From the moment he performed "Love Lockdown" to close this year's VMAs, Kanye West's "new sound" has drawn mixed reaction. While "Lockdown" -- highlighted by emphatic drums and digitized vocals -- played in heavy rotation on radio stations people continued to wonder if West's forthcoming record would continue in the style set by its lead single.
All the wondering was put to rest on November 24, when 808's & Heartbreak, West's fourth studio album, hit the street. Released just over a year after 2007's multi-platinum Graduation, Heartbreak, proves a substantial departure for West. But if you look past his liberal use of Auto-Tune, you'll find West's most focused, cohesive record yet.
Heartbreak is very much a concept album, produced using only a TR-808
drum machine and fueled by West's own heartbreak; He'd been dealing
with both the passing of his mother and the ending of his 18-month
engagement to long-time girlfriend Alexis Phifer.
From the get-go it's obvious that Heartbreak will have none of the fun-filled hip-hop that West built his career on. The record's opening track "Say You Will" is a grooving, six-minute monologue on broken promises, followed up by "Welcome to Heartbreak," West's reflections on the time he's wasted chasing "the good life."
"Heartless," poised to be the record's second single, picks up the pace a bit, transitioning nicely into "Amazing." With an -- no pun intended -- amazing drum line and a haunting chorus, "Amazing" is a track that perfectly melds West's previous efforts with Heartbreak's style, throwing in a verse from Young Jeezy for good measure.
The most genre-bending track on the
record is "RoboCop," a wild drums-n-strings number that proves West may now rival Timbaland's skills with a drum machine. The track moves between light strings and robotic percussion, as West tells
a tale of an overbearing woman, comparing her to "the girl from Misery."
For the most part, Heartbreak loses its in the later tracks, as both the impact of West's lyrics and the music's newness begin to dissolve; Heartbreak may have been better served as a seven-song EP.
As a Grammy-winning, mutli-platinum hip-hop artist and producer, West made a bold statement releasing such a dark and honest record. In press interviews for the record, West is quoted as saying, "It's lonely on the top" -- and if he continues to release innovative, focused records, that's exactly where he'll stay -- on top.
From the get-go it's obvious that Heartbreak will have none of the fun-filled hip-hop that West built his career on. The record's opening track "Say You Will" is a grooving, six-minute monologue on broken promises, followed up by "Welcome to Heartbreak," West's reflections on the time he's wasted chasing "the good life."
"Heartless," poised to be the record's second single, picks up the pace a bit, transitioning nicely into "Amazing." With an -- no pun intended -- amazing drum line and a haunting chorus, "Amazing" is a track that perfectly melds West's previous efforts with Heartbreak's style, throwing in a verse from Young Jeezy for good measure.
The most genre-bending track on the
record is "RoboCop," a wild drums-n-strings number that proves West may now rival Timbaland's skills with a drum machine. The track moves between light strings and robotic percussion, as West tells
a tale of an overbearing woman, comparing her to "the girl from Misery."For the most part, Heartbreak loses its in the later tracks, as both the impact of West's lyrics and the music's newness begin to dissolve; Heartbreak may have been better served as a seven-song EP.
As a Grammy-winning, mutli-platinum hip-hop artist and producer, West made a bold statement releasing such a dark and honest record. In press interviews for the record, West is quoted as saying, "It's lonely on the top" -- and if he continues to release innovative, focused records, that's exactly where he'll stay -- on top.
