Kanye West's newest album, 808's and Heartbreak
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Over the past year, the Louis Vuitton Don, aka, Kanye West, had the biggest selling concert of the year with the Glow In the Dark Tour, not to mention, a #1 Billboard spot for Graduation along with a myriad of hit singles: (Stronger, The Good Life). As Kanye appeared to be getting stronger, his world around him seemed to crumble--but just for a little bit. The once impenetrable Kanye suffered two tremendous losses at the pinnacle of his success. With the untimely death of his mother, and the break-up with his fiancée, Alexis Phifer; one would expect Ye to buckle under the pressure. But Kanye doesn’t seem to have let that happen; instead, he's poured his heart and soul into his newest album, 808’s and Heartbreak.
Fans of Kanye’s earlier work might be in for a surprise. Heartbreak deviates from prior albums, choosing instead to focus more on life’s ups and downs over the past year. West chooses to forego the usual slowed down classics that he pioneered, and introduces the aptly titled Roland TR-808 into the mix, for which his album title references. Filled with 80’s beats and tribal drums, 808’s and Heartbreak demonstrates West’s growing up.
In particular, West croons on the title, Welcome to Heartbreak, “chased a good life my whole lifelong, looked back on my life and my life gone…where did I go wrong.” While 808’s and Heartbreak deviates from classic Kanye, it has its share of hits in singles like Heartless, RoboCop, Coldest Winter and Welcome To Heartbreak, not to mention Love Lockdown. While Kanye may have gotten rid of the arrogance that defined the Louis Vuitton Don in the past, he proves that he’s got classic beat-making locked down and that he hasn’t gone wrong anywhere despite shouldering these tremendous losses. (Christian Karasiewicz)
3 comments:
You forgot to mention "Paranoid", the track after Love Lockdown as this album's other radio ready soon-to-be hit. I suspect they'll start giving it radio play in the spring as it's a very glowing original song that belongs somewhere between Pharrell's and The Roots's beats and rhymes
"Paranoid" is my favorite song on the album!
This album SUCKS!!! Very disappointed in Kayne. The beats and production of the album is on point, but Kayne really isn't talking about anything. Oh yeah, leave the T-Pain voice thing alone.
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