Kanye West - 808s Heartbreak (12 tracks) +Album Reviews

Complete Different Kanye - Haunting, Minimalist, and Raw

Ian Leue | 11/25/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is very different Kanye. You'll know that within the first two seconds, and if you've heard Love Lockdown, you've already got the basic idea. Kanye sings, using heavy Auto-Tune, often with a vocoded or heavily distorted slap-back echo. The sound of the classic (and very distinctive) Roland TR-808 features very prominently on the album, backed by minimal keyboard-synth sounds.

Subjectwise, the album deals prominently with loss, specifically of his mother and his long-time girlfriend. The Auto-Tuned vocals and minimalist beats underscore the painful lyrics, creating a haunting, soul-wrenching soundscape.

It all adds up to a painfully honest Kanye, sad and alone - a Kanye we haven't seen on his previous 3 albums. Both lyrically and musically, Kanye strips off his flash and shows us the part of the man who can't always live "The Good Life.""

If you only listen to hip hop promptly move your cursor to t

Ronald L. Tucker | 12/13/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album will not be fully appreciated until it is rediscovered 15 years from now by kids that have never heard College Dropout, Late Registration, or Graduation. They will be impressed by the primal sounding drums, mixed with the deep bass of the TR-808, haunting keyboards and Kanye's vocals channeled through the autotune program. They will notice how he uses this effect to turn his voice into that of a brooding android, as apposed to the Happybot that T-Pain conjures out of the program, which when added to the sonic backdrop gives the album a post-apocalyptic feel.

I can't wait until this album does get the respect it most certainly deserves. I believe that is the most daring album to come out in my life time and I've been around the block a time or two. It is extremely ugly and amazingly beautiful all at once. Bravo Kanye!

Favorites (in no particular order):

Say you will

Welcome to heartbreak

Heartless

Amazing

Love Lockdown

Paranoid

Robocop

Street Lights

Bad News

See you in my nightmares

Coldest Winter

Yes it's THAT GOOD!!!!!

Remove all prejudices and biases and give this album an honest listen. You will love it!"

Not your mommy's Kanye

Travis M. Owens | Syracuse, NY USA | 11/24/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Kanye fans are in for a big surprise with this album. Most importantly you should know this is NOT a rap album. Kanye sings every song using heavy vocoding on his voice. Alot of the songs have heavy bass and a grinding aspect of them.

In a nutshell I'd say this album is a mix of Kanye beats /w a somewhat Neo like singing and even some old prince mixed in.

At first I didn't really get the album, but by my third listen the composition started to catch my attention. Despite, I expect a large part of his fan base not to be into this album, and if you're only a fan of Kanye as a rapper you might want to skip this album, but if you can get into more electronic compositions and some 80s spin, this album might be for you."

"I'M NOT LOVIN YOU, WAY YOU WANTED TO...

D THRILL | PG County, MD | 04/28/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The word "classic" is too often thrown around in many people reviews. The word is being used to describe the latest hot record, movie or someone's favorite artist. Classic movies stand the test of time. Classic music stay relevant no matter how times change. Most classic records don't hit you til months or even years after 1st listen. Some classic hip hop albums for me are Mobb Deep "The Infamous", Raekwon "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx" Little Brother "The Minstrel Show" , Snoop Dogg "Doggystyle" That's just to name a few.

Since this is my 1st review, I feel a need to express my thought and explain my way of thinking. So pardon me for the length. I grew up in the 90's and didn't really start listening to hip hop til around 1989. My first rap tape was PE "Fear of a Black Planet". It blew my mind. My first rap CD was Biggie "Ready To Die". So I have 20 years of hip hop knowledge and experience. Yes, I am a big time Jay Z fan, but if he comes out with garbage he will get 2 STARS from me. I will give non biased reviews. Too many people are rating albums 5 STARS. Some even give a 5 STAR rating and write a not perfect review. Others are music execs trying to boost record sales. On the flip side, I've seen people give 1 STAR just cause they don't like the artist and want to bring down their average. I don't work for a record company. I don't hate on any artist. I'm just here to give truthful reviews through my opinions. So now that we got that out the way. Let's get on with the review:

When you first listen to "808's & Heartbreak" you probably won't like anything except "Love Lockdown""Amazing" and "Heartless". But after a few spins you find yourself dancing like the African's in the "Love Lockdown" video. Kanye does an excellent job of using African drums as a bass line. No simple drum machines here. As everyone already knows, this album is recorded in "auto tune", the same sound T-Pain made popular recently. But T-Pain wishes he could put a record out like Kanye West.

Mr. West knew the risk in making this CD. People already hate him and this could have been used to bury his career. But instead he puts together a decent album. "Say You Will" is a good intro. It sets the vibe of the album.The song "Paranoid" sounds like it should have been on the soundtrack of an 80's Eddie Murphy movie. "Robocop " makes you feel like your on an adventure through Mario Brothers, but what saves this song is lyrics about an overprotective woman. "Street Lights" is also an example of how Kanye's lyrics save this album from disaster. Lil Wayne makes an appearance on "See You In My Nightmares". And Young Jeezy appears on the excellent "Amazing".

With the loss of his mother and break up with his girlfriend, Kanye West felt the need to express himself throughout this album. Though not as good as "College Dropout" or "Late Registration", but better than "Graduation".Listening to this makes you really miss the rapping Kanye. By far this is the most original album I've heard in years.

"

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