ByronCrawford.com: Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak: Album Review

Akuma writes:

Kanye West, 808s & Heartbreak (Roc-a-Fella/Def Jam 2008)
So this is Kanye’s ‘pop’ album. God knows what the other ones were meant to be. This is inspired by a break-up with his woman, who probably got tired of his latent homosexuality and poor choice of lead singles.

WELCOME TO HEARTBREAK featuring Kid Cudi

The singing bit (not by Kanye) is kinda ok, but Kanye’s rap is so special needs it’s not even funny. At least on the first two albums he had decent rappers (and Consequence) to even things out a little. Where’s Jay-Z when you need him?

HEARTLESS

Much better a single than Love Lockdown, and at least it includes some actual rapping. All the beats on this album sound like they were created with the same keyboard pre-sets. I suppose that’s the idea is it not?

AMAZING featuring Young Jeezy

Jeezy’s rap only serves to highlight how poor Kanye’s vocals are in comparison, which is really saying something. The beat sounds like Neptunes circa 2003, so not entirely forward thinking as many have suggested.

LOVE LOCKDOWN

Keep your love low down locked down. Probably the worst Kanye lead single ever, as voted by people who actually like this kind of crap.

PARANOID featuring Kid Cudi

One of the better tracks here, although it would have been nice to have some actual rapping from Kid Cudi. The beat sounds like a remix of ‘American Boy’.

ROBOCOP

Not actually a song about Robocop, that could have been cool. Supposedly co-produced by Herbie Hancock. Well f**k me, how the mighty have fallen.

SAY YOU WILL

I think I’d rather be subjected to nails clawing down a blackboard then have to hear Kanye singing again. In fact, someone should try putting that through auto-tune, it could be pretty avant-garde.

STREETLIGHTS

You can’t truly imagine how bad this is without actually hearing it. It’s a bit like when you see those Holocaust documentaries on TV - you really had to be there for the full horror to sink in.

BAD NEWS

Here’s some bad news Kanye, your album sucks and your mama died getting her tits made big. Let this be a lesson to women everywhere, be born with naturally large breasts.

TELL EVERYBODY THAT YOU KNOW featuring Lil’ Wayne

You know your shit sucks when Lil’ Wayne singing through auto-tune is the best thing about your track.

COLDEST WINTER

This is a bit like finding your least favourite chocolate amongst steaming piles of s**t. You would normally pick something nicer to digest but, considering the immediate alternatives, it seems kinda tasty.

PINOCCHIO STORY

A ‘freestyle’, in the loosest sense of the word. I love the way everybody cheers when he says ‘I voted for Obama’, like voting is some incredible accomplishment. Who the f**k was he going to vote for anyway?

COMMENTS: Kanye sycophants will lap this up, but truly this is the definition of a shit sandwich. At times there are flashes of the brilliance of his earlier albums, but in the main this is like Phil Collins meets T Pain. To be honest, that was probably what Mr West was going for, so in that respect this is a full blown success.

BEST TRACKS: “Welcome To Heartbreak”, “Paranoid”, “Coldest Winter”

BONUS VIDEOS: "Heartless"

Heartless from kwest on Vimeo.