1001 Albums Journey

I can go on and on about this album. It's great. It really is. I have heard this one before so I was prepared for another listen. Kanye West's somewhat magnum opus, and as I do enjoy stuff like TCD more, you have to admit that this is Kanye's most important album... not his best, but his most important in what its done. This somewhat mix of Graduation & 808s (especially present in songs likr Runaway or Lost In The World) is grand. Kanye takes on issues in songs likr Goregous, talking about how everyone views him as a black man and just as himself. Especially after the taylor swift drama. He brings on Cudi for a great hook and Raekwon for the last, killer verse. This album is also all sorts of bragadocious. In Monster & So Appalled, two very different posse cuts each verse is filled to the brim with less introspectivity and more lines about themselves, in a good light. And god some guest verses are just unforgettable. Pusha's in Runaway, CyHi in So Apalled, and even Rick Ross in Devil In A New Dress. What seems to be this soulful, personal song Kanye builds up is enlightened by this guitar solo followed by a killer Rick Ross verse. And also, Runaway. Runaway is up there in some of my favorite songs of all time. Kanye brings an emotional topic of basically "everyone should runaway from me, i suck" to simplify it. Some of Kanye's vocals are stellar and even the autotune at the end of this behemoth of a track, god. Even songs i highly disliked have grown on me. Hell Of A Life is a song i can appreciate for its lengths it goes to, and hey All Of The Lights is just a banger. One song i really can't see much in the light of is Blame Game. I love John Legend but his hook is just so lame. Kanye's storytelling is great but, i dom't know. The lyricism just kinda falls flat, especially with that long Chris Rock skit at the end kind of destroying that build up at the end. I still love the beat, its one of the best one of the albums, but god i just can't vibe with the lyricism and vocal effects. Overall a good song but not one of my favorites. Finally, Lost In The World. We're all expecting it. A big, final, closer to this record. A finale. But then we're greeted with autotuned Justin Vernon. As it builds up, all we can do is wait. The instrumental kicks in and there it is. The rest of the song definitely kicks off this great album to an end. 9/10 (As of July 8th, 2021) Best Tracks: Dark Fantasy, Goregous, POWER, All Of The Lights Interlude, All Of The Lights, Monster, So Appalled, Devil In A New Dress, Runaway, Hell Of A Life, Lost In The World, Who Will Survive In America Worst Track: Blame Game