 |
A concept album... how indulgent. Yes, good ol’ Kanye West felt that the emotions he had within his heart could not be expressed by simply rapping, he felt that aside from the fact that rapping had limitations, he had "melodies that were in me — and what was in me I couldn't stop."
So to the concept... simple, take a Roland TR-808 drum machine (that conveys emotion) and put Kanye’s vocals through Auto-Tune (voice audio processor technology). This turns each track into a rhythmic pop beast, resplendent with some "marvellous" voice effects that only Auto-Tune can provide (think warbling and robotic).
The big question though... does it work?
Hmmm, how about a qualified “yes”.
There is no doubting that Kanye West is incredibly talented and tracks like the pulsing ‘Love Lockdown’ and the 6 minute epic ‘Say You Will’ reinforce that with every beat. Then there is the made for radio tracks like ‘Heartless’, a guaranteed single... not to mention the addictive '80s pop/funk of ‘Paranoid’.... hats off to the guy, he had me at ‘Love Lockdown’.
My only comment is that there are a few tracks which are filler, potentially scraping the bottom of the concept barrel. Rap a bit Kanye, rap a bit.
This is a minor quibble though. Kanye West just wanted to make a statement that music is music, whether it is rap or pop, don’t try to label him as being in one genre. In saying that, he says that he has now created a new genre...”pop art”. Music stores of the world take note.
Essential Tracks
Say You Will
Heartless
Love Lockdown
Paranoid
Full Track Listing
1. Say You Will (6:18)
2. Welcome to Heartbreak (4:23)
3. Heartless (3:31)
4. Amazing (3:58)
5. Love Lockdown (4:31)
6. Paranoid (4:38)
7. RoboCop (4:34)
8. Street Lights (3:10)
9. Bad News (3:59)
10. See You In My Nightmares (4:18)
11. Coldest Winter (2:44)
12. Pinocchio Story (Freestyle Live from Singapore) (6:02)
|
|
