Kanye West's new album is both one of the better albums of the year, and one of the most overhyped albums of all time. It's amazing what kind of superlatives critics are throwing at this album. It's 5 star rating from Rolling Stone was rather predictable, but it's getting lots of perfect ratings from publications that don't give out a lot of them. And most of the reviews that accompany these perfect ratings barely mention the actual music. They talk for paragraphs about the lyrics, and barely mention the music, but I find the lyrics to be a weakness of the album. Kanye talks about himself -- a lot. This is nothing not to be expected from Mr. West, of course. But they talk about his self-obsession like it's edgy, revolutionary, and brilliant. I find it tedious and self-indulgent. The strength of the album is the least discussed aspect of the album: The music.
Kanye's greatest strength, to me, has always been his ability to mix and match samples. It's obvious the amount of hard work and polish he put into his backing music. His wordplay has also improved dramatically since the last album of his I heard, which is Graduation. In previous efforts he's relied a lot on recognizable samples from other groups. He's broken away from his tendency, mostly using complex layerings of cherry-picked atmospheric loops. My favorite song on the album, 'Power', which I consider one of the best singles of the year, has one of the most invigorating loops I've ever heard in a rap song. That and other singles on the album grab your attention, stick in your brain, and tread that line of being polished without seeming labored. The only time the album loses steam is toward the end with 'Blame Game'. The song itself is a little weak, and it's followed by an egotistical skit voiced by Chris Rock in which a woman credits Kanye for giving her sexual training. This overly long back and forth derails the pacing of the album established by the mostly strong first ten tracks.
I consider 2010 to be the best year for new releases possibly since 1991, and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is a good addition to a great year. But it'll be a shame if it is remembered as the standout of the year over such gems as The Archandroid by Janelle Monae, or Big Boi's superior rap album.
Technical skill: 10
Songwriting: 5
Overall: 9
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