," "Love Lockdown," "Paranoid (ft. Mr. Hudson)," "Street Lights."
10 comments:
Wellllll, I suppose I can agree with the fact that a lot of the songs sound similar....but come on....this is much better than redundant rapping over semi-ridiculous samples (do we really need chipmunk voices?).
As far as I'm concerned 808s and Heartbreaks is a breath a fresh air that conveys a certain mood across each and every song. Also, the auto-tune really isn't that bad....it sounds good in the context of the album because a lot of the beats sound a little more electronic than normal.
ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew
I disagree with the review. Kanye really reinvented himself on this one. Streetlights is a prime example. If you sent that song to someone without any knowledge of the album, they would assume it sounded like coldplay, but not the right voice. Honestly, Streetlights, Coldest Winter are the strongest tracks. I think paranoid is the closet thing to the "real" kanye we know, but I can't stand Robocop. I don't care about the auto-tune, sure without it, it would be fine but he is probably also insecure about his voice. Without the autotune, he would've gone straight to Good Ass Job (the next album after Graduation in the "timeline") but expressed everything into heartbreak after the death of his mom and definitely his breakup. I think it's a great example, and you can tell that he's been listening to Bjork a lot as he's experimenting with Primitivism (big beats) as well as microbeat structure. The sound is highly different than anything else out there, and it will take a while for people to recognize this album as a gem.
meh, first time i've ever gone against your reviews :-P sry! Keep doing the amazing job you do as everyone i know loves you for it. Keep it easy! and thanks again for all that you give!
Barbara Streisand > Kanye West
This album is God-awful! who were the influences this time? apparently Cher!!! its like 12 versions of the 'Believe' song! pffft!
robocop sucks, but the rest of this has shocked me into believing Kanye will stay in the game as long as he can keep reinventing himself so completely. Oh, and is it just me or is the Phil Collins influence uncanny on most of this?
ugh, barf. *delete + wash hands
This was just so disappointing. He certainly reinvented himself, but in this case, it's for the worse. And yeah, "robocop" is hilarious.
When is the new Animal Collective gonna leak?
Soon, I hope!
Post a Comment