A Whole New Level For Kanye (808's And Heartbreak - Kanye West)

Member Name: geddes-i

Product:	808's And Heartbreak - Kanye West
Date:	06/12/08 (810 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some great, powerful songs are very welcoming and easy to listen to

Disadvantages: Some poor songs which ruin the album, electronics overused in some songs

Kanye West - 808's And Heartbreaks

Fresh, Unique, Full Of Spirit and Brilliance (although electronics are overused)

Intro
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I have all Kanye West's albums and enjoy them all. I use to dislike his music a long time ago however I find him to be the best hip hop star out there today. With his style, freshness on his music and the spirit that lives through his songs is brilliant. I have recently been to his glow in the dark tour in Glasgow and loved it. He is full of energy on stage just as is the case with the energy he puts into his songs (some more than others)

I was very sceptical about his new album, no rap and all singing, however I actually enjoy it and think its got great tracks and potential. Maybe the use of electronics and all that other gadgets used in the music business today in order to keep pitch and all in tune is much overused, it seems far too overused in this album however it doesn't stop the songs having a good beat to them.

# 1. Say You Will
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This song is good in terms of preparing you what the rest of the album is about, it introduces us to the beat and electronics (evident throughout whole album) in this song early in. This is a slow song with a slow tempo making it seem long which to tell you the truth it is. At 6 minutes 17 Seconds long I would say its too long for an intro to the album as by the end of it your really bored of that electronic beat.
3/5

# 2. Welcome To Heartbreak Ft. Kid Cudi
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This song is brilliant. Opens very well at a great speed and slowly drags you in to its edgy and exciting beat and tempo. Kanyes lyrics come across very well over the music and results in a powerful combination of music and lyric harmony, well at least used in the context of this song. The chorus is excellent and Kid Cudi is a very welcoming addition to this song as he makes it sounds more upbeat and exciting with his lyrics of "And My Head Keeps Spinning". At 4 minutes 23 seconds long its also a perfect length for this song, not too short, not too long. This is one of my favourite songs on this album.
4/5

# 3. Heartless
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Another powerful song with use of great lyrics and a great fresh and modern beat that keeps the song flowing along. The pace and tempo is perfect and is used at such a good rate that it results in this song just being great to listen to. At 3 minutes 31 seconds long its one of the shorter songs on the album but it doesn't matter as its so well put together that it results in it also being one of the best.
4/5

# 4. Amazing Ft. Young Jeezy
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This song has a pretty good beat and rhythm to it, but Kanye uses electronics far too much in this song to change his voice. The lyrics are also rather repetitive and due to them being too electrical it ruins the song. Maybe if he was rapping to this it would be ok but he isn't so as a result its not that good. It's a pretty slow song with a slow tempo and it doesn't go very well with the lyrics. One of the poorer songs on the album.
3/5

# 5. Love Lockdown
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This song is one of the best if not the best known on this album. I personally prefer other songs over this one but it should still be listened to as it is still good. It opens with heavy bass followed by kanyes lyrics shortly in. The bass is really heavy and sounds great if your system can handle it. The bass remains evident throughout this song and is repeated over and over but it works as the lyrics as well as those powerful Indian like drums tie in perfectly with it. The song ends as it opens with the bass slowly fading out. The more you hear this song the more it grows on you, when I first heard it I didn't like it however now I actually enjoy it. Not the best, but certainly not the worst.
3/5

# 6. Paranoid Ft Mr Hudson
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This song is great, upbeat and very modern. Great beat, great sounds and great lyrics again. This song is much faster paced than others on the album but its great as it really goes well with the lyrics. This is one of those songs you really like to sing along with as its got such a catchy and modern beat that you cant help but join in. Mr Hudson is great in this song as they help to flow it along although you don't hear them too much. This is also another of my favourites on this album and one that really sticks out due to it being so much faster paced. But believe me this fast pace works, and It works well. As a side note Kanyes supporting band for his glow in the dark tour was Mr Hudson and Santogold so we can see that he has worked with Mr Hudson off stage as well.
4/5

# 7. Robocop
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A hyped up beat opens this song shortly followed by Kanye's lyrics, Again this song has a decent rhythm to it but seems slightly ruined by use of electronics again, which is a shame cause if Kanye rapped to this and didn't use electronics then it might be pretty good. At 4 minutes 31 seconds long it's a good length but unfortunately due to the lyrics its slightly ruined.
2/5

# 8. Streetlights
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This song is quite slow and chilled. Kanye has good use of lyrics along with a powerful beat and rhyme, this song shows a lot of potential but again it can be argued that electronics and auto-tuning of Kanyes voice has slightly ruined it perhaps. It's a real shame because it could be so much better if he turned off all those gizmos to change his voice and just focused on rapping along with the beats like he has done in his previous albums.
3/5

# 9. Bad News
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Once again, a good beat and rhyme scheme along with electrical voicing of Kanye. When you focus on purely the beat of this song it shows real great potential just like many others of his songs on this album however the use of electronics again (you must be sick hearing me talk about this) slightly ruins the lyrics which results in this song not being as good as it could have. Beat eventually gets repetitive and boring and lasts too long after kanye stops singing.
2/5

# 10. See You In My Nightmares Ft. Lil Wayne
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I seem to remember this song being one of the first to be leaked off the album before it was released meaning I have heard it a lot of times by now. I thinks its first 3 minutes is great however after this it seems to die out and get rather annoying and boring. The song is 4 minutes 18 seconds long and as I have said the last 1 minute 18 seconds of it is poor. Lil Wayne does seem to try well with this song which is great however even he has been using electronics to overcome this.
4/5

# 11. Coldest Winter
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This song has a great feel and beat to it. The occurring beat of those drums along with the lyrics is a welcoming sound. The lyrics are good and although repetition of some words is evident it's great as it sets the tone to the whole song. Great lyrics, great beat and pace along with a great tempo used in conjunction with those drums makes this song one of the more enjoyable on this album.
4/5

# 12. Pinocchio Story (Live From Singapore. Bonus)
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This song is Kanye recorded live in Singapore freestylin with his lyrics to a very chilled piano rhythm. His voice and lyrics is surprisingly powerful and are great together. Although I wouldn't class this as a real song towards this album as its really a bonus recorded live I still am glad its in the album as it shows off how kanye is live and not just in a studio which adds a good sense of variety to this album.
3/5

Personal Opinion
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As I said I didn't expect this album to be good, I thought it would be Kanyes worst album however after hearing it over at least 2 times I must say I was slightly wrong. It's a whole new style for Kanye it seems but I must admit, I actually enjoy most of it. Sure 'College Dropout', 'Late Registration' or even 'Graduation' may be favoured to some over this (they are probably better) , however if you closely listen to this album and think how this style of music compares to his other albums then you truly might come to appreciate it (eventually).

The truth is Kanye cant sing, he overcomes this with electronics which is quite bad (T-pain) but even though he does this, this album still eventually grows on you. I still prefer late Registration and College Dropout as oppose to this as that's Kanye doing what he does best - Rapping. Not singing.
Next time I think he should stick to rap/hip-hop but on the up-side at least he has ventured further into music with this album.

I personally feel this album is Kanye truly emphasising himself as oppose to trying to make a great album, this album focuses a lot on his feelings and emotions (evident from album title) as oppose to other things which his previous albums have had.

Conclusion
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Any fan of Kanye will have probably heard or purchased this by now, if not then you need to have a listen, I think you will be very surprised by the greatness of it just like I was. If your not a fan of Kanye I suggest you listen to this anyway as its different to anything he has done before so as a result you might actually like it. If not then you can always go off to what you really do like. The only thing I don't like about this album is the CD case (more of a cover) that it comes in like many of the 'Graduation' albums did. It looks and feels cheap which truly is a shame as it sort of ruins the package it comes with. But under this case and on the CD is great and that's what your buying it for. So go buy, borrow, or sample this online to see what you think. I have seen it in Asda for £8.99 so if you think its worth it, buy it.

Summary: A fresh and different album from Hip Hop star Mr West, However I actually enjoy it !