My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Regrettably still amazing

LP

Very nice

samples Avril 14, instant 5 stars.

Rap muy melódico. Muy muy chulo

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

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

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.

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.

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"

Uma das obras primas de YE.

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

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

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".

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

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

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.

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.

I did not realize that this album is already more than 10 years old.. Still sounds very good to me: lots of strong pop songs and very coherent (as in an album-album). It might be 10-15 minute too long but still a clear 5* for me.

Even better on vinyl, one of the greats. (Despite how much Kanye sucks as a person.)

I don't really like listen to rap, but Kanye continues to surprise me on this list. Everything on here has its place, and it gels! ... The only real miss here is 'Monster', and I suspect it is a 'I really don't like Nicki Minaj at all'. Given this isn't my genre, I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt here. The fact that I'm even considering a 5 here (for a rap album!) means it's gotta take it

Fantastic album. Still hate Kanye as a human

Aj karamba, z grubej rury polecial nowozytne krazki, bo do tych zaliczylbym wedlug niektorych magnum opus pana Westa, bo do takiego miana wlasnie aspiruje my beautiful dark twisted fantasy, ale ja jako fan postaci wole miec nadzieje, ze albumy tego pokroju lub lepsze jeszcze wyjda spod reki yeeziego, plyta z 2k10 patrzat juz teraz z perspektywy dekady byla jednym z najbardziej influencyjnych krazkow w rapie, to wlasnie tutaj pan West zdecydowal sie na odejscie na minimalistyczne synthowe brzmienie i auto tune tak bardzo zameczony na heartbreaku i postawil na prawdziwy maksymalizm brzmieniowy i influencyjny, bo album czerpie gleboko nie tylko z tradycji east ostowych, ale szuka inspiracji w brzmienaich r&b, jazzu, elektroniki wczesnych lat 90, czy progresywnego rocka lat 70, bo kto nie kojarzy sampli crimsonowych wykorzystanych na POWER czy Herona na who will survive in america, a chociaz pan West jest zawsze producentem swoich materialow, tak na tym krazku producerka to prawdziwa burza mozgow z nazwiskami takimi jak RZA, Mike Dean, S1 czy Bink, nie jest to typowy album z kawalkami radiowymi 3 minuty 20 sekund, bo niektore zamykaja sie w ponad 9 minutach, jak runaway ktory featuruje pusha T i ktory doczekal sie wlasnego wlasnego filmu krotkometrazowego, ktory zawiera muzyke calej plyty, wracajac do featurow, to o ile zazwyczja featury zmniejszaja jakosc calosci, tak dobrze dobrane tutaj nie szkodza, a tylko nadaja bardziej rapowego klimatu poprzez roznorodnosc stylow jakie sa zatosowane, poza wspomnianym pusha T przewijaja sie jeszcze takie postacie jak Kid Cudi, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, czy Raekwon z mniej rapowych wartych uwagi pojawia sie oczywiscie Rihanna i jej wystep na all of the lights razem z Eltonem Johnem i jego pianinem, a tymi nazwiskami nawet nie wymienilem polowy gosci na plycie, ktorych jest duzo, czasem wychodzi na to, ze najlepsza zwrotke traka robi featur, ale nadal jest duzo miejsca na Kejniego w Kejnim, bo chociaz nie jest to jakis stricte konceptowy album, to jak to w tworczosci westowskiej najwazniejszy jest artysta i jego zycie, problemy, wiec jest o dziwkach, szukaniu samego siebie w dziwkach, establiszmencie murzynskim, murzynie na zlej ziemi, dekadencji w spoleczenstwie, balansowaniu na brzytwie samego siebie, na pierwszy rzut oka plyta wydaje sie byc dosc depresyjna w odbiorze, ale jesli dodac sobie do tego filozofie jaka pan West przemyca w swoich materialach, zwlaszcza w ostatnich mocno gospelowych albumach, to jednak takie powatpiewanie w samego siebie moze byc oznaka zdrowego rachunku sumienia, ktory jest dobrym krokiem w drodze do pozbycia sie wszelakich wyrzutow kierowanych w samego siebie, ciezko mi wybrac topowy albumik z dyskografii westowkiej, ale jednak MBDTF z pewnoscia byly w topowej trojce jego krazkow, na plejke nie dodaje nic nowego, bo i tak juz polowa plyty tam sie znajduje, ale calosc leci na poleczke spotifajowa, im bardziej krazek jest osluchany tym ciezej jest cos napisac na jego sensownego, bo co mialem wiedziec juz wiedzialem przed odsluchem zazwyczaj i tak wlasnie bylo w przypadku tego picka, nic nowego nie doszukam sie szperajac discogowo czy geniusowo, pozytyw widze w tym, ze daje okazje do przesluchania calej plyty z pewnego dystansu od ostaniego przesluchania i bedac na swiezo po innych plytach, a nie jak czesto bywa katowaniu calymi dniami jednej dyskografii, zmienia to jak slyszy sie dana plyte, czuje ze to nie ostatnie pojawienie sie tego pana na liscie albumikowej, obyu

You're spoiling me, 1001 gen. This is a nearly flawless Hip Hop album that combines excellent performances, top tier instrumentals, and an appreciation to the artistry of music. On top of all that, this was probably the album that helped me truly get into Hip Hop music, so thanks ye. Favorites: Dark Fantasy, POWER, So Appalled, Devil In A New Dress, Runaway

Dark Fantasy is great. Sadly I mostly know Kanye through his public persona, which is "complicated". The language in rap often makes me feel like it's not a space meant for me, but the music is enjoyable. I was also surprised at the variety and consistent freshness of album's songs.

GOAT.

can we get much higher

good ass album very cool kanye

Legit can't believe how much I enjoyed this album, feels like peak kayne. Exceptional

It feels so different when every single song absolutely bangs. Damn. Very few of the songs miss the mark. And Runaway might just be one of the best songs. Period.

Kanye's most accessible masterpiece. Not as experimental as Yeezus or 808s, obviously a 5.

The GOAT Kanye album and one of the best rap albums of all time. So many strong songs all throughout. 9/10.

I'm not in love with Kanye as a person, but goddamn if his peak as an artist wasn't absolutely incredible. This album is just song after song of incredible samples and production with excellent lyrics over it. Consistently good throughout the entire album, and often absolutely great 5/5

Just a classic Ye album

-top 1 album openers of all time One of my fav moments in this album is jay z being asked to write a verse about monstrosity of fame and licherally just going Frankenstein, Godzilla, Dracula....guy has no range 'so much head I woke up in sleepy hollow' I don't know if this album has aged a bit because some albums have extraterrestrial levels of production these days but it's still great

Classic

One of the best albums ever created. From top to bottom banger after banger.

the most Kanye album ever

First of all, I’m not gonna act like I’m not going to give it a straight 5. I believe this is one of the great highlights of this century and a record for the generations, so there is that. Is this the best work by Ye? Arguable but there are at least another 4 records that are up for title. Is this my favorite Ye album? No, I have an emotional attach to The College Dropout for that matter. is this his last great work? NO, he kept it up for another 8 years. Is Donda a work as focused as this? No, to me he lost it after KSG. There is so much around this one that’s worth the mention, how this was Kanye’s redemption after the deplorable Taylor incident, the cringe in some of the lyrics, the effort in Pusha’s verse, the complete triumph of Nicki’s verse, the laughs we had with Jay Z’s one, the stupid but somehow guilty pleasure of the Chris skit, the memes, the samples, Fantano’s review, the aesthetics… It all shows how influential this was but the only reason for that is the music. Yes, Kanye is very limited singing and not as good MC as he thinks, but the production and innovation of this one goes really to new horizons, almost everyone is at their top game for this one and Ye really did come up with a cohesive and really impressive album. As I said one of the great recordings of our times. I’m always up for a toast for this one.

Guess I'll go ahead and rate this before it gets any worse. Kid Rock and Kanye back-to-back is one hell of a stretch. Nonetheless, this album is phenomenal. When a song as good as So Appalled is the low point of the first 9 songs for me, you know this is generational. Production is so over-the-top but it's beautiful and it works. AOTL interlude, something I often forget about in the album, is so well done. Two of the best feature verses ever in my opinion from Nicki and Ross. Like all of my favorite Kanye albums, there are some low points - the Chris Rock feature on Blame Game (rest of the song is good) wears out its welcome about a minute in, even if I found it hilarious the first time I heard it, and I still don't really like Hell Of A Life, even if the interpolation of Iron Man is pretty cool. Still, this is one of the most complete albums I've ever heard - there's a reason this is almost universally considered one of Kanye's best. Maybe he needs another isolated retreat to Hawaii. Already Saved: Dark Fantasy; Gorgeous; POWER; All Of The Lights; Devil In A New Dress; Runaway; Lost In The World Saved After Listening: Monster, So Appalled, Who Will Survive In America*

10/10 masterpiece fav kanye album game changer I could die listening to runaway

Oh, the dream. Best Kanye album. I love it. So many bangers. So much creativity. Amazing production. Devil in a New Dress is my fave.

Love this album to death. Sure, some songs have problems, like Jay on monster or Kanye naming different kinds of lights on all of the lights, just sort of goofy. But Kanye has some of his best bars of all time the production is immaculate, the other songs are so strong as to make it a full score for me in spite of some glaring flaws.

5/5 would listen again

An albums of 4 and 5 star songs = 5

I love this album

Melhor album do kanye

5 out of 5! a masterful piece of music history!

Funny weird really really good

My favourite album of all time. The songs are composed perfectly with amazing samples and great production from Kanye. The features are great. The range and variety of the songs from absolute bangers to more emotional ones. And runaway with the piano section is just the best!!!!

Not a fan of Kanye but this was solid back in the day and album still holds up.

Trying to forget what Kanye has been up to lately, this album is a perfect hip hop album. It feels almost like progressive hip-hop, or like a rock album with rappers on it. The deliberate production choices all added to it, like the decision to slightly saturate the whole thing.

Masterpiece

Really good. Went in blind, but recognized a couple songs. Surprised how much I liked this, not at all what I expected.

Kanye is a scumbag. But we're judging this on its own merits. This is where he allows his awfulness to really overtake him. There's still a bit of honesty about or conflicted sentiment about it that runs through this and is reflected in some of the best songs ("Dark Fantasy" "All of the Lights" "Runaway"). But by the end, he's just finally become the asshole he always wanted to be. All that said, I dug getting a chance to spin this again. The first three-quarters of this is almost impeccable* (basically, everything up to and through "Runaway"). Then it loses me, especially "Hell of a Life" and the goddamn Chris Rock skit. Side note: I remember my wife scrolling through the radio when I was driving, pausing at, and then proceeding past, Nicki Minaj's verse on "Monster," which I'd never heard. I told her to stop and go back. One of the best features you'll ever hear, also done by a pretty rotten person. * - Excepting Jay's verse on "Monster," possibly the worst thing he's ever done. That alone keeps it from 5 stars, even with Nicki's verse.

Fav song: Dark Fantasy

Had listened to his older stuff in the past which was supremely catchy, This is great honestly and I do think I'll come back to it for more.

Another reminder that Kanye really had it. This isn't my scene in general, but there's some excellent tracks on here (I particularly liked the double-header of Runaway and Hell of a Life). The production is top notch, and there's tons of variation in the delivery across the whole album. It's really propulsive, with tons of interesting flourishes throughout.

Not as good as Cuck, but it's aight.

Unfortunately, still a banger

Separate the art from the artist, and it’s hard not to be impressed w the wild creativity and level of artistry on display here

Great album.

i really like this album but I fucking hate Kanye

Kayne West is an rare a**hope, making a good music though. Imagine he was no such a f**k back in 2010

The guy is a complete douche, so it is somewhat painful to say this album is actually pretty good.

Kanye is Kanye

The intro to runaway is representative of the impression this album has left on the pop culture scene. Even as someone who just never really appreciate rap in any meaningful way, I could appreciate the impact this album has. Kanye sucks but his music doesn’t. 4/5

Dark fantasy - 3 Gorgeous - 4 Power - 5 All of the lights (interlude) - 3 All of the lights - 3 Monster - 5 So appalled - 4 Devil in a new dress - 3 Runaway - 3 Hell of a life - 4 Blame game - 3 Lost in the world - 3 Who will survive in america - 3

Buen album, lleno de palos historicos y una q otra infravalorada

This is when we all started thinking Kanye wasn’t all there mentally. Great rapper and producer, but a little “off.”

This was actually alright. Some very crass lyrics, but the music was good.

i am, of course, well familiar with this. great album, but not top 3 kanye imo.

Pop Rap/Hip Hop Favorite Songs: Dark Fantasy, Gorgeous, Power, All of the Lights, So Appalled, Devil in a New Dress, Runaway, Hell of a Life, Blame Game, Lost in the World Least Favorite Song: Monster (This is due to me not liking anything that Nicki Minaj does. I don't like her as a person (I think she's a massive bully who's now currently trying to grift herself into the M.A.G.A. sphere just to save her registered sexual offended husband), and I especially don't like her as an artist. Go listen to Anaconda and come back to me, and if not, then what I'll say is it felt like anything that she raps about is just an absolute bit of nothing. Essentially, she's like Timmy Turner's mother where everything she touch dies.) So, before I touch upon this review, let's get this out of the way: Yes, Kanye needs some actual mental help. It's gotten to the point where he's now spewing a lot of far right rhetoric, with comments against Jewish people, to saying, "slavery is a choice", to him saying that his episodes were caused by his autism (to which, even if he is autistic, as an actual autistic person who's writing this review, I don't condone that. Your autism does not excuse you to become a horrible person), to him even wanting to support generative AI and has used generative AI in his work, even for a bit. Frankly, I don't really like him now, and I don't think that I can separate the art from the artist with his newer work (especially with Vultures 1 and 2). Generally, if you don't wish to listen to his work, then I won't stop you, and if you wish to grab this album and not support this fascist by giving him money, I will also not stop you. Thankfully, I don't need his recent stuff to separate the art from the artist with him talking about this album. But before that, I should probably state something about my own controversial opinion about Kanye West, because for me, when he approaches art and music, Kanye West in general insist upon himself, and I do mean that in a, "he's very pretentious," unironic kind of way. What I mean is that for Kanye West, even before his mental health declined, he's like this musical equivalent of a film bro, someone who wants to take art way too seriously to the point where they're missing a lot of the meanings and morals behind the story. Now, I'm not saying that you can't make some high-brow art and get away with it, but for the longest time, even before listening to The Life of Pablo, Yeezus, and Graduation, and now even before listening to this album, I felt like his way of viewing art has really hurt his overall quality of his songs, and even after listening to this album, I still have this sentiment to this day. ...and yet...I can't help it, this is his best work that he ever made. Overall, the production is his best work out there. I didn't really the production choices with the three other albums that I've listened to earlier, but this one is a lot more beautiful in comparison. Also, unlike Graduation, the production doesn't seem like it felt dated at all. Lyrically, it's probably his most relatable album that I've listened to so far, that being that no matter how much fame you have, no matter how much power you have, no matter how much money you have, it still feels like you're still missing something. It's probably his most personal record that he recorded, and frankly, it's my favorite Kanye West album so far. Still think that you still shouldn't monetarily support him if you wish to listen to this album (which includes streaming his stuff), and I still think that he still insist upon himself. Will more than likely not wish to listen to another Kanye West album hopefully until the far future, preferably when he passes and rots in hell for being a Nazi, but I've put on my pirate hat to put this album into my personal music library. 9/10

Second half better than first; stand outs devil in red whatever (that one your showed me a while ago), and runaway and transition between lost in world/who will survive in America

Great album

Kanye at the peak of his powers. Production on here is absolutely top-notch, and I'd probably rate this a 5* if not for some of the overly explicit material on the back half.

I'm having a tough time starting off this review. For the longest time, Kanye was my favorite artist with this my favorite album. The opulence of the experience combined with the musical mastery on display here really makes the album special and a classic on arrival. I remember why this was a big deal and so important 16 years ago and across the 2010's. At the time this was revolutionary and a definitive cumulation of bling era rap, ushering forth a more emotional and pop ready era which Kanye himself practically started with Graduation and 808's. But I'm being very careful to not go against my thesis here, and in short that would be that the album is getting kind of long in the tooth - it's showing how of it's time it is as the clock hands march ever onward. I realized this a few years ago at this point, and this stands true to me today; while the initial 4 or so songs are magnificent and probably the best 4 track run of any album ever, and I still love Devil in a New Dress and Runaway as most people do, some songs in the latter half of the album such as So Appalled, Hell of a Life, Lost in the World, and even Blame Game and Monster in some parts (namely the Chris Rock part on Blame Game and everyone apart from Nicki Minaj on Monster respectively) are becoming skips nowadays. I can't hear the zest of them as I could once, and it stands out due to the monstrous quality of Dark Fantasy, Gorgeous, POWER and All of the Lights. Waiting on College Dropout to pop in my project though so I can ramble on about it as I still listen to that regularly and it hasn't aged a day. PS. I don't fault anyone for rating based on the artist, but it still makes me wonder how Kanye's albums would be rated respectively if they didn't have his baggage attached to them. I wish someone could correct me, but I don't think there's anyone else apart from maybe Morrissey that get their grades skewed to such an extent due to the artist.

Horrible person, but a very solid album. I probably didn't enjoy this as much as I usually enjoy other albums that I rate 4 stars, but I'm not a big Hip Hop listener and I could tell this work was great. I must also mention that Nicki Minaj really outshone Kayne West here with her performance in "Monster". I think at this point I'm looking forward more to listen to other works of hers than Kanye's.

Good album, but not a classic since it has some boring songs

I actually have Kanye blocked on Spotify and seriously considered skipping this album altogether. But I’ve criticized other reviews for rating the artist instead of the album, and I’ve said before that we’re rating the music, not the person who made it. I can’t abandon that standard just because this time it’s an artist I personally don’t want to support. So I did the work, listened to the album, and unfortunately for me…it’s really fucking good. The production is huge, layered and constantly interesting, with enough different sounds, features and ideas that it never feels like straightforward hip-hop. Whatever my feelings about Kanye are, I can’t pretend I didn’t enjoy the music just to make the rating fit those feelings. An easy 4 stars. I gave the album its fair shot, gave it the rating I think it deserves, and now I’ll probably never play it again.

I go back and forth on this record. I once did actually believe it to be one of the best albums of all time and a masterpiece but my opinion has mellowed over time. Sometimes to me it's still like a 8 or 9, mostly its more of a 7 to me nowadays though. I so believe it is quite heav8ly overrated though. I think some songs haven't aged the best and I'm not the biggest fan of Blame Game or Hell of A Life especially. Sometimes I don't like So Appalled, All of the Lights, or Monster too. Maybe I listened to this too much at 16 years old to find novelty in it anymore. Power and Runaway are classics.

This is my earnest attempt at separating the art from the artist. Here we go. As Stefan of SNL fame would say: This album has it all. The cleverest of word play, silly perfect samples, fun with affected vocal and distortion, interludes, catchy as fuck hooks, a colorful mix of cameos, smooth grooves and beats n stuff – and that one home video part that goes on for far too long and makes me squirm. You know what Yeezy taught me? I’m allowed to enjoy a song without knowing (or really caring?) a whiff of what it’s about. I mean, I’ve 100% known that before... I just, I had/have a giant TSwizzle-sized chip on my shoulder that I had to – ahem, dust off. I think I *finally* understand what all the fuss is about. Kanye is great big fun. Favorite song: POWER

Very creative and powerful. Sad that he ended up going crazy later on

Great album - loved this when it came out.

I enjoyed this more than I was expecting. So sonically varied and expressive, I imagine it was nothinv like the masses would have heard in 2010.

One of the best modern albums. 9/10

Pleasantly surprised by this album. Although I’ve only heard a few songs in full, it’s interesting how I still recognized the intro of nearly every song from somewhere else. It’s also funny seeing that people rated this lower and lower over the past few years. I was wondering if that cumulative rating box would ever be of use

Kanye is a great producer and a decent rapper, but his work never really struck a chord with me. It always felt too commercial for my taste, and I still consider it, for the most part, media-inflated pop rap. It will never be part of my personal pantheon. I'll reluctantly admit this album is really solid though. Production is tight and efficient, sometimes even beautiful. The guest list is impressive, and Kanye's flow is pretty good. This mofo was indeed making good music back in the days - before his brain melted and he became an abhorrent piece of MAGA shit. (On that note, since I'm certainly not paying a cent to his Gestapo-supporting ass, I had to dig up my pirate hat and my hook to procure this album. It's not hard - don't feed the nazi trolls !). 8/10

After seeing Kanye West live in 2008 on the Glow in the Dark tour, a gloomy show where he was basically alone on stage, I was reintroduced to him against my will about fifteen years ago with this album. And honestly, I found it insanely creative. I still regularly come back to his work from that period. From my experience, the guy is mainly a studio animal and a buzz machine, but that takes nothing away from the quality of his work. Far ahead of most other commercial rap in my opinion.

Maximalist production, fire features, braggadocio, and vulnerability. And so much more...this man was a peak artist.

Good, but not really my thing. Also Kanye is a Nazi.

He’s an awful man, and just like college dropout I didn’t expect to enjoy this at all but… it goes hard. Way harder than I expected.

All of the lights a MAIOR Mas só gostei dessa tb Por mim já valeu o álbum

THE ONE PIECE IS REEEEEAAAALLLL!!!!!

It's unfortunate that Kanye's music has been tainted by his...everything over the last couple years because I think this album is almost as incredible as it's been made out to be. The credits for most of these songs are insane.

So good

how the fuck are nicki minaj vocalsthe best thing on monster

Uncontroversial opinion, but I don’t like nazis. I think the vitriol Kanye has spread, the awful merch campaigns he’s led, along with the way he views women is disgusting. However, part of me still doesn’t know how to feel about him. I don’t think bipolar, or most any mental disorder for that matter, can always be used as an excuse for one’s misdeeds, but it can always be a reason. I’ve witnessed a bipolar friend of mine completely destroy themselves, sabotage all their relationships until they had nothing left. They treated everyone they know like shit, they spewed racist jokes and try to gaslight people into believing it’s not a big deal, they deceived people into thinking they had potentially fatal conditions in order to garner sympathy, and at the end of it all they still seemed to believe they were my innocent victim when I tried to call them out on their bullshit. There’s nothing that can make them disbelieve their feelings of persecution. There’s nothing that can sway them from their delusions of grandeur. Since then I’ve wondered, at what point does the damage someone’s caused as a result of their condition become unforgivable? At what point does someone no longer deserve your sympathy? Should I forgive someone for their awful behavior just because they have no way of controlling it? I think everyone is capable of wanting to improve themselves, of seeing the damage they’ve done and wanting to rectify it. Anyone can see the depth of the hole they’ve dug for themselves, but some people would rather rot at the bottom and wallow in perceived helplessness than crawl their way out of it. I can tell that Kanye has been trying to improve himself as of late, but whether or not he feels remorseful is something I can really only speculate, and I don’t think all he’s done deserves to be buried and forgotten. The only thing I know for certain is that his actions do not erase the talent evident in his work, and that frustrates me to no end. I do really love this album, I have fond memories of listening to it blasting from my brother’s room next door, and I think its production and lyricism are unmatched. (Maybe not including that whole bit about choking a South Park writer with a fish stick.) I just wish this album was made by literally anyone else. #saidmylast”hemadegraduation”

Still doesn't seem to make up for the Kanye West of it all

Don’t hate me

It’s too bad he’s an awful person

Obviously reeks of high-class production. SO put together. Kanye is just so obviously talented. Haaaate Nicki Minaj though. Kinda crazy this album is over 16 years old. Definitely didn't listen to it in 2010 hahaha

banger

It's hard not to have mixed feelings but some definite bangers on here

Won’t hold current Kanye against this fantastic album

He's not the Messiah Faves: Runaway (have mastered the opening on piano) Monster All of the lights Skips: Blame game Kanye culture in general

Despicable person and some of the lyrics were a bit weak but overall I thought this was a consistently good album. Stands outs were All Of The Lights and Runaway.

Might be 5 stars with more listens

Great album. Never heard it before. Will listen again.

Again need to separate the artist from the art. I like this album and would really like it if it was 20 minutes shorter. Some songs really drag on. 7.5/10 Top song Hell of a life

If the latter half of this album was as strong as the first half, this album would get a 5. Maybe that’s an impossible ask considering how legendary those first ~25-30 minutes were but not every track needs to be 5 minutes long.

I have a lot of negative things to say about this guy, but he /is/ a really good musician when he wants to be.

Before I rated this, I had to look into this unknown artist, to learn about who he is and what he's about. After reading about his recent activity, I have to give the rating a boost. However, he was married to a Kardashian, so that cancels out any positive boost that was given

Some assorted thoughts and recollections: 1. The version of All of the Lights that I had downloaded was obviously a bootleg recording of its premiere or something and so there are assorted watermarks (especially during Fergie's rap) of some radio host shouting over the top, but there were so many things happening on the song already that for years I didn't realise it wasn't part of the song 2. I remember when the Runaway 30 minute film came out people in our English class were trying to get our teacher to play it for the class (in a similar way to how we watched Run The World (Girls) video and the trailer for Breaking Dawn) I think we watched some of it and then the teacher decided it was too much. This is easily my favourite Kanye album and I think its maximalist style is most closely aligned to my kind of pop music preferences. I was blown away hearing Power on the radio and feeling like it was so sharp and well constructed, even in conversation with his earlier work. For me this was the peak of his pop music era, even though I know he technically had much bigger hits earlier on. But it was so ambitious and sounded amazing. Power, All of the Lights, Runaway, Hell of a Life, Lost In The World - those would basically make up the majority of my fave Kanye songs, so the highs on this album are so high. BUT there were a few moments on my listen today that really dragged. Some of those songs in between were so long???? Blame Game, Devil in A New Dress, even parts of Monster I found myself so bored. And a Pitchfork 10.0 album should not have moments like that. I very rarely listen to any of these songs now but I loved revisiting my faves

7.13.26 a good album unfortunately LMAO Favorite Song: POWER Rating: 4/5

I am giving this a 4 for the artistry, but Kanye is still an absolute POS of a human being

My knowledge of Kanye West is actually pretty limited, although I do recall owning his first two albums on CD and being kind of into them. This was pretty great as an entertaining and artistic achievement, but not the kind of thing I would ever put on for any purpose. Wonder what ever happened to this guy, has he done anything since this album?

A dark heart slouches towards Bethelehem deep within this album.

I stopped listening to Kanye a few years ago not strictly to protest the fact that he's such a dick, but simply because just hearing his voice grates on me so hard now.....because he's such a dick. But I've certainly listened to this album A LOT. And it is a rock-solid banger. I hate how good this album is. Between All of the Lights and Monster, that's enough to give this album four stars. So I'm giving it four stars. But I'm not happy about it...because he's such a dick.

A great album with great production and some not-so-great rapping at times. The songs where Kanye is vulnerable and not overly braggy (eg. are really game-changing (eg All of the Lights, Runaway, Lost in the World). The other stuff seems childish and disingenuous (Hell Of a Life, Devil in a New Dress). And of course there are some which are in the middle but are also bangers, such as POWER and Monster.

One of Kanye's best the production is top class

В целом конечно не фанат йе, но примерно представляю уровень культовости этого альбома. Даже как-то смотрел его короткометражку по нему, где он мутил с женщиной-птицей. Полностью понять и осознать гениальность этого альбома мне видимо не дано, но звучит в целом хорошо, биты отличные, много интересных камео, ну и от Runaway в который раз слегка щемит в груди.

возможно ожидания были занижены, но мне прям понравился альбом - 4

It's a shame Kanye has to be such an awful human being as this album is genuinely great. Still, at least we've still got Nikki Minaj's verse on Monster... oh no. But at least we've still got Jay-Z's verse on Monster... oh no.

Grandiose, over the top, so many high moments. It is such a great record, truly his best. Yet it still drags somewhat near the end.

8 - maybe his best album?

It's been almost 10 years since Kanye had his meltdown and lost his powers as a rapping and producing hit machine. It's amazing to reflect at just how good he was across this run of LPs. For many this one is the best, while I wouldn’t quite go that far I can see why others do. It has flawless flow from track to track and features his best production work. It's got hit songs, amazing features and consistently strong rapping from Kanye himself. It feels like a pop album in so many ways, but with so much textural and lyrical detail effortlessly embedded within every moment. Few albums are as iconic as this one.

It’s good. I’m not sure it’s great. I would have given it 3.5 based on my first listen and know it is the sort of thing that will grow on me with repeated listens but I’m not sure I wanna give him the royalties

I genuinely think I prefer Yeezus over MBDTF. I’m gonna die at the stake for this take. Idk I think half of my appeal to Kanye is when he takes risks. This isn’t that, But MDBTF is his magnum opus no doubt. The production is top tier, and I think it’s up there Kanye wise lyrically too. Idk I’m not the biggest Kanye fan. Just MO. Also this album is a lot less nostalgic than I thought it’d be. Again I’ve never been a big fan so maybe that’s why. But you can’t go wrong with Runaway, Devil in a new dress, or all of the lights.

God just god of course it would be a random day which I need to lock in that one of the greatest albums of the 2010s comes on. What can’t be said about this album. Marked a full turning point in Kanye’s career and has been one he has chased for years and hasn’t gotten back. Pure artistry. Listen to the lyrics on Runaway. It’s so telling of a story and truly allows you to live in the realm of avoidance. Finding oneself is what this is about can we get much higher. This is the question. Push yourself forward. There is tons of corn here tho monster is so wack but All of The Lights ,Power and DIAND these are the most defining tracks of hip hop ever. Everyone wants to chase this level of music and success but can’t. Despite all that, I will always go to bat for this album because The version of Kanye that made this wanted to create art and be his true self until he went too far and ruined it. We can all sit and pretend that this was the end truly. Fuck kanYe but thank you Kanye West for brining this into the world before then.

secretly love

Overall just good

Great album imo although not a fan of some of kanyes style, and some of the production sounded slightly corny but overall a great album except from monster which is ahh

Liked it a lot. Definitely some iconic bangers on here

Bangers. Kanye obviously not a guy i'd hang out with

Objectively, Kanye is an incredible musician and producer, and this album proves it. I personally like the Yeezus album over this one, but there's no denying how impressive this album is: we're still rocking out to Power and Runaway. 4 stars 😎

A: Lyssnade inte så aktivt men mycket bättre album än vad jag hoppats på. Lyssnade inte på orden och det lilla jag hörde var inte alltför övertygande men gillade produktionen mycket! Väldigt bra bakgrundsmusik. 4/5 stjärnor D: Så länge man inte lyssnar på texten är den lekfull och hoppsig. Gillade genren och överlag mycket positivare upplevelse än jag trodde. Hatar att medge att han ju nog är ett musikaliskt geni. Jag skulle kunna spela det på en function för att imponera på Generic finswe male #3. 4/5 stjärnor.

Musically very cool, and I basically love everything about it except Ye's vocals. (Runaway is a lot of fun, though.)

god damn it……… i liked it. fuck kanye

I listened to this album a lot the first 2 years it came out and it was a 5/5 for me. I gave it a 4 today because it has been very jarring to learn over the years that he means it when he says dark and twisted. To the point where I couldn't listen to it now and just had to remember what I thought at the time

C’était tristement très très bon

he was a jewish doctor

If this album doesn't deserve a 4, I'm not sure what does. The artist themselves? That's another story.

One of the albums that really got me into hiphop. Amazing sampling, ideas and production all over this album. Still not every song is really my cup of tea, but one of kanye's most enjoyable albums for me. 1. Runaway 2. POWER 3. Gorgeous

Listening to this makes me sad. He's such a gifted songwriter, and this album feels so precariously perched between his wanton bigotry and earnest self-reflection. That precarity makes for compelling music, but it also forces you to think about what might have been if things had gone differently. I wish they had.

From one hip hop album to another. The last album was WuTang. It was an album that was a sum of its parts. This album has plenty of guest players but its still the product of the one i feel. And i really wish i disnt like the one, but the albums so far on here are very good. Cant deny the genius , nor the madness. I wonder if he has no external sense of self - how other people view or think about him. No metaperception? Is that what it’s called? It is both awe inspiring and frightening. This isnt quite the punch in the face the other album i reviewed is. Maybe the collaborations softened it? May not be a bad thing in some cases but there are a couple of songs in the last 3rd of the album that let it down.

Really have to separate the art from the artist here as Kanye is a dick but this album is great. Not my favourite of his but enjoyed it a lot

just my luck that i get another kanye album so soon. same as previously said, the production, instrumentals, and features are awesome, i just don’t like the guy himself. in an alternate universe i’d give this a 5 but i cant

Devil in a New Dress and Runaways are the only tracks I truly love, but because of how much effort went into the album I have to give it a 4.

Dude's a nut case but this is still a masterfully produced album.

Prima hip hop album, vind het niet zo wow als de meesten. Sla je lokale nazi.

When I first started getting into Hip Hop, Kanye was already starting to show some cracks both as a person and as an artist. As a result, I wasn't really interested in researching his discography. I can separate the art from the artist most of the time, but I already had so much to explore that I wasn't really in a rush to give his albums a listen. Much less so when he started pushing Nazi ideology. With all of that out of the way, in a purely musical vacuum, this album is incredible. The hooks are phenomenal, it's fantastically produced and Kanye's flow shines time and time again, even if it's often put aside in favour of melodic features and samples. There are two or three low points here, but overall this was a great listen. I'm not sure how much I'll actually revisit it considering all of the external factors, but we'll see. Favourite track: POWER

One of those "you have to separate the art from the artist" dope production.

Would def listen to again. Vibes. Old kanye best kanye

I really hate to give Kanye props, but the album is just so good. Haven't really listened to Kanye since he went all crazy, but his earlier stuff is just so good.

Mangslungent mesterverk fra det gærne geniet. Litt for mye fjas, men her er det mange gullklumper å finne.

Very difficult to separate the artist from the art with this one; much more so than older artists that are decades away from their best, while Kanye is still making music. Still a massively influential album, still some of the best production on a hip-hop record ever, but this album more so than the others, he is the weakest lyricist and rapper on it. I still love this album, but it's not held up as well as it possibly could have done. Lets forget about anything past Life of Pablo though eh

rein musikalisch leider geil.... kanye west ist heute obviously ein nazi aber ich glaube als dieses album rausgekommen ist war er nur so kontrovers wie ein durchschnittlicher rapper.... trotzdem doof aber ich habs trotzdem gehört und es war geil.....

:/

I gave other Kanye albums two stars largely because of inconsistency, but this is pretty great end to end. I especially liked Power, with the King Crimson sample

*2010. *Preface - This was before Kanye’s meltdown. *Really enjoyable listen. This is not background music - it captures you and makes you pay attention. *All of the Lights was the only song I knew - almost every track is solid though. *Listened twice consecutively because I enjoyed it - will listen more. *1 star demerit for Kanye being problematic though. RATING - 8/10

I think it's a testament to how impactful this album is to pop-culture that I recognized bit after bit of it while never making any attempt to listen to Ye before. Very good; will listen again

Eigenlijk best wel vet

Very well done.

Man ... it's such a shame Kanye is the way he is. This is the only album of his I ever spent much time with (in college) and the production is just impeccable. Oh man, I forgot Nikki Minaj was on this one, too. Another hip-hop superstar who has fallen from grace. There's a Donald Trump reference on "So Appalled"! I'm so appalled, Spalding ball Balding, Donald Trump taking dollars from y'all

It’s still a very impressive album. But maybe not quite as good as I remember it. With the addition of Kanye’s activities over the last few years I think this looses its position on best albums of all time list.

Having, to date, only ever experienced Kanye/Ye through his public persona, I really wish this sucked. It possesses both a melodic and rhythmic sensibilities that hip-hop often lacks. He has flow. He has something to say. I'm terrified of digging more into his lyrics and finding out that the darkest elements of his personality were always there but this is excellent. I will also say that I don't think this is a work of staggering genius. The wonderful production work is worthy of immense respect but any innovation baked into it is lost on me. It's not Paul's Boutique or 3 Feet High And Rising. Frankly, I think Under Construction pushed boundaries more than this. I had to review the 4- and 5-star reviews of hip-hop records I've given in order to place this in context. It's close to that top level for me but I think what it comes down to is this: the best parts of this album simply remind me of the labour-intensive, sample-laden, tightly-crafted rap albums of the 90's -- something that we largely lack, post-millennium. If we weren't beset by a low-effort, impoverished brand of hip-hop, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy might not have achieved the reverence that it did. Would this hold up against peak Wu-Tang? De La Soul? The Roots, Public Enemy, NWA, The Fugees? I think Kanye would be their contemporary, their peer; I don't think that he would stand as the best of them. He's just the king of a weak country. 4/5 -- must-listen but not earth-shattering. I didn't think 'Oh, that's where this started,' nor did it change my conception of the genre. It's still really, really fucking good, though.

I don’t give two shits about Kanye but I really enjoyed this album. It was about two songs too long but I was getting into it. the music was surprisingly good and most of the lyrics were neat. I might go buy this album

great album. i really enjoyed dark fantasy, gorgeous and power, but idk not my genre i guess... sry yeezy

Huh, this is interesting one. Kanye is an awful person, which is leaking through his lyrics actually. But he sure does know how to make it sound great. I never was a fan and never listened to a single whole album of his and I probably can’t get how powerful it must’ve been at the time. Also this made me think about how much we are able to separate art from an artist. As a creator myself I feel like there’re always kinda layers of what flows directly from artist to art and what is more refined and less raw. And it’s an interesting topic to explore. Because this album has tracks that seem to be very emotionally raw, so charged that I felt it not through his words but through his music. A lot to unpack here I guess. But this is unquestionably one of the important albums of our century.

I remember when he first came on the scene...such a unique talent. I remember playing table tennis with my late older brother with kanye as part of the soundtrack (mostly rap, emo & nu metal) blaring from shitty twin 2000s desktop computer speakers & later dnacing to kanye with friends in clubs. He's made some very bizarre/cruel statements in the last decade. Hope he finds his way back & rights his wrongs. Great album. Stand out track is monster. Nicki minaj' (rip her career after becoming erika kirk's new bff) verse on monster is fucking perfection. Can't not mention justin vernon carrying us out with his vocals too.

Very good for its category. Many many artists

Heel fire en divers, veel bekende bangers ook 4.5

Awesome, timeless album

Lush production and clever lyricism. Kanye at his best. Drenched in misogyny. The most potent part of the album to me was the final Last Poets sample. A group that's still so insanely relevant to what this country is experiencing.

Wow... For a change it turned out to be even more entertaining than his twitter page.

This is my first time listening to Kanye and I know this album was on another level. I must admit I really liked the rhythm but I wish I could read the lyrics to understand it better.

i have a lot of appreciation for this album's place in the culture and the absolute radio chokehold it had. maximalism is pretty cool. the more i have spent time with it the less i am a fan of its super compressed mix and think it is a bit less interesting than other Kanye albums when you remove it from its own mythology. "Gorgeous" is one of the greatest rap songs of the century.

Super lækkert og skævt hiphop album. Helt klart et af de bedste i genren. Vil høre igen: ja 3,92

Great album that wants to be a 5, but it doesn't really speak to me on a deeper level or make me feel anything deep or make me go WOW. Just straight solid hip hop through and through. If I liked Kanye more this would probably be a five (as an artist and person).

Terrible news, that insufferable edgelord you know is a great musician and lyricist. I didn't like this one as much as Yeezus, but there's a lot of interesting production here as well as some phenomenal flow/lyrics. Top notch clever wordplay. My only gripe with the album is more a gripe with this era in pop music. Over reliance on strings and vocal effects takes the album down a notch for me, but it's genuinely a really cool album. Fun to listen to and to talk about!

After listening, I understand why this album is held in such high esteem. Even I actually mostly liked it. I was very surprised by some of the samples (King Crimson, Iron Man) and guest appearances (Elton John, Bon Iver, John Legend...). That said, it's still too misogynistic for me.

I really enjoyed it, it makes him being such a shitbag even more frustrating

This is the record where Kanye had full control and didn't need to listen to any advice regarding “restraint” or “editing” or “not including every ridiculous idea since Adam”. It's his White Album, for lack of a better metaphor. It’s brilliant and sprawling and messy and excessive and entertaining and thrilling and frustrating and more. All in all, it's one of the best records of the 2010s. From here, things did not go well. The less said, the better. But we'll always have MBDTF

Man, some of y'all need to separate the musician from the music. Besides Monster, hadn't heard a single track on this. 4.5/5

It has been a while since I was last listening to this anything like regularly. When I bought it, I had already cooled a bit on Kanye. I’d obviously dug the first two and also to a degree Graduation, but I’d passed on 808s. I was convinced by the general reception MBDTW had received and reasonably willingly, gave in. And I loved it. Like most hip hop, I have no connection with anything in it that I should find relatable and largely there are many elements that are often polar opposite to my principals, my politics, my morals and my outlook on life in general. Nevertheless, I love hip hop and am perfectly capable of enjoying any hip hop throughly as a piece of art. Since this album, I haven’t engaged much with the Ye output and everything about him has gradually made me less and less likely to want to hear anything new by him. And since it had been so long since I heard this, I wondered would a fresh listen (with a lot more baggage attached) find me unable to still enjoy it as much (or at all)? Well, with an open mind, I discovered that I still found it to be a quality listen basically from start to finish. There is so much to be impressed by amongst the density of sound. As a listener with a very diverse taste in music generally, I found much for my ears to embrace and appreciate. Sadly Kanye’s clearly massive ego was aware of the strength of the musicality involved and probably had few around him wanting to offer criticism. As a result far too many of the tracks are twice as long as they need to be. Despite this I came out the other side of its nearly 70mins without any regrets. I didn’t revisit the credits and typically, I’m not particularly good at recognising guests, but all the ones I spotted genuinely added to the proceedings. Raekwon, Nicki Minaj, RZA and Chris Rock can take a bow, the Bon Iver bits weren’t my faves but not a net negative. So it seems my relationship with Kanye’s discography will span only from 2004 to 2010. And I’m perfectly happy with that tbh.

Wow

I don't know if you can truly separate art from the artists. This album is 1000x better than kanye as a person ever will be. Still cant give a nazi supporter 5 stars

Flere kule sanger. Sykt mange kjente sanger

He is absolutely insane but this is a fantastic album.

I've always wondered what people see in Kanye, but this is a fantastically well produced album, with great guest stars, and his flow is good. The run of Power, All of the Lights, and Monster makes for a particularly strong start to the album. There are definitely signs of megalomania and narcissism in there, but obviously I'm viewing that with the benefit of hindsight. Fortunately I didn't pick up on any signs of the other things that were to come.

The four stars are for the music not the man. This is one of the best hip hop records of all time, unfortunately, Ye is complicated. If I were reviewing him, it would be lower. Patrick Star has never betrayed anyone.

This is a perfect album. But it hits different recently. Minus one star for all that shit

Listo

Part of this process was me coming to the acceptance that there is some degree of separating artist from art and broadening my horizons from my gut reaction to skip and move on. That being said this album is great. It has texture and variety and pathos. There are some genuinely great tracks on it.

Good album although from a controversial artist.

Na dat ik gisteren een paar uur naar Ella Fitzgerald heb geluisterd, heb ik dat vandaag gedaan bij dit album, 3x achter elkaar, zonder dat het echt verveelde. Dit album is bij vlagen oorstrelend. Het album wordt ingeleid met het nummer Dark Fantasy, en op het moment dat je "can we get much higher" wordt je direct herinnerd aan al het goeds wat het album heeft te bieden. Productie is van een zeer hoog niveau, beats zijn erg origineel, goeie samples, en Ye rapt als de maniakale gek die hij is, en I love it. All of the lights is best wel een anthem, en ik kan geen genoeg krijgen van Rihanna. Dat gezegd hebbende, vind ik niet alle collabs even goed. Jay-Z komt op beide songs niet heel sterk, zeker op Monster wordt hij overklast door Ye en Nicki Minaj, ook op So appalled vind ik Kanye sterker dan zijn collabs. De beat is dan wel weer heel ziek met fijne textuurtjes. Nog een nummer wat ik wil uitlichten is Blame game. John Legend die zijn vrouw bitch noemt en zelf motherfucker wordt genoemd, ik geloof het niet echt, maar de vocals passen wel weer goed op dit nummer en Ye is being Ye, en het is weer heel hard. Wat je verder aan het eind van dit nummer te weten komt, is dat Ye ook een erg goede leraar blijkt te zijn. Al met al is het album niet perfect, maar toch prikkelt het ook genoeg om er verder in te duiken. ik ga zuinig zijn met 5 sterrenratings maar ik was erg blij dat we qua afwisseling nu eindelijk weer iets anders konden luisteren dan een soort live achtige vintage bigband registratie.

Really good album. It's definitely an essential rap album. It's a very electronic rap album. It has definitely solidified it's place in music history. Peak Kanye (Especially because of the controversy surrounding him now).

I hate that this man is kind of a lyrical genius. I also hate Nazis. But there are some bangers on here. I’m really having to separate the art from the artist guys. Also haven’t listened to Kanye since…you know. So I really felt back in my middle school days.

> the Beatles This is one of the hardest albums to rate. So I'll just say this; fuck Kanye West. I hated him before he turned into an actual Nazi. That said... He pretty undeniably had talent and made damn good music. My rating is fully separating art from artist.

Insane production, love the chemistry between the artists

I hate enjoying Kanye

Not a hip hop fan but I really enjoyed this album

pretty good. it is hard to consider rap to be on par with other music types but when it comes to it, this album is creative

Excellent producer but quite a dull rapper

It's very long, the lyrics can be goofy, and the Chris Rock skit is terrible, but there are an undeniable amount of hits on here. 3.5/5.0: Very Good

Kanye needs help. And I don't really listen to his stuff anymore with all the antisemitism and everything else. Taking this all away (to the extent that we can) is kind of important at times though because unfortunately these stories are everywhere and from everyone. So this album? Great. Power>All of the Lights> Monster is huge.

Probably Kanye’s best thingy. The production is so good. All of the guests are great, Nicki kills it on Monster. Kanye’s actual vocals and lyrics are the weakest part of this thing. It’s pretty great from start to finish, probably would only skip “So Apalled” and “Blame Game” if I ever came back to listen— but I probably won’t because the actual experience of listening to this is soured in with how much of a PoS Kanye is. There is so much music in the world to listen to so I’m not really sweating over it. 4/5 closer to a 5

Es bueno, hay algo

Well done ye

Good

first modern album. I did like it, ye knows what he's doing. shame shame. not my favorite ye album though

Look, if I were rating Kanye on who he is as a person, this would be a 1-star review. But, I'm here to rate the music, and it's undeniable that Kayne did for the rap game. In six years, he released arguably 4 of the greatest albums of all time (some may make a case for 808s & Heartbreaks but that's not for me). As for MBDTF, I think it comes in at #3. Here, Kanye is once again an ok rapper and a phenomenal producer. So many hit songs came from this album. Is it a masterpiece? I don't know..I think it falls a bit short mostly because the actual "rap" is whatever--though somehow Niki Minaj gives probably her best bars yet. You don't have to like Kanye to rate this high, it's fine. My only real complaint about this album is that it's so unnecessarily long. Not even total run time, although that's too long in my opinion, but each individual track is just too long." "Runaway" doesn't need an outro that takes us to the 9 minute mark. "Blame Game" shouldn't be over 7 minutes long. I think each track has its merits, although I really don't like "Hell of a Life", but the length of each of them has me seriously considering knocking what should be a four-star album down to 3 stars.

Better than I thought it would be better than George Harrison yesterday

He’s not the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy.

Many songs that prove that KW is indeed a musical genius. At the time his way to patch musical layers was so refreshing. Sad he lost his way...

Thought i would hate it, actually found it pretty good. Kanye is still a dick though.

Pretty damn good. Silly braggadocio mixed with rock and roll. Shame about his rough years but clearly he's mentally ill and until recently unmedicated

Really interesting album. Lots of big sounds, loads of interest, massive depth. Some a bit poppy for me, some lyrics YAK but some are kind of funny 'Yeezy reupholstered my pussy'. Hahaha. Also made me laugh this list getting a bit self referential - 21st century schizoid man sample. Not a fan of Kanye West the man (massive understatement). But this album rates a 4 for me.

A bit overrated, but still exemplifies why Kanye at his peak really ran the game. Fave track: Runaway

My opinion remains the same as it alway has - not even a top 5 Kanye album and the reputation this album has garnered over time kind of baffles me. Plenty of highs, but plenty of mid tracks and even some shitters. Monster is easily one of the worst tracks in Kanye’s catalogue. Still a solid album, it’s Kanye after all. But not a masterpiece by any metric. 3.5/5

No entendés qué hace a la gente seguir amando a Kanye hasta que escuchás a Kanye. Tenés que estar brotado para ser tan capo.

Actually really really enjoyed this album. I really wanted not to but it was epic with a number of absolute masterpieces.

Sorry, not re-listening to Kanye. Will give it the four I felt it deserved at the time!

Wow. Never was a fan of Kanye, never listened to anything he had done before. I've been told since, there may be better albums of his. for that reason I will give this a 4. Not a perfect album but overwhelming in its production and ambition. It has become such a wild thing to have to separate artist from art and that is what I am doing here. I cannot support his views. there are a dozen such artists I could list here, black and white. The music is impeccable and that is what held me transfixed for the entirety of the album.

I hate how much I enjoyed this. This is full of amazing guest appearances and samples - everyone from Mike Oldfield to Bon Iver, from Nicki Minaj to Elton John, from King Crimson* to Black Sabbath. The two tracks I knew (“Power” and “All of the Lights”) are so good, but I also enjoyed “Dark Fantasy” and, may God help me, but I also did like “Hell of a Life” - especially its refrain. I am sure Ozzy was thrilled at the time. Lyrically, at least half of this album is about as questionable as Kanye is (see “Hell of a Life”). But actually, it’s not the lyrics you listen for in most cases - it’s very much the musicianship, the melodies, those clever and genre-bending samples. That said, there are times you get to witness how talented Kanye is as a rapper, as well as a writer. * I knew I recognised that when we listened to King Crimson!

Such a great fucking album. The compositions that Kanye created are so unique and engaging. The features he includes are so diverse and uncommon on hip hop records, even today, yet they work together so harmoniously here. It's not my favorite Kanye record, but it's probably right behind my #1.

Bad people are capable of making good art, and people who can't separate the art from the artist need to grow up

Great album. Artist is obviously controversial, and I haven't liked anything he has put out for quite some time, but definitely was innovative and unique. I really enjoyed the listen. I already knew many of the songs, but haven't listened to it all the way through. 4.5 stars

Stanford said this was the best album ever. It wasn’t, but it gets just a bit better every time I listen to it. Always slightly better than I imagine, still didn’t like the explicit nature of it

Terrible person but great music

Incredible album

As much as I wanted to not like this album, I can’t deny that the production is incredible. Some incredible verses even if many of the people involved are absolute garbage. Reluctantly I must say that I really enjoyed this and I do, unfortunately, get the hype.

dark, maximalist hip-hop with classic Kanye swagger and bars, with a few legendary tracks. no fault to the music, but hearing these tracks played so many times does lessen their impact. Looking back, maybe we all could have predicted his downfall...

I think I got a new religion and its Kanyes

Great album with some of the most iconic tracks. Very weird to listen to Kanye rap about Donald Trump and custody issues, considering what is currently happening in America and his personal life.

production so goated i almost forgot kanye west is a motherfuckin’ monster himself.

I miss the old kanye

a very sick man with very iconic music. bipolar hoes over here 🙋🏻‍♀️

Semi découverte. Album rap très sympa, de bons titres. J'aime beaucoup les samples et les textes. 3-4 sons au top, album bien rythmé. Je réécouterai bien que ça ne soit pas mon genre préféré

Les instrus sont au top, très bon album. N’oublions pas que Kanye est un artiste extrêmement problématique.

Very good album. While starting with Kanye at his usual bombastic self, it also sees him come to terms with the media’s perception of him at the time, as his album persona spirals to the end of the album. It’s a unique theme of an album, seeing yourself become a worse person as you gain power and fame, but feeling helpless to do anything about it, or (more likely) simply complacent. There’s an extra layer of irony considering the Kanye West we know today. As for the sound, wow does this album sound good. It plays with so many different ideas and samples, it’s a really engaging listen throughout. There were definitely moments I wasn’t super high on (Particularly the ending of Blame Game goes on for too long), but there are also some fantastic songs. It deserves all the praise it gets frankly.

Will not support this talent again but know it has cemented itself in the pantheon of hip hop and pop culture.

The work of a slightly disturbed artist, but still an artist. I hope he can find meds and peace and still keep his artist side alive. I can only imagine trying to balance stardom\success\artistic expression and clarity. Prayers for Kanye.

mi è piaciuto dai, non annoia di certo

Jay-Z's verse on "Monster" was the worst shit I've ever heard...brought it down to 4 stars lmao... "All of the Lights" was one of the first song i remember hearing as a kid. I'm really happy i relistned to this album. Still really holds up 16 years later. A top 5 Kanye album...(Ye is the best album he's ever dropped)

Once again, I need to decide how to rate a Kanye West album. Obviously, it's one where you need to try and separate the art from the artist. Kanye became a pretty awful person in recent years, which won't surprise anyone. Regardless of what you may think of his music, it's pretty hard to imagine anyone defending his personal antics in any way, aside from acknowledging mental health difficulties. Interesting by the way that this album contains criticism of Donald Trump many years before Kanye tried to be friends with him. Anyway, we all know about this stuff, so let's put it aside. I don't love all of Kanye's albums, but I have to admit that this one is brilliant. It's a really fresh take on hip hop, really varied, maximal, and with a host of great guests. Turning Aphex Twin's "Avril 14th" into a hip hop song doesn't seem like it should work as well as it does (ignore by the way, the fact that Kanye tried to steal this initially before giving Richard James a writing credit). I really hate that I love this one.

Bra början på albumet. Då och då lite väl mycket med språket men generellt bra musikalitet

1. the "can we get much higher" is literally art woah 2. POWER is so cunt like sorry ik its one of his most GP songs but idgaf 3. He knew how to use a feature, rihanna, nicki.... 4.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy é o melhor álbum da carreira de Kanye West, na minha opinião. Eu sei que eu não sou a pessoa ideal e muito menos uma pessoa confiável quando o assunto é opinar sobre o Kanye (por motivos que todos já sabem), mas este foi um álbum que eu escutei quando mais novo e sempre o achei incrível. Fiquei muitos anos sem escutar um álbum completo do Kanye, então foi uma tremenda surpresa e ironia do universo que ele tenha aparecido aqui logo no terceiro dia. Revisitar MBDTF foi uma excelente experiência - tendo Runaway e All of the Lights como as minhas músicas favoritas do projeto. Eu queria realmente poder atribuir 4,5/5 ao álbum, mas a plataforma não permite.

al di la del lato umano, gran album

1 point off for his ego. 4/5

I can safely say that I've not heard this record before. I've not heard any of the songs in my life. But I really enjoyed it! The rich textures were excellent and it did flow very nicely. minus point for the length.

This is such an important, epic, and grand rap album, but still isn't even my favorite by him.

4.5 - A super solid, all time great of the genre

Nao estava a espera de gostar e acabou por ser um álbum muito bom.

Enough hits to carry this one because the rest wasn't amazing. As with all Kanye there's some good bars but also some cringey misogynistic ones

I wanted to hate this for who Kanye is today but there’s just no denying that this is a fantastic, layered album start to finish.

Lots of bad words in songs, but definetly good melodies.

It's good but ye 🙃

If only Kanye West wasn't an awful human being. I guess I'll separate the art from the artist on this one. Honestly I did not think I'd enjoy this album as much as I did. First of all, I was surprised at how many songs I recognized. Other than that, Monster was pretty entertaining even if a bit crass. Could've done without the long interlude with Chris Rock complimenting a lady's sexual prowess. I also enjoyed Lost in the World with Bon Iver. So many featured artists. Kanye why did you have to go off the deep end? 4/5

MBDTF - by Kanye West. Många bra låtar, proddat najs, vissa är LÅNGA andra, lite kortare. ALL OF THE LIGHTS, POWER, Devil in a new dress. Vet att Emre skulle ge detta en 9.5 kanske 10. Jag är inte lika religiöst in till detta album men jag tror med tiden, ju mer man lyssnar på den så kan man uppskatta den ännu mer. Den får en 7.5/10

*listened before the project* Fuck off ye but this album can be a leftover

Ok unfortunately this was fire. Also unfortunate that he is a nazi. Will I be streaming his music? No but I did like this album

This was an amazing listen, this album explored so many themes from being black in America, the cost of fame and influence and the beauty of it, the complexity of relationships, and the inner conflict with self to the extension of other. Love the creativity in this album. This album is one of the markers of the revolution of HipHop.

Really like this album. I have heard it a few times

Hate to do it to the melon man, especially when it comes to vindicating Kanye, but Fantano took an L here. Fantastic, but docked a point because it could and probably should've ended after Runaway, which is an unbelievable song

Nostalgic, great tracks

This is an incredible album! Unfortunately I'm more familiar with the drama than the music. But in digging in my son's collection I've become more of a fan of the music. This one is definitely a modern classic, in my opinion.

Before: Oh, this is a nice surprise after what I've been presented with lately. Of course I'm referring to the music, not the person. Apparently he is not a very good human being but I don't know about that as I don't follow popular culture, at all. I've listened to this album before when working on my favorites by year list but for some reason I have it on my 2011 instead of 2010 list. I have Power on there at number 40 and Runaway at 17 out of 42 for the year. Of course I have them in the wrong so year so will need to fix that. It's been a few years since I listened to this, maybe I'll find some more to add to my 2010 list. During: Dark Fantasy is a good one. Also Gorgeous, POWER, Monster, Runaway. The rest I didn't care for too much. After : I'm going to rate it a 4. I think it has some really good tracks but most of it is not my cup of tea.

FUCK KANYE WHY CRAZY

still great, but still front heavy

Kanye's verses were always my least favorite part of this album. Hard to listen now without thinking of his inevitable Nazification. Unfortunately Kanye didn't listen internalize some of his own lyrics - "Balding, Donald Trump taking dollars from y'all" - or maybe he really meant "y'all" in the exclusive sense Also crazy that I knew "Blame Game" before Avril 14th by Aphex Twin, so I never knew it was based on that sample. Funny to hear it after learning the Aphex Twin song on piano.

4,5

Can I completely see past Kanye’s current problems? Probably not. But this is an album with great beats, and samples that pull from a lot of cool places (king crimson, Gil Scott-heron,etc). The lyrics are decent but no big revelations for me there. Not a bad listen in the end.

Wish it wasn’t such a banger

Fuck me. Why do bad/troubled people have to make great music. This was great, and that sucks because of what Kanye has become. God damnit. Purely from a music level, this was amazing. Production was great, beats were great, and the instrumentals were phenomenal. I do feel it was a touch bloated and there are definitely some savings time wise that could be made on this album to make it even better and hit harder. Blame Game, for instance, was a bit of a pain to listen to, especially the conversation tagged onto the back end. Also some instrumental sections feel long for the sake of being long. Other than that, flawless.

blame game le quita una estrella

Unfortunately, still a really good album.

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.