My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

I'm annoyed I'm forced to listen to this album because Kanye is an anti-Semite. Even worse, I know it's going to be good. My only solace is he's a millionaire already and my measly listens shouldn't make a difference.

It sucks that he is a douchebag because it is a pretty good album

OK, so I didn't rate Ye before he became a literal advocate for nazis. Now he's a literal advocate for nazis he's gonna straight up not get the play time from me. As I've gotten to the end of the project - almost two years to the day after I was first recommended this shitting dicknipple's album - I am obliged to actually rate it. While he has (kind of) apologised for the nazi stuff, he's not actually done anything to properly distance himself from it, or shown any hint of attempting to not be any less of a repugnant human being. Do yourself a favour. Instead of listening to this album, look up Garfunkel and Oates asking their audience "Who said it - Kanye or Hitler?", which they uploaded to YouTube in *2009* for crying out lout.

Done

I’m not listening to this man’s music.

Loved it..loved the beat...the lyrics....the features...the album was fantastic to listen to and loved listening to it and added to favorite albums

It was ok

HARD PASS

Oh no thanks

Rap progresivo. Me ha gustado. Un 4.

No.

Not a genre I'm used to, but I still think it's very good. Strong 6 light 7

There's a lot of grief for me now listening to this album. It was like a lightening bolt that turned me on to what hip hop could be and shaped how I listened to music at a crucial point in my life. With Kanye's recent antics, including doubling down on antisemitism, blaming black people for remaining slaves, and refusing treatment for his mental health issues, listening to his music now is complicated. This album sees Kanye exercising his most maximalist impulses. He is like a mad scientist overseeing the various production elements. He also has the ability to get career defining performances out of his collaborators. Nikki Minaj's verse on 'Monster' is still probably her best work to date. The way this album flows together and explores the role of a black man in a white dominated society is incredible and unrepeatable. This album is the apex in a very interesting and groundbreaking career. An as addendum, today, December 1, 2022, I finished listening to this album only to find out that Kanye had gone on the Alex Jones show to say that the Israeli government was sabotaging his custody battle, to say that he was tired of people calling nazis evil, and then he said that he liked hitler. This will be the last time I listen to anything by this man. It’s a damn shame.

Très bon!

the man's a knob

Definitely not my favorite Kanye album, but still good. He is a talented dude.

The first time I won't be listening to an album, but I have absolutely no interest in hearing anything by Kanye West

Verassend goed & gevarieerd. Paar pussy-nummers die wat minder waren, maar vooruit

I gritted my teeth before pressing play - although this album was from 2010, I was still concerned. I found it very hard to disconnect what we know about Ye now and what/where he was then. I feel really sorry for him, he’s obviously going through a lot of stuff, and all while in the public eye. Doesn’t mean I like what he has to say even if he does say it in an impressive way. And he can’t sing. There, I said it.

It’s great, but I just can’t anymore.

Kanye, or I guess Ye, is of course all kinds of problematical now, or perhaps “extra” problematical would be the way to put it. At this album’s point though he could still be thought of as a provocateur. And this titanic hip hop opus served to prove the method and yes, genius, behind the mad antics. And it has all the incessant bravado and seemingly inescapable misogynistic attitudes of its genre but even these are tempered here with humor and self-awareness. I don’t think he’s matched it before or since, and sadly it seems truly dubious whether we’ll ever see this Kanye return.

Still great

It sadly holds up even better with current circumstances where the darkness of the album actually comes true. Great songs with personal lyrics one of his best works

I have no clue how to feel about this album. First off, Ye, or Kanye West, is a certified crazy asshole. He always has been, and looking up to him for his personality, is questionable. That being said, after listening to this, I understand why this is some big event in rap and even in other genres. This album definitely sounds different than anything releasing at the time, and the sampling is easily the best part of the whole album in my opinion, which is actually one of my gripes with songs like Stronger from his earlier album. It has an energy to it where even songs I'm not liking get me enjoying it, it knows how to be a good album, and I cannot deny that. I do think it comes off a little egotistical, however. Both in the lyrics, which is expected, but also in the sound. A nine minute song where the beginning is single piano keys for the first bit? That doesn't come off as musically impressive, it comes off as full of yourself and thinking you can do whatever and people will call it art, and that's ehat people did. It's just so many pros and cons I gotta but it right down the middle. I will say the idea people found King Crimson through this album makes me happy.

Easy 5 star, this thing is a masterpiece

Nicki’s verses were the best part

dumb and old fashioned. lame.

Again an album I would not have thought I’d like but did.

The genre makes this 1/5. The artist brings it down even further. 0.5/5

Kanye is not a great person and like other artists on this list, the album is reviewed separately from the cesspool of the person. There are several well known songs on the album. Some I had not heard before. Some that I don't need to hear again. Several of them just drag on too long. The beats are mostly great. The lyrics are ok.

4/5, kanye is an asshole tho

0 because i don‘t like listening to antisemitic bs

Good production and guest stars. Don't like Kanye himself.

Sorry, not listening to this guy and would rip the page from the book if it didn't have someone actually deserving on the other side of the page.

Kanye is crazy and I hate to admit that his music is good

No thanks

Uno de mis albúmes favoritos de siempre, hoy necesitaba un buen albúm y este es perfecto MBDTF es una obra maestra. Ya lo he escuchado varias veces pero creo que profundizar en el puede ser muy bonito porque es un top 10 all time project. Kanye ese genio que se nos esta yendo, mi artista favorito por su gran aportacion a la musica y a la moda. Es una inspiración para todos este hombre aunque el propio Ye se sabotea mentalmente aunque el no quiera. En 2022 esta teniendo polemicas por todos lados y me parece que este señor necesita ayuda psicologica urgente, no puede ir soltando todo así porque sí. Dark fantasy es posiblemente el mejor inico posible con esa letra única y ese estribillo que te atrapa como pocos hacen. Can we get much higher??, yessir esto es lo que realmente quiero en un albúm. Gorgeous: Kid Cudi y Kanye West son los Goat's de las colaboraciones si miras otras como todo Kids see Ghosts o Father Strech My Hands te das cuenta de lo buenos que son juntos. Gorgeous es la definición. POWER es simplemente el poder de la canción es el mejor nombre para una canción posiblemente. El interludio es otra maravilla porque ese acustico de All of The Lights es una locura. All of The lights es otra canicon super empoderada con una Rihanna increíble y otra vez Kanye en su peak. Vuelve a estar Kid Cudi como siempre este dúo la rompe es íncreible. Creo que es una realidad decir que este es posiblemente uno de los mejores inicios de la historia de la música en un albúm.

Can’t be random I got this album this week lol. I was not into Kanye in 2010. I knew him from the songs that would be on the radio or MuchMusic but had never listened to any of his albums. I picked this one after hearing Ryan Davis (RIP) talk about this on the GiantBombcast podcast. His pitch was this album was justifying his craziness over the last year. This is also one of the last albums I’ve purchased on CD (I think I had later a Black Crows greatest hits once when I rented a car with no auxiliary port) This is a massive accomplishment. It’s so aggressive and angry, and while the man might not seem it now, it’s all directed inward. So many standouts but the one that has stuck with me over the last 12 years is Hell Of A Life. That bass hook and piano(?) run are just incredible. I really got into the album in February 2011 when I was in Vancouver, where it should be completely snowed in but it was mostly just foggy. I am always immediately transported back to that time and place whenever I put this song on. I’m going to have to come to terms with these landmark records by problematic people as I get deeper into this list. I have Funeral by Arcade Fire I know will be coming up I’m going to have to tackle. Can we separate art from the artist? I don’t know if we can. I listen to Michael Jackson now and I feel guilty for liking it. In spite of this, I would still be putting this one on my top 10 albums of all time. It is what it is.

this album was randomly selected for me on october 31st, 2022, and this was during the time kanye west made several public anti-semetic comments, not to mention other public incidents in the last few months. i hardly know of any of west's music, and i typically do have difficulty separating music from the artist. the album was better than i thought it would've been. there were some troubling parts that did not endear me to west. but so much of it was catchy. west managed to combine such a soundscape into one album, and the album works as a whole, reminiscent of other well known concept albums. in particular i loved the line from "power": "no one man should have all that power."

Musically, this album was interesting. It had some very progressive beats that all work really well together from an album perspective. I wasn't particularly captivated by the lyrics. I may be hearing this album a bit too late, though, because I feel like progressive rap artists like Kendrick Lamar have eclipsed Kanye in this realm, without being overly egotistical. Sidenote: The line in "So Appalled" dissing Donald Trump sure didn't age too well for Kanye.

Not a place I'd like to inhabit.

Always thought he was an over-hyped prick. Now he's a bigoted, over-hyped prick.

5 star album, 1 star idiot

Scum.

Not my thing and we all know about the guy himself, but as an album I didn't hate this at all.

Terrible timing to be giving this a listen, but it's unfortunately a perfect album...

Tässähän alkaa lämpeemään Kanyen musalle! Saatoin olla hänen uran huippuvuodet enemmän metalliin kallellaan niin jäänyt ihan täysin perehtymättä näihin. Lyriikoihin en keskittynyt edes vähää alusta, mutta soundit oli hyvät ja lepposat.

Ei ollut ihmeellinen

5 records in a row that are basically perfect. This is the last of it. It's super sad what's happened to him since. But this record is amazing.

Not really a huge fan of this, it was alright. It is better than the debut and Yeezus (which are the only other albums I've heard).

No, fuck that guy.

I listened to this album once before and don't think I can bring myself to do it again. The amount of cursing is unbearable.

Better than I remember it being. I have always felt this was overrated (still do) but maybe appreciated it more this listen. 4/5

still like earlier Kanye better

Good album not really my genre of music but some great tracks i would check out again. I wouldnt complain if i heard it.

Deixei tocar para ver se algo interessava. Nada.

:(

Kanye's best album? Hard to say

Didn’t finish listening, but much more interesting than the JayZ album.

Ugh.

Polarizing album, I like it a lot

bleah

I sure would like to hate this album seeing as how big a prick Kanye turned out to be but this really is a great album. I guess if you’re looking for really deep lyrics you won’t find it hear but you will find great production and clever wordplay. I enjoyed listening to it

Naw.

notes - ive never actually listened to this whole album, just songs - kanye is all over the news lately so its cool to rewind to 2010 - great samples and verses all over the whole album - described by kanye as a kind of apology for 808s and heartbreak - theres a good amount of humour and jokes on here to balance the indulgence and ego - something i really like in this album is his use of super compressed overdriven drums, they have this great way of filling out the songs fav - devil in a new dress - i really like the samples on this song - kanye’s energy is great, and rick ross has a really creative verse least fav - so appalled - some good verses on here but the song doesn’t really change up in any interesting ways 4.5/5

Alla beats låter fan likadant, mycket tråkiga texter, men ett par bra låtar

Top 3 Songs: 1 - Dark Fantasy (1) 2 - All Of the Lights (5) 3 - Monster (6)

Ugh. Kanye. I'm sure his fans love this, but I'm just not a fan of this guy or his music after about 2006 or whenever he got wrapped up with the Kardashians. This has musical merit and his guest artist list is impressive, but I just am really ambivalent about it.

Listens: 1.5 Enjoyed: Not really The chorus and the beats are half decent. The verses not so much. Not too sure of the Kanye timeline as I'm not really a fan but this feels significant in his mental unravelling

He had a great producer

Rap progresivo. Me ha gustado. Un 4.

Rollo patatero. La primera canción me suena un poco. 2

Ik vond 808s en heartbreak beter. Daar zat precies wat meer reliëf in

not listening to nazi music

One could always find something wrong with Kanye West, and this album is no exception. The draw here is that Kanye also seems to bury his gems, and once past any criticism, one cannot help but root for the guy. His ear for melody in a beat-centric genre is probably the best in the industry. His production prowess is nothing to make fun of or sleep on, Jay-Z being an example of where Kanye typically comes from in terms of colleagues and frequent collaborators. "Runaway" is a painfully awkward honest song, again buried and bookended by is-it-misogynistic? bravado, further evidenced by the suggestive album title. Kanye West as a persona has been difficult to accept at times, and that has either played well into his music or not, but the talent is on display regardless.

Strophe, Refrain, Strophe, Refrain. Langweilig und uninteressant.

trump

no cap, u r in for something super

This was my first taste of the Yeezer, and I can't say I'm impressed. The King Crimson sample made me laugh out loud.

Loved the first half more than the second. Power, followed by All of the Lights followed by Monster was the highlight for me.

Never took Kanye West seriously either. All I really know about him is he’s a batshit crazy cringe lord. Maybe so, and yet. Still can’t stand boast songs and there are a couple that would be better if there were no vox, but damn if it doesn’t sound really, really good end to end. (previously listened)

Classics are classics for a reason. They resonate with generations. And this album definitely will for years to come.

Good production bad lyrics

Goat album

the ultimate game changer 10/10

Some of these songs are legitimately great, but it's not hard for whatever feelings you have about Kanye to cloud your judgment of his music. That said, production value slaps but I honestly found myself enjoying the featured artists' contributions more than I did Kanye's. Standout tracks are Runaway & All of the Lights.

What a way to restart the project. Although not my favourite Kanye album, it's still probably his best, and practically perfect. Really funny in places, catchy, good for a workout, good for introspective thought, good for a party... it's just really good. First run of 5 tracks is incredible, next three v good but not for me, RUNAWAY, and a solid stretch to close.

the second half of this album made me levitate

3.5

Separate the person from the music. This is a great album. Kanye is a bad person though.

Not my usual sort, I was determined not to like him based on his public persona. There were a few good tracks, they might grow on me

Dark Fantasy tem bom riff e vocais. All of the Lights também é interessante. So Appalled também tem várias coisas interessantes.

foo

A 4-star start with a 2-star finish.

A bunch of bangers but too many meh songs to be 4 stars

First four songs are one of the best album openers ever. Rest of the album doesn’t keep that level but still good overall.

Not listened to any rap or hip hop before but this was amazing and the production was fantastic. An essential record.

I’m completely biased but this is like my top 5 albums of all time. Runaway and devil in a new dress are masterpieces in music. Kanyeezy you did it again, you a genuis.

Jeezey kableezy, Mr. Yeezy

I knew I wasn't going to enjoy this one the moment it popped up. I'm just not a massive hip-hop fan and not a fan of Kanye either. There were a few songs that piqued my interest but I soon lost interest. I actually found myself skipping through the rest of the album as I just couldn't get into any of it. Certainly not my cup of tea.

Dark Fantasy-7/10 Gorgeous- 3/10 POWER- 6/10 All Of The Lights(interlude)- 5/10 All Of The Lights- 8/10 Monster- 5/10 So appalled- 2/10 Devil In A New Dress- 5/10 Runaway- 5/10 Hell Of A Life- 5/10 Blame Game- 3/10 Lost In The World- 2/10 Who Will Survive In America- 4/10 My Beautiful Dark Fantasy- 4/10

N/A

I’m not into rap but decided to invest in this album. It was worth it. I’m starting to appreciate the esthetic and virtuosity of the performers. I find myself getting into the groove and surprised by the creativity. I’ll have to listen to this again!

Kanye 2024.

Evo ga, evo taj album koji me je vratio da budem fan ovog gospodina neuračunljivog. Ovaj album sam prije 12ak godina slušao nemilo, a i godine kasnije. Zadnje dvije godine nisam nešta posebno, ali znam da je album vrh i ne spominje se ovaj album bezveze maltene svagdje kad se ide rejtat nešta, a pogotovo njegova diskografija. Neću duljiti, bio i osto top od albuma.

Not bad. Was not expecting to like it... but rap has moved quite far from last time I listened to any.

boring. atonal.

quinto album de la discografia de kanye, para muchos el mejor. Para mi quizas el pico del pop rap internacional. Un inicio muy artistico con "dark fantasy" hablando sobre como el cree haber llegado al pico de su carrera y se encuentra sin saber que hacer. Sigue con canciones muy iconicas y populares como son "power" el cual cuenta con samples de historicos del prog-rock (king crimson). Esta obra es muy especial ya que toca miles de topicos, entre ellos el, soul, pop puro, lados mas electronicos y toques barrocos. fav songs: power runaway hell of the life devil in a new dress ✰ realmente no me considero muy fan de kanye pero eso no quiere decir que este album no haya sido excelente en todo aspecto. Miles de samples, miles de referencias, miles de sonidos, sentimientos y formas de escucharlo, yo me voy a dar un tiempo para reescucharlo y entender su sonido. 3/3.5

Ew, Kanye.

I've always loved this album through my 20s and marveled at the absolute genius of kanye west. Now that I'm older, I still marvel at the musical genius but did this self-indulgent lyrical bullsh need to be spewed into the world. Maybe not, or maybe. I'll still give him four stars because the music moves me

Že zaradi principa, ker ga ne maram, nisem želela poslušati tega albuma. Ampak eksperimentalno sem se odločila da pač poslušam. Moram reči, da mi nasplošno rep ni preveč všeč. Nekak sprejemljiva mi je bila prva pesem na albumu, ostalo pa meh. Ne bi ponovno poslušala. Edina okej muzika je Dark Fantasy, ajde. Za silo. Ostalo pa wtf (Blame??)

Cool!

LEgal

112 albums in and we’re onto our third Kanye album! Couple of solid bangers on here but the rest just blended in. 3.5/5

Oh good, more skits about how great a rapper is at having sex.

Once again, I mostly liked a Kanye album, though this one got a bit boring at the end

I don't like Kanye.

Baby I got a plan runaway as fast as you can

Epic

I like Kanye.

Listening to this post Alex Jones interview, it doesn't hit the same, not like it used to

Really not my cup of tea. Very generic sounding 2010's style r&b. I wanna say the autotune parts are the worst, but I think its probably more all the graphical descriptions of sex related stuff.

Enough words have been spilled about the production on this, but... damn. Would be a 5 if I could handle the lyrics for more than half of the songs. I'd love Hell of a Life with different lyrics. Monster and Runaway are absolute bangers. I'll re-listen to most of this I think.

I had never gone out of my way to listen to Kanye in the past so I was going in fairly blind. Some good production and great beats, but I just don't enjoy his rapping. I don't listen to much rap and hip hop, a few things like Run the Jewels, Jurassic 5 or older 80s stuff will catch my attention, but most of it just isn't for me.

The opposite of music I get along with.

It's a great and well produced album, but it's far from being my favorite work from Kanye. I feel like it shortened the gap between rap and pop music, but I'm not sure this is a nice thing. Overall, it's good music, features a handful of well curated samples and a few great special guests. 3.8

I can see why so many love this guy, but not really my thing.

Kayne remains the most obnoxious thing on the planet. Absolutely insufferable. An occasional good bar or beat does not improve on the content of his words.

"Can we get much higher?" Probably not. The production and sampling alone is worth 5/5.

More than a decade after its release MBDTF still stands as a monolith of modern hip hop… Fuck it, modern music in general. If released today it would be just as fresh, progressive and impressive as it was 12 years ago. Best: Dark Fantasy / POWER / All of the Lights / Runaway

Kanye best album, and a valid candidate for the best album of the 2010s this is a masterpiece, filled with gems of songs like Devil in a new dress and runaway. Monster has some of the best rap features ever with nick minaj giving a once in a lifetime verse. I love this album

Kanye’s best work without a doubt. The production on this is impeccable. The features make this special. This is where his craziness and his genius worked for him the best. Every song on this album is good at minimum. Most of them are great. One of the best hip hop albums ever and a fantastic one in general. 9.7/10

A strong epic album - more grand and self indulgent than his debut - but it’s way more mature in a strange way. With his self obsession in a way Kanye transcended himself - along the while making great music.

I understand why he is more popular than the rest - his music is more approachable than most hip hop.

While I dislike Kanye's antics, I'm definitely warming up to his music. Lot's of carefully crafted "songs" with original instrumentation, string quartets (!), talented vocalists & fellow rappers. Plus there are no 1 minute interludes (aka taping a rant by your drunken homey) and few F-bombs. It's rap for old white guys, with nods to King Crimson & Black Sabbath.

I've actually never listened to Kanye West before, well because he's such a monumentally arrogant, narcisstic douche. I avoided anything to do with him and the Kardashian clan like the plague because to me they epitomize everything that is wrong with this world. But 1,001 gave it to me for my homework assignment so I had to give it a spin. Right off the bat, Dark Fantasy samples a relatively obscure piece from Mike Oldfield's In High Places, hey that's pretty cool. POWER then samples King Crimson's 21st Century Schizhoid man, and its seamlessly integrated into the song so it sounds like its been part of that song forever. Whoa, that's impressive! I also hear samples taken from some of my favourite pieces, eg April 14 from Aphex Twin, and You are, I am from Manfred Mann. There are also samples from Gil Scott Heron, Smokey Robinson and Iron Man from Black Sabbath that are really well done. As a self confessed music geek, hearing these samples from obscure musical gems being so well integrated into his songs is truly impressive. And the music itself is also really well done, its complex and superbly produced: All of the Lights, Devil in a New Dress, Runaway, they are all so good. After over 500 albums so far, this is the most impressive new (to me) album that I've heard so far.

I’m not into this music genre.

qué decir de (en mi opinión) el mejor disco de uno de los artistas más influyentes y talentosos de la historia de la humanidad? lo he escuchado muchísimas veces y no termina de gustarme, es la obra maestra de ye, todo lo que le rodea es importantísimo para la música y el arte en general. "runaway": mejor canción de kanye, de las mejores canciones de la historia. en una palabra: histórico

Not one of my favourite artists and this album do nothing to change that opinion. An okay album but just feel there are other rappers out there who have more to offer in terms of song depth and subject matter

He may be a complicated figure, but damn this is amazing music

It all ends with President Kayne West holding the nuclear codes, doesn't it?

Peak Kanye West never better but could possibly have been slightly shorter

College dropout is good. This is not college dropout.

A messy, bloated masterpiece from a truly unique artist at the top of his game. This really is Kanye at his most open, self-aware, and remorseful before he entered full dickhead era

Increíble! 100% recomendado

Kanye is goated truly a genius

I’m definitely being forced to confront a lot of musical hang-ups in this initial run of albums. It’s not exactly a unique opinion to hate on Kanye, and I certainly fall into the category of “detractor”. I’ve also held a lot of reservations about the style of contemporary hip-hop he has helped pioneer. My opinion on Kanye remains unchanged. The guy is repellent and everything he stands for reinforces my puzzlement over his status as an artistic genius. This album is extremely underwhelming when it comes to lyrical content, and does nothing to convince me that hip-hop is held to a complete double-standard by its fans (and we all know why…). Even the more nuanced reflections on tracks like “Gorgeous” are undermined by the Kanye’s asinine commonplace observations. He gives a lot of time on this album to guest artists as well, which offers some respite. However, a strange Stockholm Syndrome began to set in during these prolonged absences and I actually missed the guy’s presence on tracks. And then I realised this album is a real grower in terms of its appeal. Complementing the production is a bit of a given, but it really is spectacular (particularly on “Runaway”, “Monster” and “POWER”). And in that regard I have gained a new appreciation of Kanye as an artist. He unquestionably embodies the hypocrisy and contradictions of his genre, but he’s more of a deliberate conduit than an unwitting victim. I refuse to afford him the luxury of attributing his vacuous artistic sentiment to the refuge of ironic provocation or iconoclasm. Kanye stands for nothing consequential. But there’s something extremely vital about this album which I cannot get away from, and it’s completely down to his singular talent. 100% will revisit in the future.

the ultimate pump up experience. do not listen unless you're ready to break something or fuck something.

"Too many Urkels on your team, that's why your Winslow" As someone who never goes out of their way to listen to Kanye, it's a testament to how prolific his music is that I've heard almost every song from this album. Not a fan of the man but I will give credit that his songwriting skills are excellent and this album is loaded with some absolute bangers. Dark Fantasy, Gorgeous, Power, All of the Lights, Runaway, Devil in a New Dress. Dammit I'm going to give Kanye a 5 aren't I? Didn't like: Monster, So Appalled, Hell of a Life, Blame Game...ok there's enough here to shave off a star. Some other notes: The lineup on Monster is hilarious, Kanye, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj.....and then Bon Iver. That "HHEEHH" sound he makes is like nails on a chalkboard.

I love this album but in recent years I've really come to understand why Fantano gave it a 6. And Kanye himself said he wasn't fond of it overall, saying it wasn't bringing anything new to the table. I see MBDTF as a complete perfection of the music he'd been pulling off since his debut, but it didn't blaze any trails. It was a total flex/victory lap. It's not bad at all though, and has a lot of iconic tracks. Kanye's a little tainted for me recently, though, so not really listening to him anymore.

Qu'est ce qu'il faut pas lire..

certains propos sont dérangeants

Perfection

Enjoyed this way more than I expected.

One of my all time favorites

I'm generally not a Kanye fan, and I had low expectations. This was OK,if a little overlong

Что сказать... 10/10

Kanye really isn't my bag, but I gave it a try. I reached track 4 before I switched to different music.

best songs: all 10/10

While I don't like him personally, it's impossible to deny that Kanye West is a legendary and very influential rapper and music producer. I enjoyed this album a lot and I will continue to listen to his music and try to separate the art from the person.

Kanye West is one of the most overhyped artists of the last 20 years. All the media celebrity paparazzi shit aside, he's just another average post-cool era (mid 80s-96 or so) rapper whose albums have that "rap goes stadium rock" feel and run too long, but for some reason we're throwing his name around like he deserves a place in rock history next to Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. "This is the NEW VIRTUOSITY, does that scare you?" hahaha no, but pls your ideology is showing. Anyway, Kanye's flow constantly falls short (like a lazy feel?), and it becomes really grating. The bits where he tried to actually sing were laughably bad. There were too many slower introspective numbers about whatever is keeping him down blah blah blah. The upbeat songs were mostly the same but with an angry bent. There's fuck all substance here - it tries so sell itself as "smart but from the streets" but nahhhh, it just sounds like high school poetry slam crap. On the plus side, the production is really good. If this was half the length and pretty much only All of the Lights, Monster and a couple of other upbeat songs I could give it a 3, but as it is it's going in the bin. 2/5.

Taylor Swift is the music industry

No stand out tracks for me, background album

Most of this genre sucks and I give them all 1/5 stars. I don't know what it is about Kanye though. This, along with several of his other albums are really great. I'm going to knock down a point just for the unnecessary language... 3.5/5

The best parts of this album are the artists Kanye invites on or lifts entire melodies from, with his own contributions bordering on cringeworthy (saw the 'black balls' line coming from a mile away, and not in a good way). Even the production can't save this one, the track lengths are way too gratuitous and often wear surprisingly minimal ideas down pretty quick. Hard to believe this is the LP that preceded the similarly tongue-in-cheek but way more hard-hitting and tighter 'Yeezus' that would follow three years later.

I was expecting something a little more introspective and subtle? 3 stars

First time I heard this album was at a closet of an apartment in Philly at 3 am in the waning days of 2011 as some guy we were staying with was blasting it and trying to convince us of its greatness when all we wanted to do was sleep. I liked it better this time.

Did NOT like this when it came out. I liked it better this time around.

There was more variety & depth to this than I'd expected but it's not really my sort of album.

Fuck Kanye in 2023 but this is an all-timer. 5-stars just for Minaj's verse on Monster

One of the best albums ever made. Period. Across all genres. Like it or not, this is on par with Pink Floyd or Beatles for great albums, not just with hip hop. The title track is as progressive as rap can be, the features are iconic, his production on this one may be his best. Captivating from beginning to end, and for me, the best he has ever done it.

What an artistry! This is no ordinary hip hop album, this is a music album! Kanye is going places that I have never seen and imagined in this genre ever before! This album is proof that Kanye is just one of those guys that really can pull off anything, no matter how obscure or unorthodox the idea might be

My God. After so many Gen X and Boomer nostalgia trips on this list there's FINALLY another Millennial one. It's been a while. As someone who personally dislikes Kanye West because I'm NOT a misogynistic psychopath, this is a great fucking album. don't get me started on all the pop culture drama (I was Team Taylor before it was cool, let's leave it at that), but in my opinion this was the last actually good album Kanye West put out there. And man, it made me realize how much I miss Kanye West making good music. Are there flaws in this album? Absolutely. The lyrics at times are inconsistent and clunky, there are like 14 writers on multiple songs, and at certain points West's fragile ego shatters the enjoyment of particular tracks. It's funny until it just becomes grating--the south Park Fish Dicks call-out was hilarious because holy shit you sensitive Trump voting snowflake, don't be so precious. But by the time he's bitching about a beef with SNL it's not funny anymore. But. BUT...the production here is incredible. The guest appearances are incredible. West HIMSELF admitted that Nicki Minaj had the best verse in Monster. Holy shit. Consider the source. And it's truly an album of powerhouse appearances: Jay Z with his signature gift for poetic inflection, Rick Ross with killer timbre and flow, even Kid Cudi with his trademark shredding backing tracks. And I say that as someone who fucking hates Kid Cudi as an artist and person (he's an abuser, Google it). John Legend was also there. Sorry, John, you got a little overshadowed. Besides being an album that I reluctantly love, MBDTF gets a strong five stars from me because POWER/All of the Lights/Monster is one of the best track sequences ever recorded. Pure audio perfection. And no track here is BAD, all are totally worth listening to more than once. I probably will. All of that said, I'm holding my nose to give this five stars. Fuck you, Kanye, for making such a good album before becoming a has-been. Fuck you for relentlessly, intentionally trying to destroy the career of a woman who has more songwriting talent in one finger than you do in your whole body. But look who has the last laugh. The culture hates you now and it's LONG overdue. Anyway, excellent album, garbage person. Would listen again, would rant again.

Although I am familiar with Kanye as a cultural figure, of course, I've never actually taken the time listen to any of his music. Kind of always meant to. Today 1001 Albums finally got me to do it. Obviously this is not my type of music but I've learned a lot through the first 200 albums so I feel ready to tackle this album. I'm surprised right away. And impressed. I assumed Kanye's music was good, he is an icon after all, but I didn't expect it to be accessible to me. On the contrary I like the first three tracks a lot, and the interlude is fantastic, dark and beautiful, sounds like it would be right at home in the Westworld soundtrack. Monster is more like I guess I was expecting and I don't love it. So Appalled and Runaway also don't speak to me. But Runaway to the end are pretty cool. Even the songs I don't like as well sound great. Overall interesting and varied but cohesive with moments of pathos and beauty and attitude and humor, plus it just sounds great. An impressive work. What a shame...

Selon mes propres informations, c'est l'entourage de Robert qui a poussé pour que ce dernier intègre au moins un album sorti entre 2005 et 2015 n'appartenant pas à la catégorie indie dans son grimoire. Et quelle bonne idée.

Cet album de Kanye est absolument stratosphérique, et ne fait pourtant pas partie de ses deux meilleurs albums. En effet, étant un pensionnaire des années 2010, certains des plus grands albums de Kanye ont dû être ejectés de la liste pour laisser place à une trentaine d'album d'indie, genre comme vous le savez très cher à Robert.

This is the album that actually got me into Kanye West. I wasn't really a big hip-hop fan before this came out. Now it's one of my favorite genres and I give credit to this album for that. This album is such an adventure. It feels so grand and alive. There's just something special about it. It's even a bit nostalgic now. I still love this record just as much today. 5 stars without hesitation.

This is probably only the third or fourth time that I have listened to this album, but it is one of Kanye's best. I was a big fan of his "college" trilogy and when this album released he was starting to act a little off of the rails. I think that turned me off a little, but I wasted time by not appreciating this album then.

I miss the old Kanye

Light to decent 6. Prefs: Dark Fantasy, Gorgeous, POWER, All of the Lights, Monster, So Appalled, Devil in a New Dress, Runaway, Hell of a Life, Blame Game, Lost in the World Moins pref: le monologue de Blame Game.

Utterly dreadful. One of the worst things I've listened to on this list so far. Monster is the one bright spot on an otherwise derivative turd of an album.

Kanye no.

lycanthropy rap

REFUSE TO LISTEN TO KANYE.

There’s the odd interesting idea in here (the fuzz bass on Hell Of A Life, for example), but I found this monotonous after a while. Even with the various guest stars sampled or roped in to perform alongside Mr West. I also found a lot of the rhymes quite awkward, starting with "Look like a fat booty Céline Dion/Sex is on fire, I'm the King of Leon-a Lewis”. Seemed like wordplay for the sake of it, rather than telling me anything new. I lost interest about half way through, and when I picked it up again near the end, nothing seemed to have changed in terms of tone or pace. Dark & twisted, yes; beautiful? No.

I made it to track number 5, but this just wasn't for me. I'm not a fan of hip hop albums that tell the story of the artist's history. Especially when it's a backstory I have zero interest in.

awful

Runaway is perfection. Samples from all over the place. Love a bit of king crimson in there. Annoyingly good from a personality who is often insufferable.

Listened Before? N This was a fantastic album. I have never heard a single song by Kanye, and this was a good intdroduction. That said, I will probably never listen to it again. I'm usually capable of separating the art from the artist but in this case I don't want to. I already didn't like Kanye, so there's no need to put in some effort to forget he's a giant douche. Added to Library? N Songs added to Playlist: None. I won't give him money.

I remember not being impressed by this when it first came out. I liked some of it but I didn't love it like so many others did. In 2022 I find this a lot more enjoyable for some reason. I feel like if I spend more time with it it could get a 5 out of me. It's a very strong 4, despite Kanye being the unbearable creature that he is.

4 good album. Shame Yeezy is such a fuckin dickhead

Good album! Touches on themes of decadence, self-indulgence, etc. One thing I will always give him credit for is his ability to take a critical look at himself and lay it bare.

Let me start this off by saying that the 'Blame Game' backing track is a straight ripoff from Aphex Twin's 'Avril 14th'. Aphex deserves all of the recognition he can get, so shame on Kanye for not doing right by him. There is a lot to enjoy about this album, and I agree that it is the pinnacle of Kanye's career. There are some great rhymes and techniques at play, Kayne's production skills are on full display, and the collaborations are fantastic (especially Nicki Minaj and JAY-Z on 'Monster'). There are also stark contrasts between and even within tracks that seem to mirror Kanye's continuously tortured state. You've got a track like 'POWER' throwing bravado every direction it can but then culminating in contemplations of suicide. You've also got loads of lines about how they're "f'in B's" and then a seemingly apologetic track like 'Runaway'. It's been sad to see the steady decline of Kayne (at least in the public eye) and this album seems to do a decent job of encapsulating the conflicts that were at play within the man at the time. It is simultaneously resplendent, self-congratulating, chaotic and introspective. I still struggle to separate the artist from the art, so I'm sure that is pulling my rating down here, but the album was much better that I figured it would be, and certainly far superior to anything that Kayne has made since.

I hate the person but the sounds are so good, I can't resist.

This album probably has the best production I have ever seen in a hip hop album. So much care and attention has been made to each second, which is especially incredible considering the lengths of each song. Versatile samples and moods and many collabs keep each song new and exciting. On top of that, there is top-of-the-notch songwriting, with incredible performances by not just Kanye but most of the collabs. You have influences from many genres: RnB, classical, psychedelic, rock, folk, and jazz among others. Dark Fantasy: Straight away blowing us away with the grand production of this album. A repetitive invitive chorus that comes in and out seemingly randomly, even when you think the song is over. Lyrics show first egotistical signs, but there are also some funny and trippy lines, showing us we're in for a psychedelic experience as well. Gorgeous: Loving the Hendrix-esque guitar playing, the hazy voice filter, and the catchy chorus. Great rhymes and flow here but damn he really bitches a lot about how underrated he is, doesn't he? Songs fly by despite their length. POWER: Gives me goosebumps with the crazy production. Grand and confident. Creative use of the King Crimson sample. But he's mostly talking about how great he is again, what the hell? Is this every song? I like how he's able to blend spoken word and rnb singing styles so seamlessly during verses. Satisfying outro envelops you. All of the Lights: Back to back with another candidate for the best song of 2010. An incredible grand collaboration, super anthemic and powerful. I really enjoy the imagery. This and this next song has my favorite verses by collabs, even better than their own songs. Notable examples are Fergie in this and Nicki Minaj in the next. Monster: A fierce and creepy psychedelic track. Love the collabs here again, the overly dramatic styles fit them well, and I wish more songs were like this. I actually started to like Nicki Minaj for the first time, but honestly besides Super Bass this is probably her best performance. So Appalled: Yeezus, another major collab. Another eery track, the samples capture the hopeless dystopian mood and images. Love how defeated all of the rappers sound, especially in the closing "fucking ridiculous" lines. Devil in a New Dress: My personal favorite track and the most psychedelic. Love the dreamy voice and strings samples, with some beautiful accompanying lyrics by Kanye. Huge fan of the fuzzy Hendrix-esque guitar in the bridge, providing necessary peace and ambiance. The sudden end was nice, pulling the audience out of the trance. Runaway: The 9 minute ballad centerpiece. Still manages to fly by. My favorite verses by Kanye are here. Super emotional and powerful yet again. Really takes his time with this piece, never rushing anything. Hell of a Life: Sounds like it came off his previous album 808 and Heartbreak. Somehow the weakest yet still a great song with creative samples and synths, clever lines and subject matter, and superb production efforts. Blame Game: Another fantastic heartbreaking ballad, and I'm a fan of the strings. Huge fan of that long ending. Lost in the World: A song both fitting for Bon Iver's style and as a followup to 808 and Heartbreak. Cool and catchy with a powerful closer that flows into the closing spoken word track reminiscent of the 60s civil rights movements, with a cool afrobeat in the background. Grand way to end the album, although the clapping is pretty funny considering his ego.

I don't know what it was in 2010, but I passed on this when it came out after 1/2 a listen. And I really enjoyed Kanye's earlier albums. Putting aside his modern day antics and terrible output, this album missed me and it shouldn't have. Production is incredible, lyrics are interesting, guests are incredible, only 1 track wears out its welcome even though many are very lengthy. I've got a couple saved new classic tracks out of it.

Ego = Genius. At least here. This is the record where Ye started to lose it on a personal level, and yet what a gain for music. Yeezus is leaner, crispier and strikes harder than MBDTF, but the latter is certainly the richest, catchiest and most sprawling of the two propositions Tracks such as "Runaway", with that simple yet insanely efficient piano part, "Power", with its soulful African vocals, "All Of The Night", with its maddeningly sinuous horns, or "Monster", that mean psychotic banger with that killer featuring by Nicki Minaj, are the stuff of legend. Kanye West is, simply put, the Gertrude Stein of hip hop. What he does sometimes doesn't make a lot of sense at first, like with those weird lyrics, or that strange flow--besides, who can sample *both* Mike Oldfield and Gil Scott-Heron in the same frigging album? But the more you pay attention to those sorts of details and how they intricately woven into the whole, the more they can affect you, at least during that run of classic albums from the early 10s. And just like Stein, that old modernist writer of days yonder, Ye had a keen, very *American*, sense of how to promote his weird stuff to the wider world. This is how he will be remembered in the decades to come. As an American oddity. Because, let's face it, right? Americans are all a little crazy, aren't they? Number of albums left to review or just listen to: 911 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 49 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 25 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): 19

I think I've cracked my issue with Kanye. He's clearly an extremely talented producer and so he has this ability to make ridiculously catchy, epic-sounding tunes. But he ultimately undercuts his own genius because the size of his ego will not let him recognise that his lyricism and vocals are really quite mediocre, by far the worst part of his work (cringe-inducing comedy skits aside). I swear to god, if you just look at things like the instrumentals on "Power" or the Rihanna half of "All of the Lights" this is a four-possibly-five-star album. But Kanye is Kanye, and Kanye needs to be the centre of attention. He's made his own masterpiece tangibly worse by his need for personal glory and more than anything, it's really disappointing. Also that Chris Rock skit is fucking awful and it's extremely shitty that he tried to rip off Aphex Twin.

Generally its very impressive but, man, some of these lyrics are a bit edgelord

Too much swearing for me, but good beats

On the first listen I found the music quite entertaining and the Kanye started rapping and ruined it all. By the end of the second listen I was glad that it was over.

I thought I was going to hate it.

Kanye’s masterpiece. Probably the greatest record of the 2010s. An astonishing record, almost too much to listen to, it’s maximalist sound wrecking havoc on the senses. All the players bring their A game (stand up Nicki Minaj for best verse on the album/best verse of that year) to create a truly compelling album of considerable depth, Kanye putting his innermost, darkest feelings into art, reshaping the world around him as all truly inspirational artists do. Compelling, urgent, essential. Kanye is a genius.

Exceptional

Great samples and production, but still felt rather soulless.

As rap goes, this is very good, but I really don't like rap at all.

The first time I’ve ever listened to Kanye West with any real interest, and it was ok. Some songs were good, some songs were bad. Don’t see myself actively going back to it.

I am not a Kanye fan but this was mostly good.

Yeezy’s production and beats are undeniably meticulous. His rapping is OK, but he’s no lyrical genius and there are some really lazy lines, the most glaring one being the ‘pussy in a sarcophagus, bruised her oesophagus’ line on ‘Monster’. Just cringe. The guest rappers and artists are better and provide most of the album’s highlights. Overall though, I find MBDTF way too bloated and self-indulgent to be considered a classic in my book.

Regrettably still amazing

Another great sounding hip hop record. I really had no idea how talented Kanye West is. Yes the record is too long but I hardly notice because each song real substance and stands on its own as a piece. The longer songs never wear out their welcome. A testament to his inate ability to keep things flowing and accessible. 4 🌟

never.

Despite only being two years after Ye's album in 2008, MBDTF feels like it was a decade in the making. The production has a perfect blend of stuff that we love him for, like using his own voice to make a guitar riff on the end of "Runaway" like on 808sAHB or sampling vocals on "Devil In A New Dress". The cover art is interesting, because it might be the most iconic one on a Ye album. Kanye Bear is iconic, but the fact that the cover is mostly censored makes this more iconic while thinking of it. This album is packed of features, and it can either be a blessing or a curse. For example, Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross and Kid Cudi kill it on the retrospective tracks that that are on, however some features just leave me with a bad taste in my mouth I feel like they could've removed JAY-Z's verse from "Monster", because it feels like he didn't understand what the track was even about. Chris Rock ruins the would-be-great "Blame Game", since the joke runs out if you just repeat it. My favourite track would have to be "POWER". I know that it is a bit overplayed, but the fact that it took over 1 000 hours just shows how dedicated Ye was to get respect back from the industry after they painted him as an asshole after the VMAs incident. My least favourite track would have to be "All Of The Lights". The track has like a thousand features on it, and I don’t think that anyone really sounds good on it except for Rihanna. 8/10

LP

The man is conceited and thinks he is way better than he is. I’ve rated other albums pretty low, but I will say this is a pretty great listen.

Kanye is ass.

Starting out quite boring. It gets better with "all of the lights" and is really good with "Monster". However i liked the guest artists more than Kanye Wests performance. All in all great production with some great songs but (to me) far from a great album. Mind you, i'm usually not much into Hip Hop, allthough i liked n.w.a. a couple of days back.

Love this. Had never paid attention to Kanye west before- not sure why. This is fun, innovative, fresh hip hop.

Yeah this sucks. Monster is about the only decent song, perhaps since it barely feature Kanye.

Very nice

Funny and charming, with memorable moments.

Not my thing but very listenable… brash US pop.

Parts of this were much better than I remembered, and others were very "Kanye 1.0" (which I found a little grating at the time, and more now).

Kjánalegt nafn á þessari plötu. Hún rennur annars ágætlega, ekki leiðinlegt en ég þarf ekki að hlusta aftur.

3.5 / maybe change if i listen to more rap

If I heard this before Yeezus, I would have hated that one even more, because this cements Kanye as being able to construct consistently amazing songs. Still not a fan of him as a vocalist or lyricist though, so it's a good thing this has loads of guest features on it. Also, the last three tracks could get cut and it would make the album better in my opinion.

I hate Kanye. I hate everything about him, everything he has ever done, and that feeling will never change. He is a garbage human being and a terrible musician. The world is a worse place for his existence. "It's a Wonderful Life" but in reverse.

Some good beats, clearly setting a template for a lot of what we're still hearing now. Big stars too. He's an angry dude though, lost his sense of humour when he got successful

Better than I though it was going to be

If you accept that an inflated sense of self-importance is a prerequisite for any rap/rock/pop/whatever star, then Kanye ultimately proved himself to be a decent bloke on his first two masterpieces through the generosity of his musical genius and his literary-comedic ability to conceptualise. That makes this—his third masterpiece—the odd one out. Despite the attempts of ‘Power’ or ‘Monster’, there’s nothing here to rival the social commentary of ‘We Don’t Care’, ‘All Falls Down’, ‘Heard ‘Em Say’ or ‘Gold Digger’. What you get instead is monstrously inward looking, an artist on the brink of being overrun by a megalomania previously under his control. To make up for the absence of brilliant storytelling—much harder to do when you’re mostly just bragging—he ups his rap game, throwing his name into the hat with legends (Raekwon) and legends-in-the making (Minaj). His lyrics are frequently brilliant: "And what's a Black Beatle anyway, a fuckin' roach? / I guess that's why they got me sitting in fuckin' coach”, “They say I was the abomination of Obama's nation / Well, that's a pretty bad way to start the conversation”, “Runaway slaves all on a chain gang / Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.” But however hard he works, he’ll never have a top-tier flow. And so, as ever, his saving grace is the music, which is a jaw-dropping and gag-worthy display of opulence—astonishing and appalling in equal measure. That internal tension is precisely the point. Kanye’s main theme has always been self-consciousness. In essence, that means calling out his own bullshit, and boy does he have a lot of it. He can’t resist decadence, but is repulsed by it. ‘Runaway’, for instance, is unutterably gorgeous despite overrunning by about five minutes, with Kanye plonking away at the same two piano keys and mumbling incomprehensibly through autotune. The Roald Dahl intro, Gil-Scott Heron outro, false finish to ‘Dark Fantasy’, Chris Rock diatribe on ‘Blame Game’—all excessive, yet all essential. But however many times he changes direction as he makes a break for paradise, then double-back and heads for damnation, he can’t escape those pounding drums. They’re soul-stirring and shit-scary. Way before the final track, where the African rhythms come to the foreground, they sound like they’re coming from the depths of the jungle. Bloody, visceral, and irrepressible, he can't outrun them. They're the beating of his heart of darkness.

samples Avril 14, instant 5 stars.

I have avoided this record because I always want to avoid Kanye. But if I’m being truly objective, there were several parts of this record I liked: Power, All the Lights, and Runaway in particular. I’ll take some solace in knowing that each song has about 10 people credited so who knows how much of it is actually his creation.

Rap muy melódico. Muy muy chulo

Early kayne.. what’s not to like. Have to try very hard to separate the artist from the art though!!

Could listen to again. Not that Google speaker will let me listen to anything other than the instrumental version.

I've listened to this several times over the years to see what all the fuss is about, and still, I find this so boring. The lyrics, beats, and Kanye's rapping style are all so uninteresting. Even the bigger moments, like Power and All the Lights, are more impressive and less boring but not enough for me to return back to. And everything is surrounded by this arrogant air that Kanye thinks he is making this classic piece of art, which makes everything worse. I think 2 stars is being generous, even though I wouldn't say I liked any of the songs, I don't consider it to be terrible.

Brought me back to my college days when I'd listen to this album on repeat.

Kanye has just gotten crazier and crazier over time, but this album is pretty good.

Bleh

This album is a superb mess. Separating the artist from the work gives it a 4/5. Throwing in the current scandals makes some of the songs like Monster incredibly chilling.

What an album. You wish he'd taken his own advice when you hear Kanye struggle with the trappings of fame and how he treats women. Definitely a separate art from artist album

En tant que mélomane, j’aime qu’on stimule mon intérêt par des surprises, de la diversité et, évidemment, une qualité de production. Cet album contient tout ça.

þetta er með betri plötum sem ég hef hlustað á, no skips, allt geðveik lög, topp 3 kanye plata

Can we get much higher? No one bread should have all that flour

West has more of a reverence for his words and story telling than many of his genre peers. He makes the songs thoughtful. As someone who is not necessarily a fan of rap, I nonetheless enjoyed this

Great album with longer ranty songs.

I've never really seen the appeal of Kanye. His public persona aside, his music has always just been kind of "meh" for me. Opening track, Dark Fantasy, does nothing to improve this; sounds like it was written and recorded by a 12 year old. There are some decent guest appearances, and a couple of good hooks, but overall I didn't really enjoy this.

5/5 I will say it's a little front-loaded, and I don't think that Blame Game needs to be 7 minutes just to hear Chris Rock talk about Yeezy teaching women how to sex good. Hell of a Life sampling 21st Century Schizoid Man is real good too. It's all really good. Like really really good.

Production is fantastic. Takes a little to get running, but from "POWER" and onwards, it's amazing. Bangers and wonderful atmospheric jams like the fantastic "Runaway". Nicki Minaj's feature on "Monster" is nuts.

I used to find Kanye as a whole, and this album in particular, highly overrated. Despite his numerous attempts to make me discredit him over the years, though, I have really grown to appreciate his earlier work. I still struggle a little with this one, though, but I’ll admit that it’s mostly overhype. But there are definitely tracks here that I think stand among his best, ie Monster, All of the Lights. I remember being bugged by him sampling King Crimson and Sabbath, but those also work very well. Gonna go with a C. It’s a little all over the place for me.

POWER and All of the Lights are absolute bangers Probably the best Kanye album? At least it's the last one where his ambition and ego were still positives fueling his creativity before getting diminishing returns on subsequent albums. Great beats, exceptional hooks, great use of samples. Runaway and Blame Game feel a little overlong, and there is a bit of a forecasting of the born-again religious direction he would take on his more recent albums. 4/5

I’m firmly in camp 808s/Graduation, but this is also good. The features range from great (“Monster,” “Runaway”) to weird (“Lost in the World”), but the production is exceptional throughout. Kanye’s eccentricity is on full display here, bursting out in some great rhymes and ambitious creativity, but it’s a maybe a little too much “out there” for my tastes. I don’t see myself coming back to this. 2.5

ehhh... it was ok.

Iconic best of the 2010s rap album or any album at all. Kanye’s current persona makes it harder to revisit. Still hits though and it’s fun to go back to.

"George Bush hates Kanye," and frankly so do I. But this album is better than I'd like to admit. To quote Obama, "he's a jackass..." https://www.politico.com/video/2012/04/obama-calls-kanye-a-jack-ass-012679

This album is like a perfect encapsulation of what an unfortunate mess of an artist and person Kanye is. I listened to "College Dropout" and "Late Registration" back in the day, but I don't think I listened to any Kanye after that except for the hits and singles. And now its been so long that I wonder if those early albums are as deeply flawed or if his mental health brought both his personal life and his professional work down dramatically. Because unlike hellyeah, I do think there are flashes of brilliance on "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy." But the brilliance is absent from some songs, and when it is most brilliant it manages to squander said genius on the same track. "POWER" and "All of the Lights" have great foundations and hooks with the makings of all-time greats, but the execution just isn't there all the way through, with Kanye getting in his own way and messing up a good thing. Some of the other songs are just obnoxious from the outset, or overly long, or combination of the two. The album really seems just as bipolar as the man himself. And then I wondered if maybe that was the concept and it was all very intentional? But it turns out Kanye said "Dark Fantasy was my long, backhanded apology. You know how people give a backhanded compliment? It was a backhanded apology. It was like, all these raps, all these sonic acrobatics. I was like: 'Let me show you guys what I can do, and please accept me back. You want to have me on your shelves.'" An apology for being a jerk? An apology for veering away from his earlier sound on "808s?" Doesn't matter. I definitely didn't feel apologized to while listening. And an apology should maybe tone down the ego a bit? I know rap music is almost always going to have ego as an integral element, but the egomania was running wild from Kanye here. And as the "Yeezy taught me" segment with Chris Rock droned on and on, I was done. I wanted to give it 3 stars for a while to honor the brilliance that kept being squandered, but in the end I just can't.

So torn here. I really like some of the MUSIC on this album. Did Kanye write it? He had some amazing musicians & producers working on it with him, so how much if the music is due to them and not him? On the other hand, I pretty much hate every word that comes out his mouth, and I’m gonna put that squarely on his egotistic, misogynistic, wacko shoulders. What a shame. What a waste.

Some of the samples and hooks are really catchy. It’s Kanye’s rhymes that are often delusional or just bad.

Honestly, many Kanye songs are absolutely re-listenable. But while on some days this might be closer to a 3.5 for me, it got bumped down half a star because I have trouble reconciling his belief in his own genius with lyrics like this: "'Cause the same people that tried to black ball me forgot about two things, my black balls"

I’ve heard Kanye called and idiot-savant. I do not think he is a savant. I think the Bluetooth connection to my auto was wonky because there were two very long periods of silence when I listened. One was almost 5 minutes and the other was over 7. At first I was annoyed that Kanye thought these extended silences were artsy. What a waste of my time. Then I finally realized that I liked the silence more than his misogyny and lame ass suck my balls lyrics. Consolation prize: most of the beats are worth listening to.

I'm no fan of Kanye West's public personality, but this album was great!

The peak of Kanye's genius. Before he went full spiral. Love this album. Fav Tracks: "Dark Fantasy" "Runaway" "Power" "All Of the Lights" "Monster"

Muza fajna, rapsy nie

Uma das obras primas de YE.

First time listening to Kanye West. Some of the instrumental is ok but I wouldn't listen again.

I mean this has been one of my favorite albums since it was released. Almost every song on here is a beast (or, dare I say, Monster) in its own way. The beats, the rapping, the features all just work so well and create a masterpiece. 10/10

A vague mix of hip-hop, rap, and pop with no originality and no soul. The melodies don't get any development, and the lyrics are just there to fill up the time. Also, what is the point of featuring other artists on some of the songs if they all sound the same anyway?

Una de les poques obres crucials de l'última década i segurament el millor disc de hip hop de la història. Tot ell és excels, perfecte, un home en el màxim de les seves qualitats i amb tota l'ambició, coneixements i experiència per executar-les. És llarg, de més d'una hora, però no sobra un sol minut

More melodic than I expected but the loops and expletives ruin it for me.

Not normally a fan of Kanye, but can hear why this made it into the 1001 list, great album, just a pity about the personality.

Every time I hear n***** I hate a song. I'm an old fart who occasionally likes hip-hop, but I find it so cliched and repetitive, and that's the worst cliche. The second cliche is the name-checking that goes on with the intense self-interest that most of the lyrics feature. So far this is living up to the cliches. Cliche three is their hatred of women. "So Appalled" is the ultimate joke, with one of these idiots busily yelling out, "F****** ridiculous, " as his contribution to art. The rest of them spout out whiny, misogynistic crap. Ok, I give up. I'm bored. I lasted 9 songs. Musically it is interesting, almost orchestral. Lyrically... they whine more than a faulty gearbox. I'm giving it two stars because one star means an album has nothing to recommend it. This has some good sounds. I wish they'd just shut up.

Wenn man sich den Gesang wegdenkt ist es besser, aber trotzdem nicht so meins.

Schon kreativ und abwechlungsreich, am interessanten fand ich eigentlich alles was nicht der Rap vom Kanye ist (zb die Samples und die Gastrapperinnen, vor allem Nicki Minaj auf Monster). Zeitweise aber auch längen drinnen.

I have mixed feelings about this album, mainly because I associate it with stuff that was happening in my life around the time it was released. But all up, it's a good album. Kanye's got some issues and he's working through them, as all his best albums are centred on. "Monster" is a stand-out track, and yes, the Nicki verse is epic - but there are plenty of other great tracks. Why, let me tell you of the time a boy made me a mixtape that ended with "Blame Game".

Whats has Kanye ever done for us....... Well this is my first listen to this and I am surprised at the content, some interesting fusion stuff. I must admit that even that this was post his Taylor Swift Rant I am drawn to his inventiveness and his (I Hope) tongue in cheek view of populism...so is his pro trumpism really irony, to see how far they would let him go? Has some credit this album but an overuse of Autotune and some dodgy lyrics. I liked "Runaway"

Best Song: Gorgeous. Obviously Runaway stands out, but Gorgeous feels like it has Kanye in his rarest form. Lyrically might be the best of the album, and the whole seems tense and ready to attack. Worst Song: So Appalled. The chorus is not good enough to repeat as often as they do. The song also suffers from having a somewhat sleepy production and trying to immediately follow Nicki's verse on Monster. Overall: Expertly produced. The beats are fantastic, the samples scratch itches you didn't know you had, nearly every feature works. Kanye even has his lyrical ducks mostly in a row, but still throws in the occasional goofball bar.

runaway as fast as you cannnnnnnnnnnnn

Never listened to Kanye before. Really Good beats and i enjoy melodic line of the rhymes. lyrical content i mostly ignored, didn't really interessted me.

Amazing production. Very vibey. The first Kanye i ever heard. Very unique and inspirational

Not my kinda music but not bad Don't really like the way he talks about women though

A real iconic album from Kanye and a great follow up from 808s & Heartbreak. There are several songs on the album that are still in rotation on many playlists (as of Jan 2022) that never fail to please. At times throughout it can be a bit self-indulgent with the extra long tracks. (9 min+). Best: Power; Monster Worst: Devil In a new Dress

É desses discos de rap, pop, essa coisa que eu não sei bem onde começa e onde termina, mas que é bom, massa de ouvir no fone. vale a pena dar mais uma olhada com calma, descobrir as músicas mais mais. Destaques para: Runaway, POWER e Blame Game.

Gawd awful drivel, incessant drone, and pretentious barely begin to describe this work of a genius.

😈

This album was the third and final Kanye album to blow my mind. It's so maximalist and orchestral. Nobody else could have made it. And every track is a single. From Pink Floyd as hip hop banger about self loathing, Runaway, to let's launch a whole career and make Jay Z look part time of Monster, to the vocoder choral genius of Lost in the World. Everything has something. If I wanted to hate it, there is the overlong Chris Rock skit 'Yeezy taught me' thing, and possibly the early signs of the mania that would harm his music over the next decade. But that's clutching at straws. This is a one off, an insanely ambitious album that transcends it's genre.

Don’t believe the hype. Disappointed. Heard this was a modern classic, a piece of genius that has influence so many. Pretty average and garbage in places. Won’t be listening again. An embarrassment to hip hop

Just not into it.

Would have given 5 if it weren’t for auto tuning and some v v dodgy lyrics

If you don’t listen to the lyrics, this is an incredible, multi-dimensional album with such creative sound. But, I hate the lyrics. Can you separate the dancer from the dance?

Not a fan.

Dark Fantasy - Intro reminded me of "Night Before Christmas", leads to some electronicially clean gospel vibes, then a verse which starts with the classic "ye, ye", Family Matters pun wins some points for sure. Monster - Absolutely amazing, especially Nicki Minaj So Appalled - RZA kills it Runaway - Beautiful song

Sorry, no. I tried but it's just horrible.

I’m not a fan. Not my go to choice music but gave it a chance to listen through. I found the vocals and voice had to listen to, and whilst musically there certainly were high points, there were too many low one for me. Can see why it may be popular though.

rap is really not my thing, but this was a solid album. Devil in a dress and Runaway were my favorites, great songs, really liked them. Monster was also fun.

Love hip-hop but 80s and early 90s

Kanye certainly has things to say. An album filled with a lot of variety, and perhaps one of my favorite songs that I didn't know existed - Runaway.

Never took Kanye West seriously either. All I really know about him is he’s a batshit crazy cringe lord. Maybe so, and yet. Still can’t stand boast songs and there are a couple that would be better if there were no vox, but damn if it doesn’t sound really, really good end to end.

A guy invited you to his place. Apparently, he wanted to show something, something "special," something that he wanted to show everyone. That guy is not the most decent guy that you know. You recall the incident that he made during a gathering. He interrupted a congratulatory celebration for a girl, shouting that another girl is "the best". That incident either kindled or intensified the fiery feud between him and that particular girl. He stayed in another place most of the time after the incident, working on something. Now he's done, and he'll show the product to people. All of your thoughts were dissolved - at least temporarily - the second you entered his home. At first you can't make out a single thing, because at every corner and at every edge there is FLASH. It was a set of colossal artworks that apparently expressed his thoughts and feelings. Everywhere you look, there is something to be astonished to. Your eyes can barely have a break. After a while, you get exhausted of it. The flashes are mostly gone, but the remaining ones are still incredibly jaw dropping. Now, you began to chew the dense and complex artwork. While he DID worked hard for that something, it won't be there if not for the help of a lot of people -- most of which have BIG names. What is this? You think. Why does he want to show this excessive and self indulgent display? It's admittedly impressive, even jaw-dropping. The way the art was made, or PRODUCED, was awesome. But you couldn't help but be torn between judging the art and the artist. Of course one can judge the art without while not taking note of the artist, but this art seems to scream the artist's name in every corner. The almost immature and egoistic way the message or the thoughts were presented isn't very easy to ignore. But perhaps that's what it's all about: presenting one's ego, topped with enough bling-blings to obscure it's stench. Isn't that what hip-hop, or even art in general, is all about? Perhaps it's too naïve to say that. Fortunately, you didn't know a lot about that guy. and maybe even if you did, you'll still at least enjoy this giant one-inch-thick-icing-coated cake of an effort.

Hate to say it, but its sort of nice listening on the side.