Review: Kanye West - 808’s & Heartbreak
Words By: Daniel Bowen
OVERALL RATING:
So, I finally got a hold of Kanye’s new album, 808’s & Heartbreak, and I think it’s a classic. It is totally different from any other rap album, with Yeezy’s Autotuned half-singing voice turning some off while broadening his reach. It is a true hip-hop concept album, pushing the Autotune effect to regions even T-Pain could never dream of. It can at times be relaxing and at other times ominous, even strange.
Say You Will: Although by most standards a good ominous-R&B track, Say You Will is the low point of this album. It is slow and three minutes too long. Although it is still well produced, we just get tired of the slowness after a while. (3.75/5)
Welcome To Heartbreak: One of my personal favorites. Alternating 80’s synth-pop and “Pink-and-Blue” Outkast-style drums set up this track for success. The chorus is amazingly forceful. (5/5).
Heartless: This song builds up nicely to the first verse, with an evil-circus organ setting the stage nicely for a story of heartbreak and an evil girlfriend. ‘Ye plays around with Autotune and other effects, including talking over himself and singing through feedback. (4.5/5)
Amazing: This is an exceptional song, with an unusual percussion instrument and pianos combined creatively and a feature by Young Jeezy creatively set off from the rest of the song by an awkward pause. Normally this awkwardness would be undesirable, but on 808s it works, fitting in to the overall uneasy scheme well. (5/5)
Love Lockdown: Although this song met with mixed reviews upon its initial release as it was like nothing anyone else had heard, the rock clichés (feedback) and the piano over the hook create a track that explores the dark side of love. (4/5)
Paranoid: The closest thing this album has to a dance song, Paranoid contains a beat with shades of Justice (DVNO) and the most traditional rapping on the album. Probably the most mainstream track in sight. (4/5)
Robocop: This is a high-tech song with a pounding beat and explosions and mysterious techno blips in the background. The addition of strings in the background creates an uneasy effect. As with so many other songs (Heartless, Love Lockdown), this song is about a difficult relationship with a woman. Overall another exciting track. (4/5)
Street Lights: Almost an “emo” track, with Kanye singing to a synth-heavy beat. In contrast to other tracks on the album, this song sounds quite upbeat and “fun.” It could almost be a successful song by a group such as the Killers. (4/5)
Bad News: Almost a fast song, with a cappella and instrumental periods interspersed within the song. The beat is once again a masterpiece, almost sounding at times like Gnarls Barkley with violins. ‘Ye’s Autotune is among the most pronounced it gets on this album. (4.25/5)
See You In My Knightmares: My personal favorite. Lil’ Wayne drops a solid verse and Kanye’s “that you know” repeated is one of the most memorable moments on the album. The dramatic beat fits well with an angry song. (6/5)
Coldest Winter: The shortest track on the album is dedicated to Kanye’s late mother. It is an eerie track, with the vocals echoing and a beat that alternates from subtle to pounding. It plays with the listener’s expectations, building up and then dissipating. (4.25/5)
808’s & Heartbreak is one of the more unusual hip-hop albums in a long time, and a personal favorite of us here at illRoots. Between top-notch production, quality hooks and features, a constant vision, and good lyrics and flow, 808’s is a refreshing new sound. The only question is, “are we ready yet?”
November 24th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
hows kanye’s dick taste. j/k i have a different view of this album. ive listened to it a bunch of times trying to see some good in it but its garbage. kayne reach to far on this album and will i respect him for trying somthing new, that does not make it good
November 24th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Great review, my only disagreement is that I feel completely opposite about Say You Will. I actually thought it was the best track on the album, mostly by the incredible production.
November 24th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
I feel like im reading a biased review form rollingstone.com
November 24th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Ugh…
I think this is proof that folks’ musical tastes do not necessarily have to agree…
…and that viral marketing campaigns can make anything seem good in the public eye.
Whether it actually is, is another story…
–JE
–..–http://je-music.com
November 24th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
this cd is dopeeeee
November 24th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
street lights is almost an emo track? what!?
lol its by far one, if not the best song on the album. The song is a lifestory and the production is crazy. But on another note, i was really feeling this album. He went in and tried something new and this whole album worked for me.
November 24th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
This is gotta be one of my favorite albums
of all time i digg the vibe & can relate
to the songs i give ye’ major props…..
November 24th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
i havent listened to it yet, but i noticed that all the ratings are really high, somewhat exaggerated?
looking forward to check it out.
November 24th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
4 and a half?. Lol - In my opinion it hardly reaches 3.
November 24th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
dude
its a 5 not a dought in my mind
i dont care for the people who say he should go back to raping
he is the Elvis (of this generation)
November 24th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
I’m sorry but giving the man credit for going out on a limb and doing something different and extraordinary is completely different than making a “classic.” This is not a classic. This isn’t even a hip-hop album (which is fine by me). Although Bryon Crawford’s annoying pessimism is usually unbearable, he nailed it on this one - “The definition of a shit sandwich.”
I fuck with W2H and Heartless, but I’ll probably put the rest in a hidden section of my hard drive never to be seen again.
And BTW - wouldn’t a classic mean 5/5? What the hell?
November 24th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Let me also add that Kanye is the greatest producer I have ever listened to and I love his crazy ass style/attitude. I will always fuck with him. But this one isn’t for me.
November 24th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
I like the album alot and have huge respect for kanye………….the only thing tht upset me was one of my favorite songs on this cd welcome to heartbreak had a better version of it, i think, before the album was released then the one tht made the album……
November 24th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
hahaha the elvis of our generation
man
i think my liver popped from laughin so hard lol i pulled a muscle lol
decent album-the whole “evolution” that hes going through has to be commended regardless especially after that MTV live appearance “wtf has kanye lost it?” and to come back and put out a pretty good RnBEAT album says alot
now as far as hip hop album is concerned-the LOVE below wasnt a hip hop below (which is on another level compared to kanye’s but thats another story) so THIS is not hip hop
tpain is not hip hop (i hate tpain but his voice on street lights definitely made it the number 1 track imo-sadly)
a good album-different from everything thats out-he put his heart out on this one
DAPS
but 4.5? nahhhhh mannnnn a 5? nahhhh mannnnn
a 4 for singles material / production aka beat jackin / creativity
a 1 for originality (seeing he jacked a few singles from old ass songs ie coldest winter)
i would say a 3.5 out of 5
imo
November 24th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
I think J-Live said it best in his track Once Upon A Mic, and I quote: Too much dick riding; no journalism. This album is far from ‘a classic’…I wish Hip Hop ‘journalists’ would stop falling for these ego-mad, lack luster releases..This is a classic example of the emperors new clothes.
November 24th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
it was sooooooooooo good totally my style… im gonna adopt this style…
November 24th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
robshu…your an idoit..you dont know music…whos your favorite artist?
November 24th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
I never heard the album, but the elvis of our generation come on. Get real. Elvis sold over 500 million records and was an icon. Kanye is ok he just runs his mouth and idiots believe him.
November 24th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
its “popart” not hiphop remember
November 24th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Well while it definatly has its flaws (Bad News, See You In My Knightmares), this masterpiece of “popart” might be my favorite Ye album. This gem shines so bright cuz you can actually feel Ye’s soul and i can definatly relate to alot of the tracks. Best tracks: Robocop, Paranoid, and Street Lights. Peace, ONE!!!
November 24th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
different is not always good….i’m sorry but this cd sucked
November 25th, 2008 at 1:03 am
so we’ve come to the conclusion
if you were expecting HIPHOP then this album is not for you
but then again-popped polo collars have always been far from HIP HOP ala mobb deep / black moon
still-a good album but more of an alternative style
never the less-ill take an AIGHT hip hop album over this GOOD kanye album ANY DAY!
November 25th, 2008 at 2:39 am
This CD was a 4 / 5 minimum! I thought that track “Bad News” fell short, and the opening track was slightly below avg. However, THIS ALBUM really made my day and is better than 95% of “HIP HOP” albums… It’s a “POP / ART” album, so don’t expect rap. I picked up this albie and LUDA’s… both are solid…. BUT THIS IS MY ISH, ’nuff said.
*Words of a NON-collar popper*
November 25th, 2008 at 2:56 am
the emperors new clothes…..thats the perfect phrase for this “evolution” of music happening. the autotune, pop synth style beats, isnt really an evolution. its a recycling of old styles and techniques…..
ill give it credit because its different, but its merely pop music. nothing more, nothing less. props to ye stepping out of his comfort zone, but this is far from classic material. it will get all the hipsters and hip-pop heads into a spur and may even get him another grammy. but for me this gimmick of ‘new” sounds is kinda killing it….oh well
not saying its a bad album, but its decent. it shows his passion, and emotion, but the autotune gives it an artificial feel, and all his hype makes it seem like hes tryin to hard. come on ye, we know u got another college dropout under your belt.
November 25th, 2008 at 3:37 am
Damn! stop it Yeezy, u makin us go crazyy, breakups never sounded so amazinn, my heart’s gettin cold, but these hits will never get old, its bound to be sold, im goin loco, cos u droppin gems even wit the voco ….
Top Picks:
1.Robocop (conceptulization at its best = kanyeism)
2.Tell everybody that u know (as epic as any Bond song)
3.Street Lights (gonna bang this forever)
4.Heartless (take notes RnB crooners about art of storytellin)
5.Love Lockdown (never heard anything like this before)
” Now of course theres gonna be haters. There were haters before anyone even heard this. But without hate there would be no Heartbreak.” - Obese
November 25th, 2008 at 3:44 am
Pinochio’s Story?
November 25th, 2008 at 7:56 am
end of the day this not a hip hop album and shouldnt be reviewed as such, its a pop album.
November 25th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
doctor w, im an idoit because i dont like kanyes new album. explain? as far as my fav artist goes thiers to many to mention. i love all music for hank william to joy divison to marvin gaye. i have also been listining to hip hop for like 18 years and thier are tons of guys such as sage francis.atmosphere,apathy,aesop rock and kid cudi that are doing far better thing for hip hop than kayne. he needs to give the auto tune bakck to cher and stick to producing. if you think kayne is this great genius you need to expand to music taste
November 25th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Gotta be honest, still havent listened yet. But just wanted to say thanks for the review illroots and daniel bowen, based on your reccomendation, il give it a listen.
November 25th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
After listening to the album all friday night, it grew on me. When Ye’ talked about doing something different, he really meant doing something different that some may not feel at all. I’m diggin’ is direction, from justice influenceto using the autotune. He’s on his own level right now, by far I have to agree with many who stated that “Street Lights” is a really amazing song, just paints the picture for you.
November 25th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
hahahaha… ROBSHU… You my friend are an animal ! I respect your comments the most. Although I do not agree with you 100% I do agree that most of these dudes commenting are probably HYPEBEASTS as well and all of a sudden are shoe heads in the past 2 years. They are MAINSTREAM AMERICANS, which is definatly not the worst thing you can be but it does taint your opinion becasue you have no taste. I would honestly give the album a 6 out of 10, and thats after letting the songs grow on me for a week. It was better than i expected because i absolutly hated Love Lockdown when it first hit the forums. The one amazing part of this album is the production (period). the Autotune is the worst trend brought back since highlighter colors and fasion groups calling themselves “80’s babies” when they couldn’t even use a toilet by themselves in the 80’s. Kanye is an amazing talent but that fat head of his is really getting to him, in a bad way. I have now seen him perform three times in 2 days including the AMA’s, 106 & Park, and Dave Letterman. This album should not be sung live. He was horrible on everyone of them. My belief is that if you are live and you sound nothing like your cd then you should stop doing shows. You are a studio artists, you need the engineers to make you sound decent. I can’t respect that when there are amazing artists out there. As far as Kd Cudi ROBSHU, gimie a break man. How the hell are you going to put his name with Atmosphere, Aesop Rock and Sage Francis? That my friend was a joker move.
November 25th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
i love this album and it’s not because i’m a dick rider. i think the people that call this album garbage are probably the ones that still think 50 is the business or they think they are some hip hop elitists that feel they have to protect their reputation by not liking anything by an artist that can’t be found in the entrails of an OKP discussion board. this is not a hip hop album and if it would have been made by radiohead or bjork there wouldn’t even be a discussion. i think the review is off but it is good enough i guess.
November 25th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
and ROBSHU , you’re not an idiot for your first post but you are for your response to Doctor W. First if you don’t like the album that’s fine, it’s your opinion. Second, I wouldn’t expect you to like it if Hank Williams is the first artist you list to show your range. Third, if you’ve been listening to hip hop for 18 years you’re probably 18 trying to make yourself sound like you know something. Fourth, out of all the hip hop artists that you say are doing more for the genre than Kanye you decide to list Kid Cudi who is on the album and probably wouldn’t have the style that he does if it wasn’t for the likes of Kanye, Gnarls Barkley and Andre 3k. Fifth, if you are so musically inclined you would appreciate the artistry in the way he used autotune because a T Pain album never sounded like this. Finally, your last comment about expanding musical taste if you think Kanye is a genius just means that you are a dumb ass because i’m sure you couldn’t name one artist right now that has changed the game and pushed boundaries like Kanye both production wise and as an artist. Are you gonna say that Sage Francis is a genius? if you want to understand this album go listen to telepopmusik, radiohead, portishead, deathcab for cutie, postal service and the chromatics. but wait, since you listen to everything you probably have those already right?
November 25th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Best Music I Have Ever Heard In Almost Any Genre’
I give this album 10-20 years and it will show his talent.
Also, Nobody will ever sell over 5 million records again. (Except this)
Technology is to Major.
Stop Hating.
If you cant make music better than this you have no say in if it’s bad.
November 25th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Agree with the review, one thing tho, I think it should be ‘See you in my nightmares’ instead of ‘knightmares’
November 25th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
people who think this is a hip hop album is an idiot. people giving him such high reviews are retarded. this album is only decent, its by far from a classic. u gotta understand that this is a pop/rnb album, he only made this for 2 reasons: 1 to get some shit off his chest about his life, 2 he wants to sell internationally. also, lil wayne sounds like an idiot on that track, he definitely ruined the track. dude sounded like a bitch complaining about shit on that kelly clarkson/beyonce tip. MAN UP DOG.
November 25th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
this cd was the fuckin worst …
November 26th, 2008 at 1:08 am
‘Bad News’ is what I usually play in the car. Something about that song does something to me.
November 26th, 2008 at 1:24 am
stil cant beleive it lik t pain song how he was serious on that vocorder shit when is this goin to quit but besides that since when then the whole hip hop game use auto tune majority of it lol
November 26th, 2008 at 1:43 am
this album is only good if you’re going through something
if not, it’s simply a let-down
kanye should stick to producing
this record demonstrates that his rapping career is on the downfall
knightmare once again showcases weezy’s horrendous rapping ability
“girl we through, you think your shit don’t stink but you’re Mrs. P-U”
Paranoid w/ Mr. Hudson is hot though, dare you not to tap your foot to that beat.
November 26th, 2008 at 2:10 am
its aight.. nothin to have a boner over
November 26th, 2008 at 8:23 am
good times, what up did you say if i want to understand this album. i had no idea it was rocket science. you have alot of nerve comparing kayne to radiohead and bjork or even gnarls barkley or andre 3000. the biggest difference being cee-lo, tom and bjork dont need a computer progam to sing. the big mistake about this album is people buying into the fact that kanye is some deep troubled artist when the fact is we all know hes a big headed asshole. thier is no artistry in auto tune, and kayne is far from telepop. im 28 years old and listen to music for all genres and if you want to hear genius songwriting go pick up a hank williams album. i never said anything about kaynes production, in fact hes one of the best in the game but as a rapper hes sub-par and should never try to sing again. how has kanye changed the game,please tell me? i do veiw sage as a writing genius, just listin to his latest song ,second verse. thats about it so for now this dumb ass is gonna go listen to some postal service or portishead so i can learn to understand kanyes masterpeice. also goodtimes if you have any more horrible music you think i should listen to let me know
November 26th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
i can accept a shit album this time but the next one better be pure, old school, hardcore kanye
November 28th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
thats the pronlem with hip hop people always want the artist to go backwards. and when threy hear something there not accustomed to they feel awkward and call it wack. this album is classic and i cant see myself getting sick of it. cause its not a rap album that just says the same shit every song. cant wait to see what he has next!!!
December 1st, 2008 at 7:16 pm
A few interesting things are happening here.
1. people who like kanye but know the songs are bad will force themselves to like it by listening to it over and over again.
2. people who like kanye but know the songs are bad will force themselves to like it by living in denial, calling it “groundbreaking” and “innovative”. Similar to saying that a friend’s mashed potato sculpture is “unique”. (code for wierd and awful but I am too nice to say otherwise)
3. people who like kanye but know the album is trash will say that “anyone who can’t appreciate it just doesn’t get it”. These poor souls have infused too much of Kanye’s brand into their own personal brand to openly disagree with his “statement”. (Don’t ask them to tell you what it is, because they don’t know)
The truth is, Welcome to Heartbreak is like listening to the problems of a depressed, drunk acquaintance of a friend of a friend you haven’t spoken to in years. I can feel his despair, but it is kind of creepy to be honest with you, because I don’t know him that well, and I’m not his therapist. Most of it sounds like he is just talking to himself, as if I’m not here, and I wish I wasn’t.
Seriously, the more i listen to this, the sadder i am about this whole thing. They are just shoving this garbage down our throats. This sounds like my kid brother made this on fruity loops after his high school girlfriend broke up with him. They gotta make it big, so everyone goes along with it, even though “the emperor has no clothes” so to speak.
Does it “break barriers”? No. Most people don’t listen to the songs in between the hits on hip-hop records, so they wouldn’t know that artists HAVE been “bearing their souls” since the beginning.
I am convinced that this is kanye’s egotistical way of telling us that he can sell the sound of himself vomiting because he thinks he is the “jesus of hip hop.” This isn’t anywhere close to epic or classec unless you are 14 years old. This is the sound of a terribly depressed person shouting into a microphone.
Also, all of the PR people who are on here and the rest of the blogosphere trying to anonymously manage the disaster that is this “album” can all go suck an egg. WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE BECAUSE YOU SAY YOU LIKE IT.
You know whose fault this is? Hipsters. Damn them and their tight jeans! They are ruining hip hop too! Can’t they just have their damn alt wierd crap and leave our kanye’s alone?
Busta Rhymes, please don’t put out an emo-hop album, please, oh please god don’t let this be a trend.
*sigh*
Life’s just not fair.