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has just blown me away.
Apparently, I'm not alone. After hearing it, I had to check what others felt, and:
Rolling Stone = 5/5
OneThiryBPM = 100
Spin = 9/10
I'll just take a guess and call it an instant classic.
Yeah, I posted a thread about it down the page somewhere. I said (on Friday midday):
I don't wanna get all bent out of shape about this; I don't wanna over-hype it because I personally do that a lot. I've only had two listens to the full version.
But I'm happy I'm around for the release of this record, because honestly it feels like a landmark. In pop, in hip-hop and possibly beyond.
Not all of it hits immediately, but the production is up there with anything I have ever had the pleasure to listen to. It's untouchable in that respect. The record is funny, lewd and gripping. It's like an orchestral movement with tight verses and natural-feeling guest spots.
I need a few more spins before I can tell whether this is my album of the year, if not one of my favourites. The College Dropout was in my top 10 of the 00s but that took a while for me to realise quite how banging it was. I will say, however, that Kanye's ambition, scope and artistic finesse is almost unparalleled. He may be a dick, but the man is a genius. Those who love the new Sufjan, this one-ups it for sheer bravery.
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I stand by the majority of the hyperbole. It's an amazing record.
Kanye West is not a dick, he's like Fiona Apple, saying what a bunch of people think and agree, but only in the wrong time and place, i give him some props for being himself. The album has surprised me, very good at first listen and a grower, best of him since Late Registration and it might surpass that one after some listenings.
Kanye is the Bono of rap.
Up until now the only thing that's impressed me about Kanye is his ability to pick samples. His actual rapping has been mediocre. But based on the first of the two songs he played on SNL, this album might actually impress me.
I think Kanye started taking some of the criticism personally, particularly his appearance on South Park which he commented on in his blog, and he felt the need to really raise the stakes and outdo himself.
But, yes, even if this album turns out to be the greatest rap album ever released, he is still a megalomaniacal douche with an obsessive need to be the center of attention at all times.
On first lesson, it sounds excellent. Runaway is a stand out song, even surpassing in my mind The National's Runaway (which I thought was the best song on that album). Very very promising indeed - I have a lot of time for Kanye. The College Dropout, if I were to do a Christgau, would get an easy A+ in my book, with Late Registration not very far back. His ability to make rap sound human and emotive and "deeeeep" is unsurpassed.
And major props for using 21st Century Schizoid Man.
He actually comments on the fishdicks thing in the album, something like "choke the writers of South Park with a fishdick".
But, yes, even if this album turns out to be the greatest rap album ever released, he is still a megalomaniacal douche with an obsessive need to be the center of attention at all times.
I do agree, but I don't think Kanye would get nearly the hype and attention without that megalomaniacal tendency. The One Thirty BPM review mentioned how Kanye has done things that would ruin any lesser artist, but that he's got the talent to weather all the storms. I'd go even further and say that it's all part of the package. Think about it, he began his MCing career with a three-part epic about his fame (The College Dropout - Graduation). After that he put out a self-indulgent breakup album that was at turns silly and beautiful. For this new album he directs a similarly silly, self-indulgent 30-minute video. And in general, his music tries so hard to incorporate so many things that one gets the impression of an artist who thinks he can do everything, and will try to. Only someone with a huge need for attention would even create the things Kanye's created, but we can thank him for creating them. I, for one, have no problem with his antics. When I first heard about the Taylor Swift thing, my first reaction was, "So? That's Kanye. When's his next album coming out?"
Whoops, I was hoping not to repeat any threads so I did a quick skim of the topics before I made this. Guess it was too quick.
Would you mean the "Bush don't care about the black people" or "Imma let you finish"?
I'm only on my fourth listen so perhaps it will grow on me, but I'm not really getting the excitement on this one. I LOVE The College Dropout and Late Registration, I thought Graduation was really good as well. There are only a couple of songs immediately striking me on this one.
Consequence Of Sound - 10/10
Sputnikmusic -9/10
Entertainment Weekly- (A)
Looks like he is on the right track. All of the GOOD Friday material he has released over the past months has been terrific. Definitely some of the most exciting popular music on waves.
Sputnikmusic -9/10
Entertainment Weekly- (A)
Looks like he is on the right track. All of the GOOD Friday material he has released over the past months has been terrific. Definitely some of the most exciting popular music on waves.
NME gave it 9 too
why doesn't pitchfork review it yet?
I think they tend not to review stuff until the release date, which is still 5 days away. I don't read Pitchfork very often though, so I could be wrong.
Stephan's right. Doesn't matter if the album leaked 6 months prior, Pitchfork sticks to the official release date. Hate em or love em, they're still influential in the music scene, so I'm curious as to what they'll say. It's no secret they love Kanye though. About 3 or 4 of the songs from the new album are already in the Best New Tracks section, so going from that it'll be a high score.
I'm pretty good with pitchfork predictions, and I say there's no way it doesn't crack a 9. To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't be surprised if it scored as high as a 9.7. The review sets its self up perfectly, and I'm pretty sure most people agree MBDTF is better than Late Registration, which scored a 9.5.
But yeah, the ratings for this one are pretty crazy. It'll probably dominate most American critics eoy lists as well. Poor Big Boi :(
Yeah, which is sad becuase Big Boi is really really good (although the one oddity I find is the Janelle Monae song, which is odd, because her album is awesome as well). I'm on listen 3 now, and I don't think it quite hits the level of The College Dropout. But I definitely think it's a contender for second best album of the year (for you all think Sleigh Bells is the best album ever, right? RIGHT?).
I reckon it'll quite possibly be the highest since Merriweather. Pitching at 9.1-9.5 level. Their AOTY for near certain.
Remember that they gave Big Boi's album a 9.2, already extremely high, and I will be surprised if Pitchfork gives Kanye a lower rating than what they gave Big Boi. So, in a way, they probably trapped themselves into rating MBDTF higher than 9.2, just by giving Sir Lucious Leftfoot a 9.2, haha. Not that Big Boi's didn't deserve it.
Whoa! Check out Metacritic. The new album has a perfect 100:
http://www.metacritic.com/music/my-beautiful-dark-twisted-fantasy
This album is probably really good, but I'll be sad if in this great year of music, Kanye's is remembered as the standout. I'm expecting to like it, but I highly doubt it'll honestly compete with Archandroid.
PITCHFORK 10? wtf
I find it hard to believe that PICTHFORK gave it such high praise. I was expecting a 9.6 or 9.7, but a perfect 10? Im sure they are going to get picked on for this, besides I thought they reserved the 10 for reissues.
Believe it. It's equally adventurous and hooky while being more sinister and personal.
I really hope the past six years of Kanye's douchebaggery doesn't cloud people's perceptions of the album, because I really think he addresses every complaint, musically and personally, that you could possibly make against him.
omg it is soo good!!!!!!!!!!!
There's no way this isn't seen as the year's stand out record. It really is THAT good. There might be 3 minutes in this record that I dont like (last 3 of Blame Game), but even Revolver has Dr. Robert. This album is going to top the EOY lists from - Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Popmatters, Slant, Cokemachineglow, Village Voice, and probably more.
I agree with Alex's comments about the Archandroid comparison. Archandroid was great, but I found some of the songs didn't pack enough punch. Here it's all about the songs - they're mostly incredible, with only a few tracks that are merely "good."
I find it hard to believe that PICTHFORK gave it such high praise. I was expecting a 9.6 or 9.7, but a perfect 10? Im sure they are going to get picked on for this, besides I thought they reserved the 10 for reissues.
Was not expecting that, not at all.
I would like to point out the one negative review I can find so far. Independent on Sunday's. Now, here's a quote from it: "big on pompous, stentorian synth fanfares, but they only herald lame lines such as 'Abomination/Obama's nation.'" Thought it was funny, because a lot of people are praising lines like that. In fact, critics have singled out that very rhyme when they talk about how "clever" Kanye is. Lyrically, there are a few clunkers on this album, but I would choose a better example than that.
Well, to match Archandroid for me it'd have to breach the top 50 all time.
It's not Kanye's behavior that gives me reservations about the album, so much as my dislike for most of his previous albums. The only reason I'm now expecting it to be really good is his SNL performance.
Some albums are growers - it takes a few listens for their greatness to fully reveal itself. Not MBDTF. This one bellows, "BEHOLD ONE OF THE GREATEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME!!!" in all caps and bold letters and 80-point type from its opening moments and never lets up for a second.
This isn't just the best album of the year - it's the MOST album in a long, long time. West goes for broke on every track here, and just about everything works. The title seems absurdly overelaborate until you actually listen to the thing - it IS beautiful, and dark, and twisted, usually all those things at once and more.
As the man himself says on "Runaway," let's have a toast for the douchebags, the assholes, the scumbags and the jerkoffs - Kanye's all those things, and he knows it, but he can be all those things and worse for the rest of his life and it won't matter, as long as he keeps making music this brilliant.
I know this sounds silly but...I'm kinda glad I'm around to experience all the excitement, all the madness, all the confusion and all the elation clouding the release of this. It'll either be a landmark that's remembered for a long fucking time or it'll be an example of the greatest over-hype of all time...OF ALL TIME 
Jesus, Pitchfork hasn't given an album a 10.0 out of the box since Source Tags and Codes. If you look at the albums they have given 10.0s out of the boxes, 4 of them (I See a Darkness, The Soft Bulletin, Kid A, and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot) are still considered major classics....Source Tags kind of fell off the radar though.
I wonder if this means there's an 80% chance we'll still be listening to this in 15 years.
I'm really starting to like the album, contrary to Harold it did take a while for me to let it sink in, but Monster kinda ruins the middle section for me. Maybe it's because my favorite songs on the album are all before Runaway and Monster just stands out as the weakest by far in that section.
Your favorite tracks are all before "Runaway"? I actually think that three-song section of "Runaway," "Hell of a Life," and "Blame Game" (up to the Chris Rock coda, which I like more than others do but which I agree is somewhat out of place) is the high point of the album.
I would agree about "Monster," though. Probably because it's the one track that seems to be weighed down by all its guest stars, particularly the unfathomable Nicki Minaj. I do think Jay-Z's rap is great. And this is probably something that everybody already knows and I'm just late to the party, but isn't that an uncredited M.I.A.? And why is she uncredited?
I wonder if this means there's an 80% chance we'll still be listening to this in 15 years.
Don't forgot OK Computer, another member of the perfect ten club. No one still listens to that one.
According to Wikipedia, here's a list of all albums Pitchfork gave a perfect score to on their initial release.
Gay?- 12 Rods (1996)
El Producto- Walk Mink (1996)
OK Computer- Radiohead (1997)
Bricolage- Amon Tobin (1997)
The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert- Bob Dylan (1998)
I See a Darkness- Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (1999)
The Soft Bulletin- The Flaming Lips (1999)
Kid A- Radiohead (2000)
Source Tags and Codes- ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead (2002)
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot- Wilco (2002)
And now...
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy- Kanye West (2010)
Interestingly enough, the live comedy album "Relaxation of the Asshole" by Robert Pollard got a dual rating of both 10.0 and 0.0 upon its initial release in 2005.
So it looks like the albums Pitchfork gives 10.0's to are either instant classics that will be loved for many decades to come (Kid A, The Soft Bulletin, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, etc.) or albums absolutely nobody has ever heard of by bands absolutely nobody has ever heard of. I think the new Kanye West album will fall into the first category.
^I would say that early on Pitchfork was trying to find a way to get attention by giving random albums a perfect rating. They got more realistic later on, but I had noticed that they essentially got rid of the 10.0 rating since the early 2000s. That makes it even more surprising that Kanye's album got a 10. I didn't think they would ever do it again.
I would agree about "Monster," though. Probably because it's the one track that seems to be weighed down by all its guest stars, particularly the unfathomable Nicki Minaj. I do think Jay-Z's rap is great. And this is probably something that everybody already knows and I'm just late to the party, but isn't that an uncredited M.I.A.? And why is she uncredited?
Really? Lost In The World is one of my favorite tracks on the album. Hell of a Life is awesome too. I pretty much love all of them though. Blame Game is kind of meh for me though.
I'm listening to it now. It's...very good. Will probably end up in my year end top 10. But I don't get all the superlatives it's getting.
Edit: Actually, it's only the first ten tracks that are really good. Starting up with Blame Game and the "Yeezy reupholstered my pussy!" crap, it sucks.
Popmatters also gave it a 10/10, and Cokemachineglow gave it a 90%.
Hmm. I got this feeling that after all the praise and worship and hosanna soon a fierce backlash will set in.
(Which doesn't mean that it's not a good album :).
So it looks like I am the only who considers the "Chris Rock" part as their favourite part of the album?
That Amon Tobin album was amazing though. I'm surprised they actually gave it such a high score
I think that part single-handedly removes the album from AOY consideration. It is just so effing stupid.
I would agree about "Monster," though. Probably because it's the one track that seems to be weighed down by all its guest stars, particularly the unfathomable Nicki Minaj. I do think Jay-Z's rap is great. And this is probably something that everybody already knows and I'm just late to the party, but isn't that an uncredited M.I.A.? And why is she uncredited?
Minaj's part on Monster is the best part of the entire album. It turns fucking HEADS.
There is no challenging that this is a huge album, it's a game changer for rap, and provides some of the most astonishing production ever.
However, there are tracks here that simply do not add up. I could be alone, but tracks like Blame Game and devil in a new dress just dont do it for me. Its also a little long winded. Kanye rips the world apart, and tares a few stripes off of himself.
Some of the moments come off goofy, even whiny. Certain tracks even make him seem like a bitch (for lack of a better word). His recent news interviews kinda make him seem like a wimp. He simply is not the lion he assumes. Kanye will have to live out his POWER in FANTASY. Which is a shame, because music this realized, could have been even more.
With a couple of trims, and possible addition of his good Friday LORD LORD LORD, this would go down as the greatest hip hop album of all time.
He's only 33, his best is yet to come
8.0/10
Best album of the year, imo.
This album ended the only criticism people were making towards 2010: the lack of a landmark album. The reception of this one blows Merriweather out of the water. It's not my personal favorite album of the year (i get attached to others, but it is already inside my top 10 and climbing), but it is without a shadow of a doubt the definitive piece of 2010. A masterpice of an album and the shiniest Jewelry in the crown of this amazing year.
It was more immediate to me in a way many others releases of this year weren't at first listen, but it is a grower, i just love more and more after more spinds. And yeah, Nicki Minaj stole Monster, too bad her debut album was too busy in other stuff, instead of focusing on her biggest strengths. She's still a rapper to watch, though.
Personally, I think the last three actual songs on the album ("Hell of a Life" to "Lost in the World") were all excellent and a great finale when taken together. It worked like a medley, akin to the last third of Abbey Road. By that point we didn't have rap songs anymore, per se, but just mood by way of great production and choice lyrics. But I DO agree with you (and many people) about the Chris Rock thing. At least it isn't the most annoying skit in a Kanye album, and it's the only skit on Twisted Fantasy, so I can at least listen through it and still admire the album as a whole. Ever since The College Dropout he has toned down the skits and I've gotta commend him for it. Many of the best rap albums out there have annoying skit bits, so I'm not gonna let Chris Rock bring this album down for me.
Also, I'm surprised by all the hate for "Monster" up there. IMHO, that tune contains one of the greatest beats ever made. Ever. I'm an aspiring music producer, mostly in electronica but I've made some beats for MCing friends. So when I listen to rap that's the main thing I focus on, the production, and true story: when I first heard "Monster" on GOOD Friday, I listened to it 4 more times, straight. Just to analyze what Kanye was doing with the percussion and bass. The more I analyzed it, the more brilliant it seemed. Guess that's just me.
...and, on a second listen, it isn't. My bad. It's all Minaj. The "bad bitch from Sri Lanka" line threw me, as did my having read some time ago that M.I.A. was going to appear on the album, which as it turns out she doesn't.
Also, on that second listen, I definitely appreciate Minaj's verse a lot more. And I now think it's actually the next track, "So Appalled," that's more top-heavy with its guest stars (including Hov again, who's nowhere near as inspired as he is on "Monster").
I figure it's about time I put in my two cents about the album. Clearly, this is a landmark album. After a couple spins it is already my number 2 album of 2010 (behind LCD Soundsystem). Immediately after I was done listening, I knew that I wanted to hear it again right away. So many aspects of the album went above and beyond my expectations. When I saw that "Runaway" had a 9 minute running time, I cringed a little, expecting the worst. But instead I found the second half, complete with strings and a heavily distorted vocoder to be quite moving. I feel as if this album is Kanye's rebuttal to any criticism of his personality. And what a rebuttal it is.
9.6/10
The Chris Rock portion of Blame Game is NOT a skit. It's mixed perfectly into the sonic landscape and, while darkly hilarious, is disgusting emotionally and packs the most visceral punch of all the moments of vulnerability that offset the towering bravado on the rest of the LP.
I feel that after listening to this album, people have truly gotten inside Kanye's head, and that's pretty amazing, considering how truly offputting and alien his antics have seemed these last few years. Thematically, this album is a cohesive triumph, and sonically, it is without peer.
Having listened to it a couple dozen times now, I'm prepared not only to call it very easily the album of 2010, but the best album in at least ten years. Never in my lifetime have I seen the world of music get punked like this. There were some fantastic albums this year but they look like child's play compared to this imo.
I feel that after listening to this album, people have truly gotten inside Kanye's head, and that's pretty amazing, considering how truly offputting and alien his antics have seemed these last few years. Thematically, this album is a cohesive triumph, and sonically, it is without peer.
Having listened to it a couple dozen times now, I'm prepared not only to call it very easily the album of 2010, but the best album in at least ten years. Never in my lifetime have I seen the world of music get punked like this. There were some fantastic albums this year but they look like child's play compared to this imo.
Uh, saying the Rock skit is 'perfectly mixed' into the album's sonic landscape is more than a bit of a stretch in IMO. I would say it's a weak, maybe even tedious moment on an otherwise fantastic record.
I do agree with your comment on Kanye's "punking" of the music industry. I don't think most of the media or general public thought he had a record of this quality in him. He's certainly getting the last laugh on this one.
If This album had come out last decade, the only 3 albums that would give it a run for it's money imo are Kid A, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and Funeral...it's at that level of greatness. It's at the very least the best rap album since The Blueprint.
I agree with Shaun in saying that no one thought he had this in him; sure College Dropout and Late Registration were great, and Graduation was good...but this is flat out amazing. Not only did I never think Kanye West was going to make an album this great, I never thought I was going to hear an album this great ever again.
As for the Chris Rock sketch, I think it drags a bit, but in the context of the album it takes on a kind of dark tone with the minor key piano playing over it, and takes on a new meaning being put at the end of a song as sad as "The Blame Game".
I pretty much agree with this, and I think pretty much everyone singing this albums praises would say it's on par with or most likely better than The Blueprint. I know I like this one way more, and I'm a Jay Z fan.
I had this same feeling, and man what a great feeling it is! This is my favorite album since i first started following new music releases in early 2008. If I need to wait another few years for this it'll be well worth it. MBDTF is one of those albums that justifies being so in love with music in the first place.
So how excited are we for the Kanye West/Jay-Z collab LP that's supposed to drop next year guys?
Not enormously, as it goes.
Jay has been slipping a lot and his verses on Fantasy are amongst the weakest on the record. In 2004 on Never Let Me Down Jay-Z was getting on board with the making of a superstar. Now it sounds like Kanye is throwing him a bone.
I doubt it'll top the best Yeezy/Hova collaboration, The Blueprint. I'd expect it to be MBDTF-outtake quality.
Musically it's probably top ten of year. Second best rap album behind Big Boi.
It's really good musically in terms of samples, beats, and delivery, but I found the lyrics in general to be a weakness of the album. I don't mind that it's personal and that it responds to criticism and media images, but it just screams to me "I'm trying to be important!"
Loooooved the Big Boi album, I thought it was very easily the best hip-hop release of 2010 until MBDTF came along and embarrassed it.
I've listened to this album twice now, and it still sounds more like a very good mainstream rap album than an all-time classic. It does flow quite well for an album of its length, but right now quite a few of the tracks are disposable for me, and the huge amount of guest stars is a little distracting. I'm sure it'll improve with time for me, but it's definitely not the best rap album of all time, or the best album from 2010.
Just a quick aside: has any hip-hop artist ever composed a rhyme that so perfectly and vividly encapsulates both everything he is and everything people think he is as the following: "I'm living in the future, so the present is my past/And my presence is a present - kiss my ass"?
I listen this album this morning.....2/20 ! For the only song I can listen : "runaway". All the rest of the album is, how to say, not music for me !
Three spins behind me at the moment. It's good, and also definitely varied for a hop-hip album. But it's not stellar. Maybe it's just not my taste. I do like the fact that the skit parts are minimised to the (quite funny) Chris Rock 'cameo'.
I'm happy for the music lovers who do think it's an instant classic and the best album since 20xx. I still prefer 2010 releases like Teen Dream, The Age of Adz, Cosmogramma or Brothers though.
"My Beautiful....." is a good album. But i will pick "Sir Lucious..." as a much better album. It has a concistancy which "My Beautiful..." lacks.