My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Blegh. Not for me.

Nah

Had some exceptional moments, but they were just too few and far between for me.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Här får man verkligen göra skillnad på verk och person. Personen Kanye är skräp men albumet riktigt bra. Det är jämnt och har inga stinkers, som sämst är det riktigt bra. Favoriterna är Dark Fantasy, Monster och Runaway. Men gillar även Power, All of the lights, Blame Game. Men som sagt det är inget spår som jag inte gillar. Väntade mig inte att jag skulle gilla detta så mycket. Har såklart hört mycket tidigare men hade ingen relation till albumet.

Absolutely amazing - did not realize how bombastic this whole album was and just an experience. Makes you miss the old Kanye,

Kanye, mate...you do realise that your heroes hate you, right?! Hitler would have sent you to the gas chambers because you're Not Aryan. Trump would gladly have you shot in the street by his personal death squads because you're Not White. You are the Suella Braverman of hip-hop. A useful idiot. Massive twat.

Продакшн у песен классный, каждая песня уникальна, но я не особый поклонник такого репа как у канье, поэтому 3/5

Probably a 4.5. So close to being a 5. So many classics on it

Surprised myself. I liked this. Some interesting musical stuff going on. And good beats. He can’t sing - but probably doesn’t need to.

A few tunes on it. Feel that Kanye is seriously overrated. In terms of rap/hip hop I feel there are so many albums that could go in place of this one.

The beats are good, the lyrics are shit. Won't come back to that.

Not a bad album for kanye

2nd kanye album and im only like 10 albums in. i know this album. i haven’t heard every song on it though. he makes great music..

Great beats and orchestrations. Genius with a rather twisted mind for sure.

I'm not listening to nazi music. I'm shocked this is even on the list.

It's really hard for me to enjoy Kanye's music with his statements and actions in recent years. However, I've always loved some of his early work. He is such a great producer.

garbage.

Great production and sampling, great features, but its a bad bad sign when the weakest part of a rap album is the main artist's rapping. This is not helped by the fact that a lot of Kanye's lyrics are laughable now that he's gone full mask-off. Even with that the album's still pretty good. Not good enough to justify a 10/10 Pitchfork review, and certainly not good enough to justify why we all collectively decided to put up with Kanye for however long, but still.

love it

Went into it a bit skeptical being my first Kanye album but really enjoyed a lot of the songs. I had already heard Runaway and POWER but the experimental production works so well. This feels like a coherent project while not being too pretentious. The sound goes back and forth throughout and the samples have great variety. Super cool stuff.

I haven't heard this album in years, I used to love it when I was a teenager. Now I just don't think its for me any more, I find Kanye's lyrics and delivery to just be really awkward and honestly bad a times, the production is nice of course, but I don't feel its as ground-breaking as people would have you believe. Also, I don't really understand the appeal behind Runaway, that piano loop is so boring, and there's just not really a whole lot going on in the song I feel to earn its length. I really like blame game and Gorgeous, I think all of the songs are definitely well crafted, but I just find the majority of them to be only fine.

I'll try to be objective and just listen to this without prejudice - but I have a very strong negative opinion of this guy just based on his public persona - so we'll see. I've never once listened to any Kanye West music - plus I'm not real familiar with most hip hop - so my expectations are very low. After listening through it twice... I thought this would be better without the vocals. The vocals aren't bad or annoying but it gets tiring listening to the endless self centered, egotistical, "I'm the best, I get all the women, everybody loves me, I got all the money and the best consumer products" sentiment. It seems like fake bravado masking an incredibly deep insecurity. And the drama about haters and beefs with specific people aren't interesting at all - it's like some incredibly dumb Jerry Springer shit. For these reasons "All of the Lights (Interlude)" - which is an instrumental - was the best song on the album. I thought it was cool that he had a whole song with Gil Scott Heron ("Who Will Survive in America") - but seems like Gil Scott Heron and Kanye are really very different people with vastly different perspectives on the world so was surprised he did this. The most honest song on the album is "Runaway" - which is literally telling people to get away from him since he's such an asshole. At least it was a slight bit of self-awareness. I admit this is probably my hip hop and Kanye West ignorance talking here, but - I will add that I can't really tell what exactly Kanye West is doing. He has so many writers, producers, guest rappers and samples - that I'm not sure I can pinpoint his specific contributions versus any of the others. I do think the music is interesting and well put together, but my life will be just fine if I don't listen to any of this again. And besides, Kanye West doesn't need one more person feeding his ridiculous ego or enabling him to get more money so I won't be clicking like on any of these songs. This is just not for me I guess. Liked songs on Spotify: 0/13 Rating: 1/5 (should be zero)

Given the path Kanye has taken it’s difficult to assess this album in and of itself, but I’ll try... On the positive side, the instrumentals and ‘opulent’, ‘maximalist’ production (including the choices of samples) are excellent throughout. Some tracks in the second half are dragged out, however; the Chris Rock skit on ‘Blame Game’ is a particularly egregious example of this bloating. More problematic was that, common to lots of hip-hop, I also found many lyrics to be pretty off-putting. It’s so good musically, however, that I can’t give less than 3 stars. Won’t be listening to it again though.

This review is just on the album as presented and not his later boner for Adolf. It's decent, but very overrated IMO - quite a lot of clunky rhymes in there, the beats are a mixed bag. That said, I'll still never really get over using a Mike Oldfield deep cut as a sample.

Well, should've expected that Kanye would show up at some point. I've always tried to keep songs separate from the musician, but Kanye kept being such a fucking asshole that I couldn't take it anymore and removed all of his songs from my playlists. Which is a shame, because listening back to this album reminded me how much I really liked his music. Hopefully he's finally getting the name he needs, but knowing Kanye's previous attempts, it's fully possible that he'll decide to double down again.

Man if only he hadn't lost his mind after this one

We had it good back when Kanye was on his meds.

Its a great album from a not so great guy

Big big album. Over produced as hell, sometimes to it's detrimental, others to it's benefit. Some incredible features. A good chunk of this album is really great, but for parts gets buried.

Listened to it spread over the weekend but had some good songs I had never heard before

this is unfortunately a 5.

King crimson samples and interesting guitar work, song structures well put together, I hate that I liked this so much

Ohh definitely a case of separating the art from the artist. Clearly Kanye/ye is a very disturbed person and not well, but wow this album, which I remember had all the plaudits at the time but I kind of ignored, is 21st century hip hop at its peak. The abomination of Obamas nation has produced this dark and twisted fantasy classic. Not sure I like Blame Game,needlessly gratuitous but Who Will Survive in America is 21st century Gill Scott Hetron 5 out of 5 for me.

Nazi prick

Not giving kanye listens

Na

10/10 Favorites: Dark Fantasy POWER All Of The Lights Monster Devil In A New Dress Runaway

There really isnt much left to say about this album. Its amazing and a major blueprint for the 2010s soundscape. The features blend the 00s into the 10s mega stars in a way only Kanye could have curated. The production is incredible with a wide range of samples and original compositions interwoven in a masterclass of Hip-Hop. I think its funny the global reviews are like "Sometimes you gotta separate the artist from the art to enjoy something" and its like ???? Not with Kanye. This is his brain and he has clearly shown us how beautiful, dark and twisted the entire thing is. Favorite Verse: Rick Ross Devil in a New Dress Favorite Bar: "If God had an iPod I'd be on his playlist" Favorite Songs: Gorgeous, Runaway, Devil in a New Dress Extra Credit for people in the global reviews: Runaway Movie (Weird movie Kanye did for this album): youtube.com/watch?v=Jg5wkZ-dJXA Dissect Podcast breaking down every single second of this album: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1uTOUY3wPxWAOCoOEuw9nF?si=fblAvfIQQxSRzLy0w0FfXA

Production on this is excellent, really influential and genre defining. Production alone does not really make for a great album however. There were definitely great songs on here, I really liked Lost in the World, Gorgeous and Power on here. The album gets into a bit of a lull around halfway and doesn't really get out of that. The lyrics were a bit hit or miss too, sometimes they're really powerful and other times they suck.

Nope. Fuck Kanye

hiphop albums are so interesting to me theyre almost always heavy on collaborations. ganda ng songs im pretty sure some of the lyrics are 💯 faves: all of the lights, runaway, monster

I was never a Kanye fan til getting absolutely blown away by this album. Extremely disappointed in his current trajectory.

He was so talented

I've never heard a Kanye album. In fact, I think I've only ever heard that Gold Digger song, and it was annoying as all hell. But I know that people loved him, before he turned into a twat. I suspect he has always been a twat. But did he make good music? Hip hop can often be difficult for me to assess. Do I like the song because I like the song, or do I like the song because it samples songs I like, and it's those songs in actually enjoying rather than the new thing. Somewhere in the middle I suppose. There's no getting away from some of the bangers here. Kanye's voice is annoying and nasal in places, but at least it isn't loaded up with squeaky effects like the shite you hear today. And the lyrics aren't all about money, women, and guns - though there's plenty of that.

When he’s good he Yeezy when he’s bad he’s a bloody nazi, great album but not as good a collage drop out

jammer dat hij een neo nazi is

Ik luister ni echt naar rap, maar dit was echt goed

bangerrrr KANYEEE IS THE GOAAAAAT

1. misschien een van de beste intro's van al zijn albums 2. Insane hits met de beste van die tijd

Ik ben niet zo een fan van rap. Kanye zijn stekte zit hem volgens mij dan ook niet daar maar bij het kiezen van de goeie samples en het gebruik van autotune. Also fuck kanye

Pretty unfamiliar with Kanye apart from the common knowledge that he's an insane person. The lyrics suggest he's a deeply insecure person (which is weird because I was under the impression he was just a narcissist). The majority of the music on this album was just ok, however, when a song is exceptional, it is truly exceptional. I just wish the lyrics were better. It seems like he should just be a producer. Even with the often bad lyrics he's got a great sense of sound for the vocals which is often funny as a result. 👍POWER, Runaway

This album highlights how talented west is. I don’t often listen to Kanye, probably he’s more known songs but there is some gems in this.

Great album

532/1001

I’m not listening to this Nazi, fuck right off. Don’t care how great his albums are they aren’t getting any listens from me.

a perfect album this and Late Registration changed my life. it goes downhill from here (yeezus is good tho)

I like other Kanye better. I like other music better. I think the middle school locker room aura has tainted the listening experience a bit for me.

This was not really my genre, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. Lots of awesome grooves, great flow/rhymes, just generally a fun listen. I hate Kanye West as a person, but as a musician he has (or at least had) undeniable talent. Four stars.

4/5 because Kanye is sketchy now

unfortunately, a perfect album

whoever was on that electric guitar the whole album was insane. That was my fav part of this album. Also the Nicki feature was so nostalgic to hear. The production in this phenomenal.

Great beats but the flow seems ill-timed and just random over top

Almost a 4. I really liked this album.

Some songs absolutely slap. Others were just okay. I’d say 4/5

It's a classic Kanye album and there are some songs I really love on it. Hard to love Kanye these days but the album is still good.

Lavish, maximalist production built from booming drums, dense synth layers, orchestral flourishes -this caught me at the start of the album-, soul samples, and stacked vocal performances—oscillating between confession and grandiosity—moves the music like wandering through an opulent palace -making this one of the best Hip Hop album I rated so far -where every room dazzles with excess, impressing through scale and craft even as the nonstop spectacle threatens to exhaust rather than invite reflection.

He’s an artist, sometime with hits sometimes with misses. This was a hit.

Oh boy. I don't know if I've ever listened to a Kanye album. I don't know how to feel about this. I mean he's obviously an incredibly talented artist but the nazi shit is something else. This is truly an amazing album however. I've heard snippets here and there but the sounds and songs are so cohesive yet varied it's very good. Fuck why'd he have to be a nazi man. It's crazy how interwoven Black liberation is to all his music and how he constantly references oppression under white people then turned around and started doing the same thing. I can't presume to know what actually happened there but he needed some actual support with his mental health bruh. Like the strings he's putting in some the track? This actually was groundbreaking. I cant believe he was such a dickhead. The things he's doing in this album for it to go so mainstream is kinda crazy. I can't say I'm too knowledgeable about the rap scene of the 2000s or of ever but this feels very modern in the 2020s so it must've been trailblazing back then. I mean fuck Nicki too, and Jay-Z, I don't know anything about Rick Ross but she's a Trumpie and he cheated on Beyoncé. Whole album full of cunts. It sucks they're so talented. Bon Iver is on this album?? He's actually everywhere. What is this guy up to bruh. This is a spectacular album unfortunately. Favourite: Lost In The World Least favourite: So Appalled

Det beste her e alle gjesteartistan eller kanskje æ bare synes det beste her e gjesteartistan fordi det betyr at æ ikke behøve å tenke så mye på selve Kanye, som jo i likhet med sist gang æ hørte et album av han i det her prosjektet e problematisk. Men æ hørte på den her gangen også fordi det e vanskelig å la være.

I've avoided Kanye, but this is great Favs: "Dark Fantasy," "Lost In The World," and "Who Will Survive In America"

I never really considered KW, probably because I don’t like his public persona, but I thought this album was very good and enjoyed listening to it. Lots of nice collaborations, too. (SMH for the blurred George Condo cover art)

blegh

My memory of this when I got it was that I found it a bit disappointing. Clearly that was crazy. Even knowing what was to come, it's hard to look back and say this is anything other than a masterpiece. I can understand people struggling to listen to it knowing where he is now, but musically this is still great

Features, production and samples are great but I can’t get over the cringey lyrics. If Kanye had any sense of humility or humour I might be able to understand but he doesn’t. If I wanted to listen to a ‘my beautiful dark twisted fantasy’ type album I’d listen to pusha t or Freddie gibbs album

Good album, terrible person

I don’t want to give Kanye 4 stars

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be

Greatest album of all time, not even close, worst song is a bonafied 8/10. Album has deep meaning, radio hits, bangers, and an all time only-Kanye-could-do song in Devil in a new Dress. Overall, this album is one word; PERFECT

fuck kanye, fuck nicki, but ya the productions excellent. some big hits. interesting, forward thinking and risky aesthetics. some weird lyrics

I like less than half of the songs I listened to it like a year ago and I didn’t feel like listening to it again

nice production, cool beats, good flow, but too self-indulgent. had to give up about 2/3 of the way through

I was not impressed with this album, the beats and production felt flat, the flow was lackluster and aside from a few decent lines the lyrics weren’t really anything special.

I'm not listening to this one. One star for an idiot that I won't waste my time streaming.

boo, it is really hard to listen Kanye objectively.

awesome

Rap's Topographic Oceans album. Couple of decent tracks but then the rest are just bloated.

Hmmm won’t listen too bad

Classic

Classic

A really positive surprise that ended up in me even adding a couple of songs to my general playlist. I guess I was a bit prejudiced by his public persona; music is of high quality and his production and engineering is top notch, as well as all the collaborations on this album, rather wholesome product #facts 👌🔝

Zero stars

I have a friend who has very similar music taste to me. We became friends because of a shared obsession with Radiohead, we were into 60s and 70s rock, folk and the alt rock scene mostly, and over the years he introduced me to some of my favourite bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Talking Heads. I'd usually pay attention to music that he'd recommend. So, I was quite surprised when he suddenly turned into a hip-hop fan, harping on about Kanye. We were in a late-night casino's smoking area, on a Christmas night out back in 2011, when my friend got into a rap battle with a group of strangers, winning hands-down by rapping the entire song of "Power" perfectly. I was confused. This was Kanye, the guy who jumped onstage at the MTV awards, drunkenly shouting about Beyonce in front of a bemused Taylor Swift. The guy who did that awful "Jesus Walked" song, and destroyed a classic Daft Punk song. He wasn't on my radar at all, he just seemed like another vapid rapper in the vacuous pop music scene. But hey, I could have missed out on Talking Heads if I hadn't listened to my friend back in the day, so I had to see what the big deal was. It didn't take long for it to click. I think what's fascinating about Kanye is this duality of being that he exists in. He is exactly what I mentioned earlier on: vacuous, materialistic, and narcissistic. But also, completely self-aware, honest, and analytical. He raps about his pitfalls and shortcomings in a shockingly honest and open way, without ever vilifying himself fully. It's weirdly vulnerable, but also boastful. His lyrics are like a Freudian hypothesis on narcissism, told by an unapologetic narcissist. It's honesty in its purest and most shocking form, and its amazing. On top of all of that, Kanye is a creative musical genius. As a producer, he is one of the all-time best. He collects, curates and transforms the music and ideas of others into something completely new, in a similar way to sampling legends like Liam Howlett of The Prodigy, or the Beastie Boys. The musical influences that lay the backbone of this album are as varied as they come, but Kanye morphs even the best-known sample into something completely new every single time. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy plays out like a hip-hop opera, a "hip-hopera" if you will (thank you very much, please hold your applause until the end). Starting off with a snarling recital of Roald Dahl's "Cinderella", surrounded by autotuned gospel choirs, opening track "Dark Fantasy" sets things in motion with refrains of "Can we get much higher?" Yes, we can. This is only the beginning. The album is made up of moments. It's a kaleidoscope of epic moment after epic moment. The gorgeous orchestration and piano of the intro to "All of the Lights" breaking into frenzied horn samples; the fuzz tone of "Hell of a Life" paying homage to Sabbath's "Iron Man"; "Blame Game" bringing Aphex Twin to the masses. And, of course, "POWER". King Crimson reimagined with tribal chanting, as Kanye muses on the pitfalls of fame, with the iconic line "No one man should have all that power". "Runaway" is the highlight of the album. It's the climax of the hip-hopera. It's also the one song everyone can play on piano. From such an intentionally simple riff to what it builds up to, musically, it's a work of art. Add in Kanye's confessional lyricism on top of that, which starts off as an apology and ends up as a warning ("Run away fast as you can"). Then all language collapses into sound with that amazing extended coda at the end of the song where the vocoder takes over. It's mesmerising. This is the song that changed my mind about autotune, when I heard how it could actually be used creatively. Kanye is an enigma. Let's not even get into the spiral that he's gone down in recent years, except to say that the guy clearly needs help, but is too removed from reality by fame to get the intervention that he needs. Fame can do a number on you, especially if you're already in a fragile mental state. This album came out of a time when he removed himself from that world for a period of deep reflection and creativity. It's a capsule of unapologetic, brutal honesty. A rare moment of vulnerability in hip-hop. A masterpiece. So yeah, I guess my friend was onto something.

Rap opulence at its finest. Everything from the instrumentals to the guest features on this project screams luxury. This was where Kanye’s ego began to show and you couldn’t deny how great he was. Unfortunately that isn’t the case anymore.

Its not an album I'd usually listen to at all, and I feel that Kanye, as a person, is not a person I'd like to be around, so I tried to put that aside & listened without prejudice and just hear the music. Well, surprisingly I really enjoyed it. Overblown & all massively over-produced but some tracks really stood out for me. Power and All Of The Lights grabbed me right away Runaway is musically fantastic and sounds amazing. Many tracks I loved just for the music, arrangement and layers of production . Not really sure how it can be a Kanye West album when songs have so many vocalists and writers (20 songwriters credited on Power alone! but it wasn't half bad.

The influence this had is clear, as it weaves together various genres and styles of music. So much so that listening to it for the first time, 15 years later, what surely sounded fresh at the time doesn't hit the same way now.

So many bangers and yet a couple songs that I immediately skip. Wish Kanye wasn't a Nazi

I nearly didn't listen. I don't enjoy the arrogance. But I did listen and I enjoyed the samples and the backing tracks.

It started off ok. Not great and not terrible. A little disjointed as songs felt like they kind of got distracted or lost focus. It’s like the album is off its meds.

Baby's first hip-hop album. It was certainly the first hip-hop album I ever fell in love with, back when the genre had very little appeal to me. This felt like a grand display of talent, with so many easily digestible, melodic beats and earwormy choruses and hooks for days. It felt, and still sort of feels, larger than life in that sense. Like a pivotal moment and a shift for not only hip-hop, but popular culture as well. Because who was more "pop culture" than Kanye West himself in the late 2000s? Only this guy can assemble dozens of features, including Drake, who has a very faint line, for one single song on this album. That song, 'All Of The Lights', alone has Elton John, Rihanna, Fergie, and Kid Cudi. You also have Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj, Bon Iver, Pusha T, various Wu-Tang members, and John Legend on this album; it's quite frankly ridiculous that this album turned out as well as it did. Not really consistent, given just how huge the "cast" is, but consistently good, I'd still say. While I have sort of fallen out of love with a good chunk of MBDTF over the years, the highlights here are still in constant rotation. I mentioned 'All Of The Lights' being this Avengers-level gathering of pop icons into one song, but 'I'm So Appalled' felt almost like the hip-hop-specific version of that. I just love the ominous and haunting atmosphere of this posse cut, something this album really benefits from. The other posse cut, 'Monster', is almost on the same level, I'd say, though I've never been a huge fan of Jay-Z's verse on that song. 'Devil In A New Dress' is also one I keep coming back to, such an incredibly well-chopped instrumental paired with that iconic soaring Mike Dean guitar solo. 'Lost In the World' is super nostalgic to me. I remember listening to this one song non-stop on my train rides back home from university, late at night. This album and Kanye's discography in general really soundtracked my first semester in university, when I had to commute for 2 hours almost every day. I associate this album with that time in my life. Anyways, there's also 'Runaway', which is easily the best song on this album, a lengthy, ambitious cut detailing an egomaniac breaking himself down all-while managing to (somehow) not sound like an asshole doing it. It's effective, and it's catchy, and it's beautiful. Can't really, in good faith, give this anything lower than a 5-star. I've fallen off the deep end with Kanye's music in the past few years; it just doesn't hit like it used to. I attribute that mainly to how much of a shitty person he's become, seeing as how Kanye's music is so tightly coupled with Kanye West the person. But this is one of the most important albums to me as a music fan, and also to music and hip-hop in general. And it still sounds fresh to this day, with any "dating" qualities (like the tacky auto-tune usage and, well, Fergie) coming off as charming more than anything. Classic album.

not even glaze

I just don't get it. I know how much praise he used to get but I'd never heard much from Mr Ye himself, so I was expecting more from this. It was a struggle to get through. Don't think I've ever listened to a rap album and come away thinking it was pretentious. The lyrics were often terrible, I don't think I'll ever be in the mood for a 9 minute song where the last 3 minutes was monologue about a girls p***y. Kanye is a stuck up rich kid with a stunted view and that comes across in this release. Even the rifts were repetitive, songs that were too long and didn't go anywhere. There were maybe 2 tracks that I liked but way more that had me checking the time like "how has it only been 30 seconds".

I can't listen to this album and the lyrics without hearing what Kanye would turn into soon after in it. Fortunately for Kanye and this album, the music here is still great. I was really hovering on a 5 for a long time, but was slighly underwhelmed by the back half of the album

Really gotta separate the art from the artist on this one. This is a really high 4 for me. The songwriting and production is just damn creative compared to a lot of other albums we've listened to. Kanye's lyrics get a little annoying, especially considering, ya know... what he became. But overall I enjoyed almost every song on this album. Runaway and Monster were my favorites.

i'm feeling a light to decent 6 on this thing but that's just my opinion

Rating: 9/10 I didn't listen to this nor will I but since I have at least a couple dozen times in the past and it being one of the first CD's I owned, I'll give my unbiased MBDTF thoughts here. Feels like it's fully the end of the conscious outsider rapper Ye was on The College Dropout and the start of the truly manic and narcissistic version of him that would lead to Nazi Kanye who huffs his own farts and doesn't have any semblance of songwriting ability anymore. It's maximalist and bombastic and was in danger of being his most unwieldy project to date with all of its ideas, progression, and collaborations, but instead it all came together as a cohesive concept, despite its complex and almost surreal nature. Has a few of Kanye's best songs ever easily. I think after the one-two punch of Devil in a New Dress and Runaway though, the album continues on with almost 20 minutes of its weaker material before it's all over.

As cheesy as Kanye is, great album. Not being jazz elevates it slightly as well 8.3/10

Fun album. I guess there's some hindsight with the persona and all, but whatever. 8 sorcerers out of 10 lizard wizards

entiendo que es un buen album, la verdad que kanye no me genera nada kcy

Don't like Kanye but can admit it is a good album.

Amazing. Great sound, lyrics, loved this one

These things leave me somewhat disappointed, I get to hear modern masterpieces and it’s kinda middle of the road pop r&b/rap vanilla. It’s well produced but don’t think much of the actual substance of the damn thing. Don’t know much about him to be fair as artist or person, can’t say he hits me with any distinction vocal stylings and strike me as a bit well, ok, average, middle of the road pop. As said it definitely well produced and structured, which reading the comments is down to him. It’s supposedly raw and honest and personal but I found the content to be quite predictable, always the expected and cliched, the usual hedonism, celebrity, self promotion, American dream crap, me me yawn. It’s ok, I preferred his last effort I heard on here more, as it was less predictable, finding this one somewhat overrated, 2 Star.

Not bad but Ye is a nob isn’t he? Bit done with this now I don’t think I’ll ever listen to this again I haven’t finished it and don’t think I will

Drago mi je što mi generator dosad nekim nevjerovatnim čudom većinu izvođača koje ne znam a tu su više puta daje da slušam hronološkim redom. Tako ovdje mogu čuti nedostatak napretka u odnosu na debi koji mi je bio sasvim ok. I ovaj mi nije bio nepodnošljiv ali je još dosadniji, repetitivan, s previše "gostiju", odvratnim tekstovima, djeluje duži iako je kraći, dosta više fula u odnosu na onaj pa mislim da zaslužuje zvjezdicu manje definitivno. Edit: ništa, jedinica iz principa

We goon to kanye

Okay, putting aside the whole Kanye debacle...I can't fault it for being weird and experimental but it doesn't sing for me at all. It's just kind of boring and not fun. When every 30 seconds you decide to change up the entire song, for the whole album, it's just a mess.

Solid lyrically and generational standout.

Gostei mais da capa do que do álbum. Kanye é péssimo no pessoal e médio no profissional.

actually pretty good just rating low cause it’s kanye

Will not listen to Kanye.

I miss when Kanyes antics were interrupting pop stars at stupid award shows and not nazi edgelord shit. The music was much better.

loved it, until i started actually listening to the lyrics…

Something a little more mainstream, great album, has a few bangers, fav is „Runaway“. It’s basic yet very good

I liked this more than I thought I would, besides the songs I knew already, the album had a great flow to it

One of his most complete albums before he lost his mind. This was made a little after what most refer to as "old Kanye" albums, but this may be better.

Ah Kanye. I did like this more than I wanted to. I knew his politics and his crazy long before I ever heard his music so it's hard to listen with an open mind. But this was genuinely good music. Probably a 4 but I'm rounding down for the Ye makes me just a bit too QYeazie.

I wanted to dislike this album. Kayne West is a terrible person, but this album is good.

Conflicted. Album is smoke. He is not.

I always knew him as pop music guy -> crazy right wing sneaker guy and somehow missed musical genius guy. This is unabashedly really fucking good. Minus one star for the vaginal upholstery business wtf

Adskil kunsten fra kunstneren. Kanye har en speciel hjerne men tror også det hjælper til at lave mærkelig kunst og jeg kan bedst lide det mærkelige kunst. Sange der er anderledes fra det sædvanlige er det der fanger min opmærksomhed og det gør dette album. Jeg lytter ikke meget til rap men jeg kan lide det.

Don't like at all

Let's say, hypothetically, that I can't speak a single word in English. And I hear this album. Judging this album by the music and only the music, I'd give it a 3. Now, as a person who *does* speak English: the lyrics take this album down to a 1. On top of that, knowing that Kanye West is a literal fucking nazi? I'd give it a 0 if I could.

Album was a great listen, I already knew songs like Power & Runaway but overall it was a solid album. It had great features, some greats songs, overall I liked it. Pretty straightforward

This man is insane- but his work is so good! 16 years old and still fresh!

- Ugh, yet another creep on this list. - Some interesting production and melodic ideas. - I don’t like his voice, so that makes his stuff harder to like. Also, the lyrics are all about him or his misogyny, so it’s a creep talking about himself. Pretty hard to separate the art from the artist when the art is about the artist. - This album felt way too long, especially the second half - the first half was way better than the second half.

Feels very grand, production is incredible. Features carry the album and sound way better than Kanye's verses which sound half-assed. Nicki Minaj is in her best form here. Overall really great album, wish Kanye would've just shut his mouth and kept making music like this. Favorite song: Monster, or Blame Game, if it didn't have the Chris Rock skit at the end.

A pesar de que en mi opinión se nota mejor como el hilo de álbum acá , no sentí como el Groove o que tuviera canciones que destacaran, pero el álbum sigue siendo bueno

hits hard. fuck you. beats. all over.

I mean...

Some moments but I just can't deal with all the self destructive bs posing as life.

This is a true "throw everything at the wall and see if it sticks" album. And most of it does. This is a really well produced and recorded album with some great songs on it that lodge in your subconscious. The guests' contributions add a lot. The problem is that it's too long, too much, too maximalist. It could really use an editor. But "Power," "All of the Lights," "Runaway," "Lost in the Woods"...some great songs on the best album of his career. Unfortunately, this seems like a very long time ago.

Lush is the word that comes to mind when I think of this album. Production-wise, it's Kanye's finest work, with so many creative samples, pulling from 70s funk, 60s psych rock, R&B, pop, indie folk. Basically whatever he could get his hands on. It's just a classic, sprawling, indulgent, super fun listen for hip hop fans, despite the insane narcissist that Kanye is now and really always has been.

GOAT

Throwback to the 10s yet never got old

I survived the listen. It’s ok party or club noise but the lyrics are pointless trash in most songs. Runaway is by far the most memorable. The rest was meh.

I enjoyed this more than when it came out. I guess it sounds very different to the hip hop that was around at the time. Kanye is still a terrible person though

I know this is not a popular opinion but I’ve never felt this album is the masterpiece many people say it is. It’s very ambitious and does have some great tracks, but I still feel like his earlier work is stronger

Greatest hip hop album of all time

real shame what happened to Kanye huh This album has it all - incredible production, great verses and an immaculate vibe Shoutout to 20yo me playing runaway on the piano in my dorm, watching videos on how they produced Power

Spin a teddy pendergrass vinyl as my j burns. FIVE

182/1001 Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ❎ No.

Fucking transphobic moron. The fuck is that cover. Stupid cunt.

Kanye West is a terrible person but goddamn he knows how to produce an album

If I wanted to hear an angry freak yell at me about nothing, I’d just take my headphones out on the subway. Fuck Kanye and his fans.

Separating art and artist for many reasons but still one star deduction

Ok I'm gonna say this now so I don't have to repeat myself when I receive the other two Kanye albums on this list. Kanye West is a massive piece of shit, but he also made some really damn good music. I'm gonna chose to separate the art from the artist here because I think its silly to deny the talent of 2000s/2010s Kanye. While this isn't my favorite Ye album, I do consider it to be the peak of his career. It's like the victory lap after his legendary College trilogy. This album is loaded with hit songs and some notable featured artists. The Bon Iver feature is the most shocking to me but it actually works. I think that "Runaway" is a really fantastic song, one of his best in fact. It's a shame that the man who made that song no longer exists. Favorite track: Runaway

I really enjoyed a lot of the songs with Rick Ross. Too bad Kanye went crazy

A good album. A couple misses. But really solid. It's a shame he is a bigot and a Nazi.

Production. The sadder songs.

Deranged nonsense from a nitrous riddled spastic

169 Hubo un momento en que escuchando Monster pensé "esto no es tan malo" se lo quise mostrar a alguien y no lo volví a encontrar.

I feel bad about giving this a favorable rating, because the artist is so obviously an asshole with serious mental problems. But the same could be said (to some extent) of other people whose art I admire. It does get a little tedious after a certain point, but that happens when you hang around crazy people long enough.

Refuse to listen to fascists.

i hate kanye west

no nie jest to politically correct ale album jest całkiem bangerowy

Fuck no

Fuck. The music and the production is incredible. Second to none. When All of the lights come on i get chills. MOST of the people he got to work on this were incredibly smart and added so much to this. Rihanna, Bon Iver. fucking nicki minaj. Don't even get me started. The rapping is absolutely dog shit. the lyrics are hard to listen to even without the foresight of 2026. The humor is completely gone, but he still delivers it like he is funny. but the worst is I hate this. I hate what has become of this legacy. I hate how much of a complete ass he is here and I hate how he became so so much worse. I just listen to this and think what his mother would have thought of all of this. It just makes me mad I can't listen to this anymore, and I am mad that this list made me listen to it again.

This is supposed to be the masterpiece everyone talks about? The legendary album that cemented Kanye’s legacy? Look I don’t doubt the beats here but every goddamn song on this album is about just what a shithead he is, unrepentant, unwilling to admit any sense of fault. In retrospect we all should have been willing to see through his bullshit right here because he does nothing less than admit to what a waste of space he is. But we bought it hook line and sinker. It’s competent and the beats are good but that’s all I can give it.

Autotune nightmare. Despite living hip hop, did not enjoy this album at all

Guy is a total tool and I refuse to listen to his music.

Ye's magnum Opus. One of the best rap album. Artistically brilliant.

(68:34, 13 tracks, 2010, 5th album) Hip Hop Why redact the George Condo artwork? Not terrible, a lot of sound. I'll come back and add more later want to see the next album.

i miss when kanye was cool. i despise this mf now. produced well, and lots of crazy features on here. knew a few songs, but never sat down and listened to the whole thing. solid. some of the songs are way too long though. saved: POWER, all of the lights, monster, runaway, lost in the world, who will survive in america.

- I can imagine theses being written someday about the self-destruction of Kanye West. He's at best an idiotic, narcissistic clown, and at worst a dangerously manipulative and nasty Nazi sympathiser. I hope it's the former and he gets some help at some point. - That said, this was a broadly enjoyable, well produced hip-hop LP that has some great moments, - I did find the lyrics ranged from inane to downright awful and I don't feel the urge to listen to this over again or own it. I could stretch to a 4 but I just don't feel enthusiastic about it.

#222/1001. About 5th through this list, and a thing I've been telling everyone when the 1001 project is mentioned, is that the rnb and hiphop albums have been the best positive new surprises for me. I don't know the genres too well, but almost everything that has been included I've come across so far puts all of the 70s blues / prog rock, 80s new wave (although I've gotten weird albums from that excellent era so far), 90s indie or 00s onwards rock/pop, not to mention quite a few overrated classics to shame. This seems to be yet another one of those albums. Of course we all know Kanye and some of his hits (and misses, if we talk about non-musical accomplishments), but this was the first full KW album I listened with concentration, and it delivers! Full of banners, with self boast and a bit of self parody as well, samples, kick-ass feats, top notch production, sonic journey and a collage, electronically distorted vocals next the string quartet and a dripping piano... It is a mountain, but I'm sure there are people who won't see a mountain for the trees. A toast for those douchebags!

truly one of the best rappers of all time. such a shame he is... well, kanye. it was way too long and the lyrics didn't really speak to me but that's just me not being a huge hip hop fan (at least not from the US)

Я совсем ничего не знаю о музыке Канье, знаю только о каких-то одиозных выходках, рекорде по скорости бана на "Твич", чрезмерно правых высказываниях, шутках в Южном Парке и забавной коллабе с Гошей Рубчинским "Чёрные псы". Последнее, впрочем, было давно предсказано в треке "Сталинфанк": "Охуело ору, вприсядку пустилась Крупская,\ Негры прутся в футболках "Я русский"". Что-то меня унесло. Я люблю хип-хоп, но на примитивном потребительском уровне. Мне нравится приятный бит, мне нравится удачное использование сэмплов, но мне не хочется вникать в проблемы отдельных групп населения, я слушаю всё как сочетание звуков, включая человеческую речь. Может, поэтому в числе любимых исполнителей "Кровосток" и MF DOOM. Меня всё ещё уносит. Как я не мог взяться за рецензию на этот альбом, так и не мог его послушать, всё ускользало от моего восприятия. Ещё одна причина -- я не мог продвинуться дальше первых треков. Потому что гимноподобная Dark Fantasy хороша. Потому что в Gorgeous есть сэмпл из You Showed Me (песня группы Enoch Light and the Glittering Guitars, спасибо гуглу), превращающий мой мозг в машинку, которая хочет слушать десятисекундный отрывок на повторе. Да и до сих пор я едва смог дойти до шестого трека. Мне он не понравился, кроме отрывка Ники Минаж, но даже этот отрывок в моменте был хорош. Конечно, потом стало чуть легче, пока я не дошёл до знаменитого Runaway (это та самая песня, в начале которой всем, смотревшим телевизор в конце 90х - начале 00х, кажется что Жириновский безостановочно кричит "хуячим"), который отметился странным сочетанием истории про одиночество и явно "тёмного" тона пианино. Блять, ещё четыре песни. И тут я понимаю, что ни слова ни сказал о POWER, третьей песне альбома, в которой используют сэмпл из 21st Century Schizoid Man от King Crimson, как раз его я вспоминал в прошлой рецензии на Wings, но здесь оно всё как-то органичнее. Как я и говорил, я люблю разные сэмплы, потому что мне очень сложно оценить, какое количество музыки люди просеивают, чтобы найти тот единственный звук, который они уволокут, обработают, и дадут ему вторую жизнь. В такие моменты мне хочется стать героем фильм "Рок-волна" по имени Предрассветный Боб, который очень редко появлялся в общих помещениях корабля, проводя всё время в фонотеке и уходивший всегда со словами "ещё столько музыки надо послушать". И вот я дослушал альбом до конца. Мучительно пережил последние безликие треки. Выдохнул. Вдохнул. И нажал на Play. Итого 4 из 5. Послушайте хотя бы Gorgeous.

I'll try and be brief: I really liked this album and was in a phase of my life at the end of high school/starting college when I listened to this album heavily and got into Kanye (thanks to a 21st Century Schizoid man sample in 'Power') for a while. I even saw him live with Kendrick Lamar opening for him. This album is a hip hop masterpiece in and of itself, Kanye at his creative height beyond the producer-turned-college-dropout indie rapper and into this maximalist king of both worlds (and still suck at mixing drums right). But he's also an avid nazi. Not even just a sympathizer, a nazi. He can fuck off. Outkast weren't nazis and made albums just as creative as ABDTF, and perhaps even better. 5/5 otherwise. But nazis are hateful scum. Such a shame.

Was not expecting to enjoy this as much as I did, excellent hip hop

Kanye as a person is the worst. This album was great.

masterpiece

First spin cold take: impressive production with some bloated, self-indulgent tracks, or so it seems. There is also quite the impressive list of guest artists and producers. Away from all the Kanye noise, this is a well done album. A lot to unpack, a lot to enjoy.

4.8/5 almost perfection all the way thru

I wish this album wasn't as good as it is - it would make it easier to ignore Kanye completely.

Honestly a very well done album, coming from someone who doesn’t really like rap music. If this wasn’t Kanye, I may just give it a 5, but it’s just not quite there. If a half point could be awarded, I think this would be 4.5, but not worth the round up. Loved more songs on this album than I thought I would going into it.

I praised “Into the Court of the Crimson King” in my review for sampling Kanye and this showed up as I confirmed my review

Would have rated it higher but Kanye is a terrible person

Listening to this for the first time in 2025 is quite an experience. Some of these lyrics are so bad but the songs still sound pretty good.

The guy's a melt, but the album's a classic

Fuck Kanye

In 2026 I struggle to separate Kanye the person with Kanye the artist. This album is pretty brilliant. But I just... I can't give Kanye 5 stars.

I never actually listened to any of Kanye's songs in the past so it was new to me Recognized some : Power & Runaway I enjoyed the album but recognized some lyrics about violence against women and I wasn't a fan, of course

How do I rate one of the greatest albums of a generation after its maker becomes a Nazi?

One of Kayne’s best albums with so many hit songs. Even after 15 years, it’s still well-played and relevant. Fav song - Runaway 5/5

The See Me Now song isn't available on Apple Music, so I went to YouTube. It was the best song of the album. Not at all my kind of music, but I guess if Rap is your thing, it's not bad. The profanity is off putting to me.

Kanye West is a gay fish.

Kanye West’s music has taken so many forms and styles over the years that when someone says, “I miss the old Kanye,” they could be referring to at least a half dozen different iterations of him. Listening to “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” it’s hard not to miss the Kanye who had great taste. The production here steals the show. Every song is colorful and meticulously crafted, filled with details and grace notes that elevate the music. I also miss the Kanye who knew how to keep everything in balance. This album has straightforward rap songs alongside genre-bending tracks that push the boundaries of hip-hop. He also knows here that there are only so many crass jokes he can make before needing to deliver a verse packed with wordplay and wit. And for every moment of arrogant egotism, there’s one of unvarnished vulnerability. You know what Kanye I miss the most? The artful Autotune Kanye. I love that distorted vocal solo he does at the end of “Runaway,” blurring his voice with distortion and vocoder effects until it becomes abstract. It’s heartbreaking and gorgeous. I guess I mostly miss the Kanye who cared. In 2025, Kanye seems to think that caring what people think about you makes you weak. But that doesn’t have to be the case. Caring what people think can just mean putting thought and care into your art and crafting an album that’s big and ambitious and entertaining. I miss that Kanye.

Really big and epic Kanye record. This one shows everything that makes him great; his vocal tone is hard and captivating, his flow is incredible and works so well with every beat, and his lyrics are always dynamic, interesting, funny, witty, and memorable. This is actually a hard rate for me. College Dropout is a 5/5, and Yeezus is one of my favorite rap albums so that was definitely a 5/5. Personally I think this is in a tier that is slightly below those two. It doesn't have the "wow" factor of Yeezus, and I think the big catchy hook-heavy hits aren't as huge as on College Dropout. And yet when I hear "POWER" I want to scream at the top of my lungs, I want to drive faster, I want to run faster, I want to be Kanye at the album release party. Maybe not that exactly because Kanye is a POS. It's a 5. It's so good. I love the album cover.

I'll preface this by saying I'm obviously separating the awfulness of Kanye from this record and reviewing it as if I were listening to it in 2010. It feels disingenuous and anti-art to just say "it's 1 star because he's a shitty person" and move on. All praise that I give is aimed at this piece of art and none towards Kanye himself. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy captures a very unique emotion that I have never found in another album, period. The only way I can describe it is mystical. It draws a line that puts it in "uncanny valley" territory, but where that feeling is mostly negative, it makes this project one of the most intriguing listening experiences. A lot of Hip Hop gets very real, depicting the reality of the world and the dark sides that a lot of people don't want to experience in reality and explore it through music instead. MBDTF has enough connections to reality to keep it grounded, but emits a fantastical aura, like peering into an alternate dimension. Production-wise, the album makes incredibly unique choices that feel like if they were on any other album they would be mocked relentlessly. The dirty distortion techniques, the erratic imaging, the deviant sample selection all contribute to a surreal atmosphere. Lyrically the album is so unearthly that it makes it hard to get as intimate and emotional as more introspective albums, but that's not what the point of the album is. The album never tries to be a heart-to-heart with Kanye about what's troubling him, but instead indirectly gives insight into the tortured world of a twisted caricature of Kanye. I hate how catchy and well-written the album is. It feels wrong to have this character coming off as the most self-centered and braggadocious person on the planet constructing lyrics so cleverly. I almost never listen to this album, and still I have lyrics from it get caught in my head from time to time out of nowhere. The writing feels like a paradox, with the line between genius and moron being blurred beyond recognition. I didn't really like this album for a long time, not only because of the person behind it but because I viewed it through a strict, predefined notion I had of what Hip Hop should be. I was looking for some standout song that made me feel emotionally attached to the rapper's experiences, and equated this style of boastful, arrogant Hip Hop with shallow and meaningless music. But once I started picking it apart and realizing the choices that were made to intentionally paint a surreal picture, it made the album so much more immersive. I'm not gonna say "Power is such an iconic use of a prog sample!![/i] or "Runaway is such an emotional climax to this album!!" because I don't really think of any particular track from this album at all. On a track-by-track basis I actually find it pretty underwhelming. But immersing myself in this world through the lens of who Kanye is portraying himself to be and the cracks in the facade is one of the most fascinating experiences I've had with modern music.

Already knew a few songs on here, mainly Gorgeous, Devil In A New Dress, All Of The Lights and Runaway, 3 amazing hits. What an artist Kanye is, one of my favourite hip hop artists of all time, especially his earlier work. This is almost perfect hip hop, beautifully produced, interesting, entertaining, innovative, fun, it has it all. The production the samples, lyrics, and features, all come together in a perfect way to create this masterpiece of an album. Samples by Kanye are insane, as always. "Power" sampling 21st century schizoid man is legendary. The features are also perfectly chosen, everyone serves the album. This also kickstarted Nicki Minaj’s career by featuring her on “Monster”, her verse got viral on Tiktok as well. To say this album had a cultural impact is an understatement. This is one of those albums where the reputation is completely justified, very highly regarded. This is Kanye at his most maximalist, everything is turned up to 11: the production, the emotions, the ego, the vulnerability. Sonically it’s massive. Orchestral, soul samples, distorted synths, prog-like song structures, and layering. This is hip-hop that thinks like rock and classical music in terms of scale. Each song feels fitting and the album flows quite well. Lyrically, Kanye is very self-aware here. He leans fully into his flaws, arrogance, insecurity, indulgence and puts them on display without trying to excuse them. It’s narcissistic and confessional at the same time. Despite its length it doesnt drag. The album cover match the mood too, provocative, uncomfortable, and self-conscious, reflecting the themes of controversy, fame, and moral decay. Overall, this is a modern classic and one of the most important albums of the 2010s. Not just a great hip-hop record, but a landmark album in popular music. Favourite tracks are: Dark Fantasy, Gorgeous, POWER, All Of The Lights, So Appalled, Devil In A New Dress, Runaway, Hell Of A Life and Blame Game. YEEZY!

I didn't want to like this because of all the recent issues but I thought it was quite good.

no comment, I don't like this man or his music... 0/10

Iconic

I don't listen to Nazis.

This was around the time when I stopped enjoying Kanye as much as I did on College Dropout and Graduation. With some time, I can appreciate the album a bit more, but still not my favorite.

4/5

Second favorite Kanye album. Runaway is apparently a sad song? Kinda makes watching this guys spiral really depressing Yeezy taught me

Feelings about Kanye aside, this album is full of bangers, mixed with the occasional weird, creepy lyric

not gonna listen to this actually then i did with robbie and tbh it was pretty good

No comment, too complicated

high 5

All good

Some of Ye’s best. Sad to see where he’s at now

Fuck, he don’t half go on. Too long, too repetitive, too many sexual fantasies. Not interested I’m afraid.

The guy is a bellend but this is a 5 star album.

It’s a shame that being such a loud, obnoxious, prejudiced asshole means that you can still make great bloody music. This album hits a sweet spot for me between the noughties with all the nostalgic beats and progressing into the pop 10’s. The featured artists elevate it and West’s delusional self-importance shines through in each record…but goddamn is it epic; funnily, I don’t think he could have made this album without his ego. Wanted to make it 4 stars but it’s too begrudgingly brilliant.

Pretty good considering I don't really enjoy hiphop in general

At one point in my life, I loved this album. Now, listening to it just reminds me that Kanye West is a nazi sympathizer.

Managed to make my way through most of this disgusting collection of hatred, and depravity, although “Blame Game” reached depths I just couldn’t stomach. What a completely classless and tasteless album.

I dunno, It's produced amazingly and sounds great, something about his vocals just doesn't do it for me though, not even counting who he is now, but it is a good album. Well put together a lot of uniqueness while maintaining cohesion.

Kanye West is a bad guy. That said, this album is nearly flawless. Its less a Kanye album and more of a 'Friends of Kanye' album, he's not even the best rapper on most songs. But really the money here is the production, Kanye at his height. He's an egotistical asshole but he might actually be the most 'important' artist of his generation. Even the blurred out album cover is iconic.

Meh - not the biggest fan anyway and the album feels long and bloated. Monster is the standout track, Runaway is now meme famous but so long and a bit tedious.

I'm not a big rap person but its pretty good

It's impossible to listen to this without thinking about how far Kanye has fallen since. His egotistical but self-deprecating lyrics are less charming now. They make me feel pity and disgust. He is still such a talented composer and producer. How should we interact with art, when the artists are gross, despicable people, struggling with mental illness, yet still talented and putting themselves on display for people's entertainment? Top Song: All of the Lights

I just want some good beats and not too much unnecessary explicit language. I can appreciate why this album was received so well, but Kanye's conduct kind of undermines the themes he's highlighting here. Fav Tracks: Lost In The World > All of the Lights > Runaway Current Fav Album: Hot Fuss - The Killers (#4/1089)

A five-star album, one of probably the three most influential albums personal to me in my life, and an album I will never listen to again. Cherish the memories.

Refuse to listen to an anti-semitic a-hole.

When this came out, I remember listening and not understanding what everyone else was getting out of this. I felt like it had more bloat than Windows 8, just so wildly over the top maximalist that it annoyed me and surely all these brain rotted people were loving it because they had no attention spans left. Call me a hater. A lot of these sentiments I still feel. But trying to hear it anew through more objective ears has let me appreciate it more. I think what helps is to pretend Kanye is just a character, a fake persona, and this is his big bombastic ego-driven manifesto of debauchery and douche-baggery. It's a summer blockbuster of an album-- each song is a huge set piece featuring the A-list who's-who of the music industry and samples pulled from virtually every genre. In this way, it becomes exhausting to listen to for nearly 70 minutes. To me it's better to extract songs as singles, and nearly every song is a banger, than to try to listen to the album as a whole. I also just don't think Kanye's rapping is as good as the production and arrangements. He is also overshadowed so often by his guests-- Raekwon on "Gorgeous", Nicki Minaj on "Monster" (btw fuck her), Bon Iver on "Lost In the World". It's almost like I just hope for Kanye's sections to be done so we can get on with the song. It's also just so overplayed to sample Gil Scott-Heron (on "Who Will Survive in America", the final track and presumably concluding message) that it feels unoriginal and lazy. The shadow of the "Monster" he really has become also hangs heavy over this. I just don't believe anything coming out of him is authentic. It's his magnum opus, but Kanye also isn't a persona, and I pivot between anger and sadness over his mental health issues and his hatred and racism, etc. So my gut response to his voice is just wishing he would shut the fuck up and go away. This album is important but I still don't see it as perfect as what critics say.

I didn’t like this when it came out and I sure as shit don’t like it now.

first kanye album i've ever listened to... and oh no, i liked it!

debated even listening because 2025 Kanye is not ok. I did and I can hear how this influenced other artists a lot. It’s got a great flow. Ultimately it’s a bit repetitive and a lot of the lyrics suck. It’s not like he suddenly became a different person. He was always awful. Some of the most talented people are.

I enjoyed

I don’t know if the story happened quite like this, but some accounts claim Bob Dylan kicked Phil Ochs out of a limo with the line: you’re not a folk singer, you’re a journalist. It’s a low blow, because nobody likes a journalist, and who, now, even likes Phil Ochs. I’m not sure what Dylan meant by folk singer, but in the years after that 1965 spat he did far more than sing Froggie Went A Courtin. His supposedly non-journalistic style ricocheted between confessional, surreal, spiteful. On Highway 61 Revisited - which we’ve already talked about - he was frequently cruel about his circle, his fans, his lovers. Yet somewhere in all that meanness and evasiveness he occasionally found something universal. A kind of reporting on his own life that, paradoxically, spoke to many. Kanye West, here, is neither folk singer nor journalist. He is - very much of the time - a blogger: oversharing, ephemeral, convinced of his own significance, demanding to be read. The idea that time has treated him unfairly - that the present Kanye has somehow contaminated the legacy of the 2010 Kanye - is wrong. There is only ever the present for him, and the material on this album is now stranded in the past, cut off from the only temporal mode he understands. His enthusiasms were fleeting. His collaborators of the moment. Nothing here steps outside of that moment. If you weren’t plugged into Kanye’s world in 2010, the whole thing now feels oddly weightless. And who would dare to care about Kanye West in 2025. There is so little reflection that there is no possibility of insight. On Blame Game he recounts events but never interrogates them, as though admission were understanding. On Toast the closest he comes to analysis is that line about sending an unsolicited photo, followed by a shrugging acknowledgement of incompetence with women. But he doesn't know why. It’s not introspection. It’s barely a diary entry. It's certainly not meaningful. West ends up reminding me most of Trent Reznor. Both are strong technicians and producers - the maximalist music here, certainly isn't bad, but the vocals are often muddy and that sample of 21st Century Schizoid Man feels anaemic beside the original - who nevertheless have to say something, so they drag insecurities and boasts from their private diaries. Reznor at least mined his teenage notebooks, so vague and raw that Johnny Cash could recontextualise them later, they were something listeners could inhabit. We were all teenagers once. Many of us while be old and dying eventually. My Beautiful Dark Fantasy exists only for Kanye West, and only in 2010. Some listeners will pore over it - as Dylanologists pore over arcana and Swifties build taxonomies - but West’s combination of vast ego and minimal self-awareness makes for a shallow puddle to stare into. It is a long way from Public Enemy - the Black CNN - to this kind of self-involvement. But it isn’t folk singing. Folk singing is for ever. 2 I have never listened to a Kanye West album before. I am of course aware of his status as one of Western Civilisation’s leading manchildren, but the only music of his that I know is Gold Digger. ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ is entirely new to me, excepting POWER which I recognise from somewhere but had never really listened to before. My first impression is that it’s an indulgent mess although I can admit a little surprise that there is so much attempted music splattered everywhere. Of course I was bound to say something like that because as I learned from reading a few critics on this album MBDTF is a ‘Magnum Opus’. It’s Kanye West’s fifth album and represents a synthesis of unique ideas and styles that the previous four records had been building towards. One does not simply dander into a Magnum Opus and expect to have a good time. You shouldn’t start your journey in Richard Wagner, for example, with Tristan und Isolde; it’s even longer than MBDTF and very difficult to make sense of. You’ll probably come out at the end, if you make it that far, and say, as Clara Schumann did after her first time, ‘Wagner is shite, folks must be on crack if they think this is good music.’ The Magnum Opus thing will be completely lost on you. So what should I do to get into Richard Wagner, you may ask? Great question Kanye West fans. I would point you to the Preludes first and a good Ring Highlights - Karajan’s maybe. There is also the Tannhäuser Overture which some would call Wagner’s Gold Digger. Tannhäuser is also a good start for the first full album/opera. You Kanye fans think you know hoes but if you don’t know Venus… Anyway when you finally make it round to Tristan and find that y’all feeling that shit - you’re welcome. 1.5/5

Hard to separate the art from the artist, who is, I must remind you, a literal Nazi.

I will not give this man the attention he craves. The only thing he should crave is intense therapy.

I want to hate this album because of who the artist has become but I can’t. It’s a good album. Great production. My knock on Kanye was always his voice. He comes across as whiny some times.

I feel like it's not for me. Sampling is interesting in times, but nothing keeps me going back.

Maybe the epitome of the "separate the artist from the art" phenomenon. What more needs to be say about this thing? It really is a Maximalist Pop/ Id Rap masterpiece. I defy anyone to find a project with as eclectic (and brilliant) a "feat." list as this: Rhianna, Nicki Minaj, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Bon Iver, Sir Elton, etc., etc... Not one man should have all that power.

Dark Fantasy 3 Gorgeous 2.7 Power 3 All of the Lights (interlude) n/a All of the Lights 2.8 Monster 1.3 So Appalled 1.5 Devil in a New Dress 1.6 Runaway 2.4 Hell of a Life 2 Blame Game 2.1 Lost in the World 1.8 Who Will Survive in America 1.6 Score: 2.15

8 / 10

J'ai bien aimé en mode un peu Macklemore même si clairement en termes de personne humaine Macklemore est incomparablement au dessus. Et en terme de musique aussi d'ailleurs.

Album banger Ça me fait rire car j’ai l’impression que beaucoup de ses sons se trouvent dans la soundtrack de very bad trip… Abruti qui crédite pas Riri dans « all of the lights » Abruti tout court pour ses valeurs en perdition et tous les scandales qui l’entourent Du coup comme pour MJ, je ne mettrai pas le 5/5

C'était ok, j'ai mieux aimé que ce que je pensais mais je reecouterai pas 3/5

Chad before he went non-chad.

Yet another 0 on principle. I continue to refuse to support this man.

For a project like this I've accepted that you need to largely separate the art from the artist, because there are going to be plenty of people on this list that have done heinous things. But to be truthful, I was dreading this being a 5/5 because the idea of having this on my "highest rated" albums on my profile almost as some kind of endorsement was frankly a bit sickening. It's not a 5/5 (thankfully?) - a lot of the songs are very long, which when they're excellent songs (Dark Fantasy, Power, Monster, Runaway, All of the Lights) is a good thing but when they're not (So Appalled, Blame Game) it just kinda drags. It's also a bit difficult to stomach the lyrics at time knowing that this was not an album made by a man who actually would ever demonstrate the capacity to self-reflect and grow. That being said, it is undeniably a great album, made by a bad person. What a shame he's fucked in the head, indeed.

This is not my favorite Kanye album, but it’s still considered an all-time great hip hop album for a reason. So many bangers and some good introspective tracks as well.

Fuck Kanye, but this album is great

Man, I’m sure this is great but it just doesn’t tick any boxes for me.

Det förvånar mig hur mycket jag ändå gillade denna platta eftersom jag har svårt för rap och avskyr JayZ som person.det är verkligen begåvat i ett gränsland mellan rap, RnB och pop. Texter och melodier är stundtals fantastiska. Men det är ojämnt. Stark trea

All of the lights Runaway Who will survive in america

Kanye is a whole... Thing now, but it's impossible to deny just how good of a run he was on from like 2004-2011. This album is either the end of his epic run, or the culmination of what he'd been building towards for a whole decade, depending on where this album lies in your personal heirarchy of his early career output. I won't spend any internet ink here discussing the merits of this near-perfect album. It's an exceptional piece of work.

Wide variety of different genre influenced the album.

Gardzę Kanye. Ale niestety ta płyta jest fantastyczna, dobra nawijka, świetne featy, muzycznie i melodyjnie też sztos. Z ciężkim sercem, ale 9/10.

Do I like Kanye? I guess? “Power” is the best by far but the rest is pretty interesting.

So, he sucked BEFORE he went full nazi.

Dark fantasy - 9 Gorgeous - 10 Power - 10 all of the lights + interlude - 10 monster - 9 so appalled - 7 RZA gotta chill lmao devil in a new dress - 10 runaway - 9 hell of a life - 8 blame game - 10 lost in the world - 9 who will survive in america - 6

I found this one hard to rate since Kanye is so problematic. I liked the first half of the album, but not the second half. There were a lot of great guest features.

West best, rap opera Gorgeous Power All the lights

Production-wise, an amazing album. Lots of interesting feats too. Lyrically, I don't get it that much. Lots of retribution-themed lyrics, not one of the feelings I'm fond of.

great beats and a flow to the sound that keeps it engaging and poppy the whole way through. favorite song: POWER

The age old question returns: Do we separate the art from the artist? Favorite Track: "Dark Fantasy".

So when I saw this album as today’s selection I was prepared to do my usual when I get hip(perty) hop(perty) (c)rap music and seriously slag it off. I might be wrong here but I don’t associate Kanye West with gangster rap likely to shoot me in a drive by, threaten to burn my house down or sexually abuse my mum. This favourable impression was improved when I read reviews and the wiki entry. Couldn’t believe my eyes when it was described as progressive rap influenced by The Beatles and Pink Floyd. As a Prog Rock fanboy this did really prick my interest and convinced me not to be so dismissive. The album started well with some good melodies which was good but out of the blue came a King Crimson sample of 21st Centuary Schizoid Man. Unfortunately after this the album did degenerate back to your normal hip hop stuff. Apart from one or two Prog Rock style length tracks, as far as I could tell that was about as proggy as it got. Still, compared with the excessive number of hip hop rap albums on this list, I can safely say that so far this is my favourite which is meagre praise. For that reason it scores more than my normal one star. Album 700 tomorrow. Let’s hope it’s a good one. Does Steven Wilson feature at all on this list? 2/5 1/12/25

Probably the best Kanye album

Quelques morceaux cool mais c’est Kanye et c’est un humain destestable

I like exactly one song from this album, and that's it. The fact that he's a loser and has a fanbase made of rabid bootlickers doesn't help either.

I mean a few really good ones and before he went nutso... Solid features from JayZ and others as well.

OVERALL THOUGHTS 3.5/5 This one occupies a really weird and cursed area of hip hop history. Ye was already a controversial figure at this point, the 'revolutionary' aspect of this album was how much he wore his flaws on his sleeves. In a sense, he used his villain status in the culture as a weapon against us, the listener. The production on MBDTF is gritty and slick at the same time, guest features are killer, and Ye puts all of himself into these performances, for better or worse. There are thematic elements in the lyrics that make for a great throughline in the album, despite them being riddled with fantasies of libido, power and misogyny. It all paints a very vivid and honest picture of a deeply broken man, who some say was a genius. It's hard to argue that this isn't a compelling portrait, perhaps a modern day Catcher In The Rye. I think there's a bit of a sentiment that what's become of Ye as of late tends to be partially blamed on us as a culture. He gave us this piece of art as a warning, a cry for help... but we accepted this as a masterpiece and excused his behavior, maybe not in sentiment but with our begrudging praise. It's not unlike slowing down traffic in order to get a better look at an accident. But I think that was Ye's smartest trick. This was his confession to a priest, his attempt at absolution. He put the blame and the guilt on us, and continued on a course that I now think he can't come back from. It was an incredible gambit, but it was always destined to have an expiry date. STRAY THOUGHTS - Oh boy here we go - Goddamnit I gotta give to this asshole, his production is really good - King Crimson sample goes hard ngl - Jay-Z's verse on Monster goes hard damn - So does Nicki's, hate that these rich assholes are talented sometimes - Choosing this moment to gently acknowledge the misogyny in hip hop - We really went through a phase of excusing men's toxic behavior if they were self aware about it huh - This outro for Runaway is a bit long no? - In hindsight Bon Iver isn't that surprising here but it was pretty crazy to see that at the time FAV SONGS: Dark Fantasy, Power, Monster, Runaway, Lost In The World LEAST FAV: All The Lights, Devil In A New Dress

No thanks

Fuck that guy

Everybody know I’m a mutha fuckin' monster - you said it Ye

I expected to completely hate it, but actually some of it’s more interesting than anticipated. Not my thing, and I won’t be re-playing, but maybe there is something in this.

like i get it but once he started singing about rape and like giving a girl bruises on her esophagus i was out

Ugh

It’s probably the best production I’ve ever heard on an album but I will forever die on the hill that The College Dropout is his best album…

Never gave a proper listen after Graduation. All Of The Lights is an all time banger. Runaway pretty good as well.

Well I have to say this is hard to admit but this album was quite good... Much better than the crap from K Lamar.

Synes bare det virker som en celebration of life med alt på highest highs og lowest lows

Power: *chef's kiss* All of the Lights: *chef's kiss* Everything else: meh. That's the simplest way I can describe this.

I was hoping I'd listen to MBDTF and realize we were just on some weird shit back in the day and it wasn't actually that good. I'm very reluctant to admit that it holds up. It's inconsistent, flawed, controlled chaos, however you wanna say it, but if we're fully ignoring the Kanye problem this is like a 4.5. Might be a 5 without the Chris Rock skit at the end of Blame Game. Edit: eh, it probably does deserve the 5. Fuck Kanye West and everything he stands for.

"separate the art from the artist" is the understanding of a child. it posits art as this magical thing that exists independent of the person or people who created it. it's an intellectual dead end and the act of a coward. I respect people who cut these tainted elements out of their life and people who sit with the struggle of accepting someone who made good art is a shit person equally, but I will never respect a "separate the art from the artist" person. if you think this album is great it's because it is so identifiably of and about the artist. my appreciation for this album exists, has to exist, in the knowledge of the person kanye was (not great!) and is (so much worse!). unfortunately, this is a great album weighed down by the godawful Chris Rock skit during Blame Game. and Rick Ross being on it. and with the current knowledge that the kanye making this music will eventually become a nazi, a trump supporter (redundant), and someone who clearly needed someone who cares about him to intervene a long time ago. there isn't a weak track on the entire album and Lost in the World / Who Will Survive in America is one of the greatest album closers in music.

Didn't really click, but I'll come back to it.

Still an amazing album, but a step down from college dropout. He's a lunatic and tragic waste of talent.

Look, it has some good songs, but not a single one is something i wanna hear again. Rap normally its not my type, but i like a few ones, and i always come back to it. But this one i wont return, i thing this one listening was enough.

Nope, will not rate a black Nazi’s album

Dammit Kayne, why’d you have to turn into a Nazi. This album is itttttt

Boykot

Unfassbar gutes Album hab’s den ganzen lieben langen Tag gehört

Why is he on the list twice? I couldn't finish it. What a load of shit!

Eh, the other one was better. Some decent enough tracks, but instantly loses a star for featuring Rihanna, drop another for being Kanye and there's not many stars I can actually give it. Does he show some self awareness in sampling 21st Century Schizoid Man?

Yea Kanye is terrible. But this album is still fairly interesting

Ugh, ful se ne veselim tega, zarad očitnih trenutnih razlogov, ampak bom mela odprto glavo in probala bit objektivna. Ker najbl mi grejo pa na kurac uni - k grem gledat reviews od ostalih uporabnikov - k več kot očitno sploh ne grejo poslušat albuma in samo dajo 1 zvezdico pa neko žaljivko napišejo in to je to. Sj loh poslušaš/pogledaš neki, brez da deliš poglede te osebe/podpiraš njihova dejanja. A veš? Ok, naj bi bil njegov najboljši album oz. en boljših? Na prvi pogled se vsaj en komad spomnim from the time & se tud spomnim, da mi je bil takrat všeč. Začne se k pravljica? (Jap, Roald Dahl by Nicki Minaj, lol.) Ok, makes sense - "Dark Fantasy". Dejansko zelo fajn komad. Ha, v " POWER" je "21st Century Schizoid Man" sample. In spet, dobr komad. "Monster" je kul. "Runaway" je ta, ki se ga spomnim. Neke balerine so ble v videospotu? Še kr je dobr. Lol, Chris Rock v "Blame Game", se mi je zdel znan glas. Uf, autotune. Je pa na splošni insane komad "Lost In The World". U, pa en teh je k se seamlessly prelije v naslednji komad in konec albuma. Škoda, da je naslovnica cenzurirana.

For some reason I had never listened to all of this but I liked it a lot. It’s hard to rate for me because it has some of my favorite songs from Kanye’s whole career, but also some random ones (ex: monster) that feel really overcrowded and I was sort of waiting to end. It’s kind of insane and depressing comparing this album to like vultures 2. Fav songs: dark fantasy, devil in a new dress, runaway, hell of a life

5/5 deserves to be on this list Really, really good! I think it works less well as an album than other Kanye stuff, but the individual songs are each really good. Except the songs in the middle with like a million features. Those suck. The samples are really good and used in pretty interesting ways (Gorgeous, Hell Of A Life). The 21st Century Schizoid Man sample on power is insane. I feel like some of the songs are a little long and probably have some stuff that could be trimmed off. Ultimately a very good album only brought down by some too busy songs. Probably would give it a 4.5 if I could. Also Kanye’s lyrics are very witty. Standout Tracks: Dark Fantasy, Gorgeous, All Of The Lights, Runaway, Hell Of A Life

*Scandal noted* that being said this album rips, the beats are amazing, the pop stylings well orchestrated, the avant garde art rap of kanye is themed perfectly throughout the album. 4.5 stars

Great album, shame he's a prick

I was surprised by many things on this recording. The production, the musicianship, the arrangements were all unexpected for me. I didn't like it and won't listen to it again but there were seconds that took me by surprise. I had never listen to a Kanye record before and so I didn't know what to expect. It was different than I thought it would be.

There were a couple really fun tracks on here and one or two I recognized from the era of the album’s release. Few others that did nothing for me.

More like con-nay. I hated this when it came out, and I hate it even more now that Kanye’s praising Hitler and shit. I never understood why he has fans, really. You want to listen to a guy aggressively talk about how great he is at you for an hour (how much better he is than you, by the way), and then conjure poetic images centered around his balls. I don’t want to listen to something that’s going to make me think about someone’s balls. Fuck this guy. People here praise the production value- well, of course it has a high production value. He threw like a billion dollars at it. You can heavy produce a turd, but at the end of the day, you’re still just squashing a turd into your ears. We should uncancel cancel culture to wipe this scum from human memory.

Better than Coldplay

Second hip-hop album in a row. Fantastic. I listened to this album 1.5 month ago and here we go again. It's great. It's a modern classic and Kanye is a genius in his own way, I love that way, so I love the album too. Kanye is another one of those "свободные ебанаты" who actually pushes the genre and the whole culture forward. I like the quote "move culture or move with culture" Kanye is one of the ones who move culture and it's wonderful. He doesn't have the greatest lyrics, he doesn't have the best flow, but he has black balls. "'Cause the same people that tried to blackball me Forgot about two things, my Black balls" "I'm livin' in the future so the present is my past My presence is a present, kiss my ass" Solid 4/5 —————————————— Liked: — Gorgeous — POWER — Monster — So Appalled — Devil In A New Dress — Runaway — Lost In The World