Product Description
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Triple vinyl LP pressing. 2010 release from 14-time
Grammy-winning producer, writer and performer Kanye West. My
Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy includes Nikki Minaj, Jay-Z, Rick
Ross, and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver on the smash street single
"Monster" and Pusha T on "Runaway" which received the Best New
Music stamp from Pitchfork. Other guests include Kid Cudi and
Raekwon and contributing producers include RZA of Wu-Tang Clan,
Pete Rock, and Q-Tip. The album was recorded in Honolulu and at
the legendary Electric Lady Studios in New York City.
Review
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In this day and age most artists are other artists: their lyrics
someone else's clichés, their careers an imitation, their
passions a mere reference. Not Kanye West – well, at least not
now. For in a genre whose death is declared on a regular basis,
West has become three things: interesting, innovative and
utterly, utterly mad.
Of course, some of this supposed insanity is nothing but
self-mocking egomania. However, it's a darker form of
self-deprecating madness which drives the majority of My
Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – the kind the only comes from
losing love, experiencing death and being branded as the
"abomination of Obama's nation" as he insists on the brilliantly
pompous Power, right before contemplating suicide. One thing's
for sure, dark days have been had.
Yet it appears one benefit of tearing your mind apart is being
able to put it back together better than before, for this album
really is something special – something that scales heights of
ambition barely touched not only by his previous work, but by
2010 in general. Don't let the reported $3 million price tag and
plethora of A-list guest spots fool you, this is no vacuous
shell, for its depth, detail, ideas and sheer of vision is
staggering – all the while remaining lyrically honest, earnest,
conflicting and – at times – fairly ridiculous.
Highlights are copious. Runaway sees Yeezy toasting to the
"douchebags" - including himself – over a nine-minute trip-hop
voyage through self-disparagement, All of the Lights recruits
half of the musical world in a war between brass and drum'n'bass
while Nicki Minaj's verse on Monster is liable to torment the
mind and shatter the bowels.
Yet it's the closing tracks that seal the deal, as the beautiful
Blame Game – aided by a sublimely smooth John Legend – sees
Kanye’s alpha-male bravado in full force before succumbing to the
realities of heartbreak that would have any man breaking down in
pleas of "I can’t love you this much, I can’t love you this
much". This is until, sadly, Chris Rock ruins it with an
ill-placed skit. It's on the heartrending conclusion of Lost in
the World that West cements his vision and paints a sonic world
to call his own. With an Auto-Tuned Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and
a closing sample from Gil Scott-Heron's Comment #1, it is to be
heard to be believed.
In fact, this record’s only flaw is that its scale is so
awe-inspiring it tends to paper over any weaker cracks. And it's
these songs that fail to go anywhere (So Appalled and Gorgeous,
for instance) and a few clunky rhymes which could very well
create an Emperor's New Clothes scenario as the grandiose gloss
decays over time. Yet even if it does, and he really is walking
around as exposed as the rude pictures he so fondly likes to
email, you still have to admire the guy's balls.
--Stephan Kelly
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