Kanye West : 808s & Heartbreak Review

It's a tragedy that Kanye West abandoned rapping for a singing effort. The Hip Hop Chris Gaines makes me long for Garth Brooks. The attempt at eclectic, smooth music is instead a haberdasher's pastiche mix of sounds from the 1980's. I'm open to all forms of music- but some tracks sound like singing in the shower. For real. I have nothing but bad things to say about this recent release. Perhaps this is his Walking with a Panther (which ironically contains the classic Going Back to Cali). But alas, symphonic sounds & moog keyboards don't equal up to a New Millennium Classic.

The CD sleeve is designed with warm colors- less indicative of hip hop- more telltale of H.G.T.V. The album sounds like a failed experiment. It's not just the rap that's missing. Gone too are the soul-searching and heart wrenching that fans identify with.

It could have been salvageable. The lyrics are good. He could have had Keri Hilson, Christina Aguilera, Rhianna, Justin Timberlake, etc sing on the tracks. It coulda been a Kanye & Friends album. It woulda been a smash hit with critical acclaim. Instead he took the Pharrell route & sang it himself. Masterpiece it ain't.

808s & Heartbreak will share the same commercial success as a N.E.R.D.S. album. Not much of a singer, and the vocoder doesn't disguise it. Many of his vocal arrangements share the same melody. The same short lack of range. The production doesn't come off professional- rather ametuerish. If his gamut was to remove the niche that gives T Payne domination- then he's even failed at that. He actually makes T Payne look better by comparison.

Verdict: It might make good mood music in a trendy restaurant. But 808s & Heartbreak will not be the soundtrack for your life.