It's 1:09 am on a Sunday. There are clothes hung up all around me, drying after a long overdue wash. There are seven empty cans of Coke Zero and four empty bottles of Powerade Mountain Blast within my range of vision. The highway that I often look at out my window is surprisingly empty. More importantly, I just gave my third and final listen to Kanye West's fourth and most recent LP, 808s and Heartbreak.
About three months ago, I read an article on pitchforkmedia.com mentioning that Kanye West was planning on releasing a new album in which he was going to sing, not rap, using only Auto-Tune. Needless to say, I was curious. Soon after, Kanye released "Love Lockdown," the first single from the album, and my curiosity quickly turned into disappointment. I disliked the song immediately, and realized that this album was going to be very, very different from anything else in Kanye's catalogue.
Despite my opinion of "Love Lockdown" I still approached my first listen of 808s and Heartbreak with optimism and a clear mind. After struggling through the first six and a half songs, I had to turn it off. The only song I remotely enjoyed was Paranoid, and I couldn't decide if I legitimately liked it or if it was just good in comparison to the rest of the awful mess of songs. Now, after finishing the album and going through it two more times, I decided that the answer fell somewhere in the middle.
Regardless the album's content however, I have to give Kanye credit for making an album that is so drastically different from the rest of his music. This may not be his "Bringing It All Back Home" or "Kid A," but at least it shows Kanye's fearless approach to record-making and ability to completely change up his style. I think Rolling Stone hit it right on the money when they called 808s and Heartbreak "Kanye's Noble Failure." The album is indeed a failure, but you have to respect an artist who truly does not cater to the critics, or the even the fans.
I may never listen to 808s and Heartbreaks again, but I'll still line up to pick up his next album, no matter what that may be.
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