Review :: Kanye West; 808s & Heartbreak

I'm going to start a new section for my blog; Reviews. From movies, to music, to art exhibitions, restaurants, pretty much whatever needs reviewing! Hopefully I can keep some sort of consistency and continue to post reviews. I'm not sure if anyone ever reads this blog (other than those I call and force to read, lol) but if anyone ever has a restaurant or CD, or anything they want me to check out and review... well then I guess I'd have to do it, haha. Just shoot me an email and I'll do my best. (lorenzo.deguia@gmail.com). So without further ado, let's go to the first review!Whatever you might think of the man, it's hard to argue against the success of Kanye West in the world of music. The outspoken music producer turned rapper has been cranking out albums that have consistently done well across all genres making him a prolific artist in both the hip hop and pop world. With his 4th album release, Kanye has taken his music to a new direction that many hardcore fans may not take a liking to. 808s & Heartbreak is easily West's most honest and emotionally raw addition to his body of work. 

He's traded the club beat hits and soul sound samples that made him famous, for an interesting mesh of pianos, taiko drums, electronic loops, heartbroken lyrics, synthesizers, and even singing! Like I said, many fans will be turned off by this new sound (myself included) but I guarantee after a solid listen of the CD a couple times through you will either love it or hate (I now LOVE this album).

I've been living with the album since its release on the iTunes store and have more or less been listening to it almost every minute of my day (home, car, shower, walking around). When you get deep with the album and really start to hear all the instrumentation and the little details on each track you really start to appreciate how he melded quite a unique sound on such a rich bed off genres. Now, I don't pretend to know a ton of music, I am merely an amateur lover of it, but I'm sure there are other much more experimental, successful artists out there who have gotten big of this sound but its just great for someone (Kanye) who has gotten so famous for a certain style to completely uproot himself and try something different for better or for worse. In a way it reminds me of Beck's album Sea Change. Easily Beck's most mellow, almost "unplugged" album, Sea Change almost permanently  alienated many of Beck's fans. He traded his "pops" and "fizzles" and Loser lyrics for something on the otherside of the spectrum. Since that album, Beck has returned to his regular forte, but Sea Change still remains an important part of his collection but did divide fans. 808s & Heartbreak will probably do the same.

So what's the deal with this album? Well, apparently Kanye and his fiancee decided to call off their engagement earlier this year and this album seems to be a reaction to that lost love as well as the recent passing of his mom.

Highlight tracks; Welcome to Heartbreak; Kanye explores internally. While his friends are starting families, he discovers that all his money and fame haven't exactly brought him happiness. He has all the cars and clothes he wants but no family of his own. "My friends show me pictures of his kids, and all I can show him are pictures of my cribs...." Coldest Winters; Kanye says goodbye to his love and questions his ability to ever be in love again. Taiko drums litter this track with a bit of grit, while an Enya style layer of ambience plays as the backdrop. Street Lights; My favorite track on the album. Kanye contemplates his life. Is he moving too fast? Are the important aspects of life passing him by as he pursues his goals? In a way, it's a song that asks the question, "do you stop to smell the roses?" You get to certain points in your life and look back and you wonder if all your decisions were the best ones. I love this track.