Graduation (Parental Advisory) [Digipak] [ECD] - Kanye West > Reviews > Kanyes Stronger In This Album

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Average
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Some catchy tracks, it grows on you
Disadvantages:	Not many really 'stand out' tracks

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

- Introduction -

This is another impulse review. It probably won't be too long, mainly due to the fact that I admit I don't know a great deal about the artist but this is basically just a petty basic review on what the album is like and my basic thoughts on this album. Lets see how much I can type out for this one (lol)... and I hope its not too weird that I listen to Kanye, I listen to pretty much any and everything, apart from heavy metal or really fast dance music...

Anyway I was just browsing online recently when I came across an advert for this CD on play.com, where you could purchase it with free delivery for £5. I already had his two other studio albums and I quite enjoyed them, featuring singles such as Through The Wire, Jesus Walks and Gold Digger, among others. I've very much lost track of the charts over the last couple of years, so I wasn't aware that this came out last year but oh well. When I got it, I saw that it advertised the first single off of the album is the one entitled 'Stronger', which I hadn't heard either. Guess im getting old, I really don't bother much with music channels or anything, I just try to stick with the groups and artists I know I already like, which, as you maybe guessed, is a very eclectic bunch!

On with the review...

- What Kind of Sound Is Present? -

Well, for a start, this is obviously a Kanye West album, so it can be filed under rap or rap & hip hop. The tracks are mostly upbeat and most are quite 'dance-able' too. There is an edgy sort of electronica type sound to some of the tracks too.

- Track Listing & Basic Info. On Tracks -

1 - Good Morning - The first track starts quite slowly with a pretty quiet feel to it, featuring a light beat in the background which sounds on its own until the rap starts. There's also a somewhat haunting humming soundbyte thats often repeated during this track. This is quite a slow laidback track that starts the album off.

2 - Champion - This is more cheery and upbeat and starts quite quickly. It almost sounds like it cut off the start of the track, its so quick to go from an electronic kind of 'welcome' introduction and into the rap. The main hook line is 'Did you realise that you were a champion in their eyes?' and the 'in their eyes' part is repeated alot during the track. Its quite catchy.

3 - Stronger - This is the first single off of the album. I can see why it was picked because it is, like the title may suggest, quite a strong track. It has a catchy line that goes 'Work it, make it, do it, makes us, Harder, better, faster, stronger', which is repeated over and over in by an electronic voice in the background for the duration of the track. The rap in this track sounds pretty hard hitting and the beat is quite funky, to go with the electronica. It is pretty catchy and is one of the catchier tracks. I imagine this would be a good sort of track to listen to when working out at a gym or at home, on a tread mill or something like that.

4 - I Wonder - This is another track that starts with a light sound, with a piano playing a few keys in the background and a light voice saying 'Find your dreams come true...and I wonder, if you know, what it means, what it means?' which is repeated a few times, before Kanyes rap starts off and a heavier beat appears to back him up. This track also features an electronic sound to it too. The voice continues to sing the same line in the background in between pauses in the main rap too. Its still a fairly laid back track overall.

5 - Good Life (Feat. T-Pain) - This, I feel, has a touch of the 80s about it. It is particularly upbeat and makes for a good dance/rap track. The beat is catchy and its generally quite positive sounding. Its all about having a good time, being on TV and 'putting your hands to the sky' etc.

6 - Can't Tell Me Nothing - This track is alot more gritty or street sounding. This track is about being in control, or taking control, of your life. Its not as catchy as other tracks but it does have a fairly decent background beat which keeps the track moving alright.

7 - Barry Bonds (Feat. Lil Wayne) - This is also quite a gritty, edgy track, thats more rap than any other genre. It features a rather haunting soundbyte of somebody laughing out loud, in a villainous way (like the bad guy in a movie, sort of thing).

8 - Drunk & Hot Girls (Feat. Mos Def) - This has a particularly 'electronic' sound, or feel, to it. Its also quite haunting in a sense with some soundbytes used to add to the kind of underground sound of the track. Its pretty predictable stuff though, if you read the title then you can pretty much what the rap will be like, roughly. I'm sure some guys quite enjoy it but its one I skip lol.

9 - Flashing Lights (Feat. Dwele) - This is a sort of mid-tempo track, which takes a while to get started. It has a kind of chilled out feel to it but it is upbeat too, in the sense of that the electronic sound to it is quite upbeat and it makes it more catchy. There's a female vocalist who repeats the name of the track slowly at certain intervals in the track. You can also hear what sounds like slowly clapping hands in the background too.

10 - Everything I Am (Feat. DJ Premier) - This is one of my more favourite tracks. It also opens with a rather slow and laid back start, with a piano playing in the background. Its pretty laid back as well and it doesn't have a big beat in the background, instead the piano backs up Kanye's rap. This track is perhaps a bit more old school, in that it features some disc scratching (if thats right(?)). This is quite a reflective track I feel, given whats being said in the rap. He reflects on where he is in life and how people got him to where he is, I think thats about it. It is pretty catchy too, once you've heard it a few times anyway.

11 - The Glory - I think this is my favourite track, next to 'Stronger' anyway. It starts off with an old track being played of what sounds like a really young child singing (I don't know who, sorry) and Kanye is singing a little bit on top of it and then he takes over on top of the childs version, which is on a loop (if that makes sense). This is quite upbeat in sound, with a catchy beat in the background. Its got quite a vintage, funky sound to it. This is the kind of track that you could find yourself wanting to click your fingers along to.

12 - Homecoming - This track again has a fairly catchy beat to it, a piano/keyboard hook which plays repetitively during the track while Kanye raps. The rap in this instance is about a girl friend of his he knew and respected, when he was a child and it questions whether she remembers him and it talks of him going back home. Its a fairly good track thats more filler in my opinion.

13 - Big Brother - This track has more of an edgy feel to it, starting off with a drum and electronic beat playing fairly slowly before the rap kicks in and it builds up a bit. It is more mellow than some of the tracks in pace though. This is another 'wave your hands' type track, though like I say it is quite mellow (can a track be mellow and edgy(?) its the beat that adds the edginess to it *shrug*).

This is the tracklisting on my version of the CD, though I believe you can get a version that also includes the following track - 'Good Night (Feat. Mos Def & Al Be Back)' but I haven't heard it, so I can't comment on it.

- Anything Else Worth Mentioning? -

This is a rap CD with a 'Parental Advisory' sticker on it (well ok to be totally honest, my CD box doesn't have the sticker but the CD cover artwork has the sticker in the corner and Ciao and other sites indicate it is parental advisory, so I presume it is), so be aware if your thinking of letting young kids hear this, that there will be some swearing. There are a few bad words, including a certain racial term and some others, so just be aware of that... not that its at all worse than any of his other CDs, it isn't.

- Conclusions -

At first I wasn't overly keen on this album but I realise now that its a slow grower. You have to listen to the tracks a few times and let them grow on you and then you'll find you enjoy them and get a better feel for the beats and the tempo more. This album doesn't have too many 'stand out' tracks, other than (for me, anyway) The Glory, Everything I Am and Stronger. It is a slightly different sound for him in comparison to his earlier albums, The College Dropout had a certain sound to it, as did Late Registration but Graduation is by no means a flop in my mind. Give it a few listens to really get into it and you should find yourself becoming more keen on this album.

Worth getting, as long as your a bit open minded to hearing a slightly different side of Kanye perhaps, or/and especially if you like really electronic sounding backgrounds in rap tracks. When you can buy it on CD with free delivery for £5, its hard not to recommend it. I wonder where he'll go from here, now he's 'graduated' whats next? I guess we'll have to wait to find that out...

This is about all I feel I can comment on this album, I know I don't know a great deal about the subject but I wanted to give this a shot all the same. I do like some of pretty much any and every kind of music, I listen to some rap and pop, R&B and rock and all sorts, I guess its like having a varied diet I like a varied music diet! lol.

I hope you found this review helpful and any and all r/r/c's are much appreciated. Thanks for reading!