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808's & heartbreak post release thread, aka version II
brooklyneast05
post Nov 23 2008, 10:13 PM
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can't have enough kanye west threads for this . i love kanye more than kc loves soulja boy and we know how much that is whistling.gif


anyway, since the album is officially released in 3 hours, we're going to need this thread. no more speculation and what not, tomorrow we'll have real opinions. (even though most of us have already heard at least 50% of the album anyway...never mind that)


i'm gonna go pick this up tomorrow morning and then i'll be back to give my input, the rest of you guys needa do the same.


here's a hiphopdx review i just read. we'll see how much we agree with this. if anyone else runs across a good (good as in well written, not necessarily a positive view) review, post it up here becuase i love reading reviews and comparing them.

brandon should write his own review imo mellow.gif


QUOTE
Supportive or critical of this album’s movement, you have to admire Kanye West’s courage. In the days of shrinking albums sales and sticking to proven formulas, one of music's biggest artists has done a complete 180 after having last year’s top critical and commercial album in Graduation. Some call it a slap to the face of his fans, others call it a true artist’s evolution. Implementing auto-tune is hardly a new idea, but criticism that Kanye is just piggybacking some T-Pain money and not just doing this because he felt like it ignores the trends of this man's career.

Combining the emotions of a lost mother, a called off engagement, and the stress of mega-stardom and “pap-snapping” celebrity, Kanye has taken a detour from his "school" series, as well as his proven comfort zone for 808's & Heartbreak. The album opens triumphantly, in fact the first five songs are as good a start to any work this year. He may be singing a different, computer-assisted tune, but Kanye's trademark attention to detail remains in tact on the minimal opener "Say You Will." By the time it is running on at the end of the song, the beat has built and evolved beautifully. Kanye's songwriting takes center stage on the Kid Cudi-assisted "Welcome To Heartbreak," as he laments his drive for fortune and fame costing him everything else in his life, specifically building a family. Sampling may have been set aside, but ‘Ye’s production here - between the opening cello and the piano throughout - it's as moving as anything he's ever done.

"Heartless" is the most evocative song in ‘Ye’s artistic evolution, and not just because it is one of the few instances in which he actually raps. It is the perfect marriage of Kanye's 808's & Heartbreak experiment, with all the pieces coming together in a way they seldom do over this album’s 11 tracks. Put this song on any other Kanye album and while it might walk the perimeter, it'd still be pretty fresh. "Amazing" isn't far off either with it's excellent song structure, visceral production and welcomed rapping guest Young Jeezy.

After hit single "Love Lockdown" bookends a phenomenal start, the album begins to slide as the attention to detail starts to reflect a T-Pain album rather than a Kanye West album. "Paranoid" sounds like a Tangerine Dream album cut from two decades ago, equally as understated today. "Robocop" follows, and despite its rugged intro and title, it is more Peter Pan than Peter Weller. "Street Lights" is quality work, but "Bad News" is quite dull and "See You In My Nightmares" featuring Lil Wayne is one of the biggest disappointments of the album. The duo doesn't come close to finding the chemistry they showed on Tha Carter III, and their combined auto-tuned stylings ignore the definition of overkill. "Coldest Winter" is ‘Ye’s highly-publicized tribute to his mother, and while it is a good song from an aesthetic standpoint, it's a letdown. Obviously you can't fault the man for making what he felt, but the song came as an abstract surprise from the man who was so specific three years ago on “Hey Mama.” West offers unfamiliar fans a breakup anthem, in what is arguably the most personal song on the album.

If anything, this album proves once and for all what an incredible artist Kanye West is. Being that 808's & Heartbreak is a completely different beast than his past work, it is impossible to compare. But consider how drastically different this is than his debut, and that he still pulled it off very easily. Few artists can stray so far from home and succeed. This is even more impressive when his art project was made using the musical equivalent of paint-by-numbers known as auto-tune. For many, auto-tune is only tolerable in small doses, if at all. Through little more than sheer talent Kanye still managed to make an album that begs repeated listens; even if it is only for 75% of it. Welcome to Heartbreak.






 
Simba
post Nov 23 2008, 10:24 PM
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Yeah that's a pretty good review.

I thought I was gonna get sick of the autotune, but it wasn't so bad
 
SuckDickNSaveLiv...
post Nov 24 2008, 12:37 AM
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QUOTE(brooklyneast05 @ Nov 23 2008, 11:13 PM) *
can't have enough kanye west threads for this . i love kanye more than kc loves soulja boy and we know how much that is whistling.gif



I can't get enough of that Amazing song. The way he distorts Jeezy's adlibs are godly. Then Jeezy comes in and bodies the track. Nightmares is pretty fresh too.

I'm def going to pick up my copy tomorrow, even though I already downloaded the album. I support this dude's music.
 
fire
post Nov 24 2008, 03:10 AM
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I agree, the first five songs are pretty good (excluding Welcome to Heartbreak imo). Then the only other songs I liked were Street Lights and Coldest Winter.
 
fameONE
post Nov 24 2008, 09:00 AM
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The song analysis of that review is pretty vague. The point of conducting an album review is to take a step back and look at the entire album, how it relates to the artist, the present state of the genre, and the impact that it has, if any, on music as a whole. To do an album breakdown, by song, without doing the artist any justice whatsoever (as shown in that review), doesn't give the reader a feel for the album. In reality, such a breakdown would be the length of a dissertation.

I'm itching to get my hands on this album and review it thoroughly. Nonetheless, you should expect one within the next week.
 
brooklyneast05
post Nov 24 2008, 11:05 AM
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QUOTE(fameONE @ Nov 24 2008, 10:00 AM) *
I'm itching to get my hands on this album and review it thoroughly. Nonetheless, you should expect one within the next week.


that's what i'm talkin about



just got my copy and i'm importing it to itunes now. i'm planning on picking up the alternate kaws cover too soon.






my friend showed me pictures of his kids
and all i could show him was pictures of my cribs
he said his daughter got a brand new report card
and all i got was a brand new sports car


console.gif
 
fameONE
post Nov 24 2008, 02:12 PM
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QUOTE
Artistic expression is the culmination of man's emotion concentrated into a creative muse. To artistically express oneself through music is to captivate an audience and cause them to feel exactly what the artist felt when crafting such an example of his own vision. This holds true with KanYe West, the critically acclaimed, heralded musician from Chicago, who, as of late, has been experiencing his own trials in life. However, instead of hitting a roadblock and taking a, much expected, hiatus from music, he managed to delve into the depths of his own soul and produce an experimental LP that is all but disappointing. Each track of the album is aurally pleasing, containing aspects of production, and tinkering with styles of music that most untrained ears will first overlook. In fact, it takes a vast understanding of music, from the electro-pop of the 1980s, to Detroit Techno of the 90s, to fully appreciate and understand 808s & Heartbreak from a production standpoint. This is where artistic expression reflecting turbulent times and a personal rebellion against a twisted, politically corporate, music industry meets musical genius. Vision.

Having a history of well-produced hiphop under his belt, where 'backpacker' met the snobbish nightlife of lounges with $75 cover charges, KanYe West has earned his place in hiphop history. And while each of his previous releases differed in production styles, they still were everything a KanYe West album is expected to be; edgy, flashy, arrogant, and an instant classic. When the hiphop community caught wind of Ye's musical experimentation for his, then, upcoming release, there was a hesitant welcome. The unfortunate truth is that many artists, especially in the hiphop industry, who reach a comfort zone with their fanbase, no matter how vast, hit a barrier in their career when they begin to experiment with different sounds. Common's 'Electric Circus' had critics claiming that the Chicago legend had lost his mind. Andre 3000, arguably one of the most eclectic figures ever to fall in love with hiphop, still causes people to scratch their heads with his musical endeavors. While both of the mentioned artists were able to bounce back just fine, neither artist was in the public eye like KanYe West.

Hounded by paparazzi, he is the center of tabloid attention. Who is he dating? How did he react to not receiving his much deserved accolades? What happened to his mother? What is he wearing? How is he going to one-up himself? The questions roll in one after the other because all eyes are on him. A new question arises; how do you classify his new album? You cannot. There is no simple answer because it would be damn-near disrespectful to classify such a unique sound to a single genre. I'm sure that he would agree in saying that 808s & Heartbreak is music; music from the soul, at that. The auto-tune that critics and die-hard hiphop fans continue to question add even more emotion to his music. West doesn't have the tenor of John Legend, but can hold a note well enough to sing throughout a track, as demonstrated on his Late Registration release of 'Hey Mama.' The auto-tune is just what the doctor ordered, walking hand in hand with the melodic, and sometimes eerie, 808 bass patterns.

The barrier does not exist. He is an artist in the zone with a vision that fans and critics will not be able to understand unless we all submerge ourselves in this album of heartache and loss. It is safe to say that enough rotations of 808s & Heartbreak on your iPod during a late night listen can push you to your own uncomfortable memories of similar emotional feelings. There is no possible way I can relate to what KanYe West is going through because I have never experienced the stardom of sold-out, international venues. I have never had to spend my energy maintaining my dignity in the public eye, fighting back tears while I conceal details of a lost parent. Once more, in a world where the idea of love is diminished by rising divorce rates in America and justification for infidelity; here is a man who is expressing his sorrow of a rather nasty breakup, as a public spectacle, through song. What barrier? West has broken it down with a massive 'middle-finger' to everyone that expected, or thought they wanted something, different.

A bittersweet victory will be celebrated by KanYe West. While dealing with nay-sayers and the media uproar of his new album and personal life, he will have achieved artistic greatness by painting a picture of his soul through pain. On the surface, it's an album that does what other artists currently in the game can't top. There are songs that have the bass and the structure to be hiphop bangers, and this is an album that can be blared at ear-piercing volumes that rattle walls. There are songs that continue to perpetuate West into the stratosphere of super-stardom. And there are the obligatory 'emotional' songs on the LP that add up to the standard formula of success for a mainstream artist. But in reality, the 808s in each track do more than just cause a listener to nod their heads as Young Jeezy compliments the beat with his verse, and the heartbreak involved puts Lil' Wayne in a different element that spawns a certain curiosity about how much talent he has yet to display. Though suffering heartache, Ye still loves HER and further diversifies the sound of hiphop. It's only necessary to view 808s & Heartbreak as if you, the listener, are weathering similar storms, because once you get lost in the music, you'll find that such a heartfelt expression cannot be measured by album sales or a magazine's flawed rating system.

The portrait is complete, and the bleeding heart has created a personal masterpiece.

--fameONE


/selfpromotion
 
Simba
post Nov 24 2008, 08:53 PM
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QUOTE(brooklyneast05 @ Nov 24 2008, 11:05 AM) *
my friend showed me pictures of his kids
and all i could show him was pictures of my cribs
he said his daughter got a brand new report card
and all i got was a brand new sports car
when I first heard that while going through my first listen, I was like dayum ninja you fo real
 
AngryBaby
post Nov 24 2008, 09:22 PM
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lol i heard all these songs awhile back ago... so the new album for me was basically just seeing what he changed in some songs most recently too soon to rip xD
 
brooklyneast05
post Nov 24 2008, 10:27 PM
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i love your writings brandon.





 
SuckDickNSaveLiv...
post Nov 24 2008, 10:55 PM
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Nice review Brandon.

I got the album today, and no one told me the disc was going to look so homo. And inside there is a pic where he got a rainbow coming out of his heart. laugh.gif laugh.gif laugh.gif
 
*cakedout*
post Nov 25 2008, 06:49 AM
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man as much as i like kanye, dude isnt rappin no more. hes like a pop star now lol
 
brooklyneast05
post Nov 25 2008, 09:07 AM
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kanye's reply would be "michael jackson was a pop star. did he suck too?"


i'm not disappointed about kanye not rapping, but that's only because of this promise of another album coming out 2009 that is more in line with his previous series. if he's switching over to this genre he calls "pop art" indefinitely then i'm gonna have a problem stubborn.gif
 
fameONE
post Nov 25 2008, 02:13 PM
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First off, much love on the reception of my review. F'real.

KanYe not rapping anymore doesn't bother me one bit. Like I said before, I'm down for artistic expression, especially when the end result is straight fire. If Cassidy one day decided that he wanted to make a nu-soul album where he played the piano on every track, and it came out tight, I wouldn't give a damn.
 
Simba
post Nov 25 2008, 04:42 PM
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QUOTE(BanDaSnowman @ Nov 24 2008, 10:55 PM) *
Nice review Brandon.

I got the album today, and no one told me the disc was going to look so homo. And inside there is a pic where he got a rainbow coming out of his heart. laugh.gif laugh.gif laugh.gif
Ha ha word, I was thinking this morning while looking at the album art on my iPod, peeps would probably think I was homo if I was just walking around with that CD if it wasn't by Kanye.
 
hi-C
post Dec 29 2008, 10:50 PM
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Finally listened to this since I got it for Christmas (I was a good person and only listened to singles until I could legally own it). This album is classic in a way that Kanye hasn't been since College Dropout.
 

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