Second Semester - Kanye West

Advantages: A brave change in direction! Emotional and personal.
Disadvantages: Very different to his previous stuff, may not appeal to all die hard Kanye fans

...for the whole album. Excellently produced, catchy chorus with plenty of energy. Paranoid has a retro feel in it's beats, with a real electro vibe. More rapping here is on show, and Kanye lays off the auto-tune singing momentarily while this one powers out. I find this one will no doubt be a grower of a track. One that may get skipped initially but you could well learn to love it. In a similar vein to that notion is RoboCop, I'm a big fan of this one, the lyrics are great once you get passed the strange analogies and the chorus again is strong. Lil Wayne pops up for his now trademark appearance on Kanye West albums. Okay, so it's his second in-a-row, but he is a rapper well and truely spreading the love around just lately! Hear Wayne flex his rap muscles on the spooky, 'See you in my nightmares'. Once you delve into this album you realize... Read review

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Advantages: Gorgeous, retro production, memorable songs.
Disadvantages: Lyrically weak, and anyone with an aversion to vocoder best stay away.

...808s & Heartbreak, hip-hop maverick Kanye West's fourth studio album is, it's fair to say, a curious affair all round. Abandoning (momentarily at least) the politically astute, rapid-fire, hook-heavy rap that made his name, the record consists almost entirely of bleak, icy, vocoder-slathered R&B ballads, most concerned in some way with loss, stagnation, loneliness and death, metaphorical or literal. The opening Say You Will provides the blueprint for much of what follows, delivering on the sonic and thematic promises of the album title - beats pulled from a Roland TR-808 drum machine ping-ponging around a sparse, almost minimalist reflection on a sundered romance. Only the most delicate piano line and the flimsiest sheet of choral synth compliment the frail beat and West's voice (more on the voice in a moment). It brings to mind no... Read review

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Advantages: Music is diverse, Samples are at it's best and West comes back "Stronger"
Disadvantages: More tracks would have been acceptable

...Following the success of both "The College Dropout" & "The Late Registration" West's third installment is even more of a success. The rapper went head to head with 50 cent and completely outsold him. The theme of college is continued and West does not disappoint. My favourite track is "Can't Tell Me Nothing" & "Barry Bonds" which features Lil' Wayne the latter is a clash of hip hop heavyweights we expect Wayne to outdo West but this is a tight one Wayne comes with "i'm still cole like keyshia's family" this line takes a second to sink in but if you understand Southern accents cole sounds like cold which is an amazing line. Kanye does not disappoint and allows different concepts to be examined throughout. The cover and photowork is amazing and all the more reason to purchase it i certainly did and have not stopped listening to it. His... Read review

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