Graduation (Parental Advisory) [Digipak] [ECD] - Kanye West > Reviews > A Diploma in Music

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Standard
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Most talented guy in the public light right now
Disadvantages:	Some tracks

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Just incase you haven't heard, Kanye West and 50 Cent are trying to do something apparently good for 'hip hop' by releasing their albums on the same day and see who gets the largest sales. My general impression is that Kanye will come out on top, but 50 has put more than just his pride on the line by saying that if his album, 'Curtis', fails then he shall never bring out a solo album again. I'm sure he had his fingers crossed, just as Eminem did when he announced his retirement, but I'm sure the whole feud is great for record sales when you consider we live in an age of downloads. Now why would I think Kanye would do better than 50 Cent? Let me introduce you to 'Graduation' the album.

Kanye was lucky, he was born with his stage name already in place, that's some inspired parenting as they named him Kanye Omari West as he was born on June 8th 1977. The world began to fall for Kanye back in 2004 when he released his debut album, 'College Dropout', this was critically acclaimed as one of the best albums of the year. 2005 saw Kanye release 'Late Registration', which was again hugely successful. 2007 allows Kanye to continue the theme of school related album titles, as he releases 'Graduation'.

'Can't Tell Me Nothing' was released as the first single in the States, however it made very little waves, and it was very refreshing to see 'Stronger' released. 'Stronger' performed well in charts worldwide, and topped the UK charts. 'Good Life' featuring T-Pain is widely expected to be the third released single, and is a feel good track just like pretty much all the rest of the material on the album. I'm not sure there is a negative song in the whole entire mix, and whilst 'Good Life' is not the same league as 'Stronger', I would expect it to be a success.

One of the things that can be said about this album is how well it has been produced, and with an intro track entitled 'Good Morning', the song actually feels like it could be an alarm playing to wake you up for your... you got it, graduation. An outro that was made for the album entitled 'Good Night' is floating around the internet as it was not included in the final version of the album, and it would have been a good culmination to the album. Another track that wasn't included on the album but is a bonus if you download from iTunes is called 'Bittersweet' and it is a great track showing how much quality there actually was to choose from when it actually came to the final cut for the album.

'Homecoming' features Coldplay's Chris Martin, and whilst I have never been a fan of him before his work with Kanye makes it one of the best tracks on the album. There are also appearances from artists you would more expect to see on a Kanye West album, such as Lil Wayne featuring on 'Barry Bonds', although that is one of my least favourite tracks on the album. 'Big Brother' is a brilliant tribute track to Kanye's mentor, Jay-Z, and I'm sure these two shared a great 'moment' when Jay heard the track for the first time. Of course Kanye is signed to Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella recording studio but I think this song is more about mutual respect than sucking up to the boss. Honestly, I don't think Kanye can do any wrong, because whilst not every track is perfect there is material on here that more than makes up for it. After seeing Kanye on the Friday Night Project a few weeks back as well, it only increased my interest in the character because he seems like a great guy, even if he does get grumpy at awards for not winning anything. He's probably going to be a jerk in real life now I've said all that. A must-own album no matter who you are, and that's why this will be Kanye's highest point of his career.