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Post by Manualex on Mar 8, 2016 19:14:50 GMT -5
I wasn't exactly underwhelmed by this record on first listen. That couldn't be the case when Ultra Light Beam hit me like a freight train on first listen. Damn that's a beautiful song, it's honestly as good an opener as Gimme Shelter. And if he's really comparing himself to St. Paul then it works incredibly well as an opener. If that's the road to Damascus moment, then I like how unsure of his faith he is on everything that follows. Can one experience really change your life? I feel like he spends the rest of the record questioning the affirmations he makes on the opener for the rest of the record. Which is not only a great way to structure a record but a wonderfully human response to an encounter with the divine. But after living with this record for some time, it's begun to seem like a cohesive whole to me. Yes every song sounds different to everything else on the record. But that's a great thing, especially because I feel that every song on this record segues perfectly into the next. To the point where I can't listen to these songs out of context other than in the batches they form when broken up by the intermissions, which at first I deemed unnecessary. My only problem is that Kanye's not very funny this time around. Every lyric on Dark Fantasy was precision drilled, potent, affecting and hilarious. Yeezus was more improvisational, but for any other rapper, even with an army of ghost writers, Kanye's batting average on that record must have been alarming. But where are the punch lines on pablo? Where are the 'caught with 30 rocks, the cop look like Alec Baldwin's? Shit where are the 'black girl sipping white wine/put my fist in her like a civil rights sign's? I laughed at the Victoria's Secret line on 30 hours but that was largely out of duty/ relief to see a recognisable joke |
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Post by glider on Sept 5, 2021 18:04:46 GMT -5
'Wolves' is a masterpiece.
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Post by The Escapist on Sept 6, 2021 6:22:16 GMT -5
"The Life of Pablo" is a masterpiece.
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Post by glider on Sept 6, 2021 9:54:50 GMT -5
"The Life of Pablo" is a masterpiece. Even when it released it was just so all over the place and disjointed with no central focus, before and after the track updates. Also it has some of Kanye's worst lyrics: "Now if I f-ck this model..." |
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Post by The Escapist on Sept 6, 2021 10:04:41 GMT -5
"The Life of Pablo" is a masterpiece. Even when it released it was just so all over the place and disjointed with no central focus, before and after the track updates. Also it has some of Kanye's worst lyrics: "Now if I f-ck this model..." It's the most played album in my library of all time. And it's probably my second-favourite record ever made, after Coldplay's Viva la Vida. Love the all-over-the-place energy, love the stacks on stacks of amazing songs, love that ridiculous and iconic verse as well. I've played Father Stretch my Hands hundreds of times, so I had better love it, ha. I think Pablo as a whole is coming to be seen as a classic by most young hip-hop fans, though. People have seriously fond memories of all the craziness around it, the incredible songs, how well it's aged, and that last great Kanye tour with the elevated platform. It was just all so Kanye. It's like a cubist portrait of him - a million angles at once, no central focus except the madness of the subject. DONDA goes for a similar aesthetic, but not as well. I hope we get another Yeezus-level laser-focused album out of him that's more than half an hour long at some point again. |
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Post by The Crimson Rambler on Sept 17, 2021 16:51:02 GMT -5
Listened to this album quite a bit recently so here's some ratings of how much I enjoy the songs.
1) Ultralight Beam - 10/10 - Classic song. Amongst Kanye’s very best. Great features.
2) Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1 - 6/10 - Starts strong but a mixed bag overall. Nicely concise.
3) Pt. 2 - 5/10 - Not bad but not my cup of tea.
4) Famous - 5/10 - Again not my thing. Never liked Rihanna's voice. Not sure why this song is so popular.
5) Feedback - 8/10 - Great beat switch-up. Concise. Yeezus-esque. Mad end.
6) Low Lights - 6/10 - Decent enough but it sounds like an overly long intro. Fits weirdly on the album.
7) Highlights - 4/10 - The least 'my thing' on the album. Gets better when Kanye properly comes in. Would've dropped.
8) Freestyle 4 - 7/10 - Legit weird. Dark. Concise. Yeezus-esque. I didn't need the Desiigner feature.
9) I Love Kanye - 7/10 - Just some self aware good fun.
10) Waves - 6/10 - Refreshing but a bit too pop for me.
11) FML - 7/10 - 1st verse is twice as long as it needed to be. The weird Section 25 outro is wonderful.
12) Real Friends - 7/10 - Solid track but not one of the major album highlights for me.
13) Wolves - 6/10 - Lots of autotune stuff. Sia sounds good as usual.
14) Frank’s Track - 5/10 - Sounds like a very rough demo. Harmless but it doesn’t add enough for me.
15) Siiiiiiiiilver Surffffeeeeer Intermission - 4/10 - Adds even less. Get rid.
16) 30 Hours - 7/10 - Cool drums. Goes on for much longer than it needs to be.
17) No More Parties in LA - 8/10 - Solid all round. Madlib & Kendrick - aw yeah. A little bit long.
18) Facts (Charlie Heat Version) - 6/10 - Fun intro/outro. I like the synths. Bit average.
19) Fade - 8/10 - Lots of hooks. Interesting twists and turns. The sampled bass line is excellent.
20) Saint Pablo - 8/10 - Solid, likeable ending to the album. MBDTF-esque.
Sure it's a mess but it's a pretty decent album and it ends strongly. Personally I'd have enjoyed it much more had it been about 14-15 tracks long and had a bit of different flow. Less features and autotune would've helped too.
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Post by The Escapist on Sept 17, 2021 17:19:38 GMT -5
Listened to this album quite a bit recently so here's some ratings of how much I enjoy the songs. "Famous - 5/10" "Waves - 6/10" "Wolves - 6/10"  No, they're fair ratings/explanations. Going purely off personal enjoyment:
1) Ultralight Beam - 10/10 [Classic] 2) Father Stretch my Hands Pt. One - 8/10 [Love the sun-splashed-morning vibe. Also love models.] 3) Part Two - 8/10 [Basically a remix, but gets my hype every time.]
4) Famous - 10/10 [My most-listened to song. Ever! Pure pop fun.]
5) Feedback - 7/10 [Love the wild-out guitar. A fun tune.]
6) Low Lights - NA [Feel like an interlude shouldn't be rated, but I do like it.]
7) Highlights - 8/10 [Grew on me a lot. Varied sounds mixed together, and a banger too.]
8) Freestyle #4 - 7/10 [Could have been better, but so hypnotic. You feel the sex-addict darkness.]
9) I Love Kanye - NA [Same as Lowlights.]
10) Waves - 10/10 [Sheer beauty.]
11) FML - 9/10 [Gorgeous. Like driving into a scary city at night. Ending is beautiful.]
12) Real Friends - 9/10 p[Old-Kanye lyrics with a haunting, new-Kanye beat.]
13) Wolves - 9/10 [One of my favourite instrumentals. Aching. Repetition and bad lyrics stop it being a ten.]
14) Frank's Track - NA [Same as I Love Kanye.]
15) Silver Surfer Intermission - NA [Same as Frank's Track.]
16) 30 Hours - 8/10 [Funny as fuck, great beat, like Kanye says, ride-out vibes. Dorian Ye remix is superior.]
17) No More Parties in LA - 9/10 [Madlib, Kanye, Kendrick. Nuff said.]
18) Facts - 7/10 [Good banger, Only One is here in my library.]
19) Fade - 8/10 [Music that sounds as delicious as chocolate tastes.]
20) Saint Pablo - 10/10 [Could have been the ending of Kanye's career. His best closer.]
BONUS: Only One - 9/10 [Should have been on in place of Facts.]
Only counting the full songs, I feel like 10-17 is one of the best runs you're ever gonna hear.
I mean, I also think 1-20 is one of the best ever, too - but that's a personal one! |
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Post by The Crimson Rambler on Sept 17, 2021 17:57:06 GMT -5
Listened to this album quite a bit recently so here's some ratings of how much I enjoy the songs. "Famous - 5/10" "Waves - 6/10" "Wolves - 6/10" No, they're fair ratings/explanations. Going purely off personal enjoyment:
1) Ultralight Beam - 10/10 [Classic] 2) Father Stretch my Hands Pt. One - 8/10 [Love the sun-splashed-morning vibe. Also love models.] 3) Part Two - 8/10 [Basically a remix, but gets my hype every time.]
4) Famous - 10/10 [My most-listened to song. Ever! Pure pop fun.]
5) Feedback - 7/10 [Love the wild-out guitar. A fun tune.]
6) Low Lights - NA [Feel like an interlude shouldn't be rated, but I do like it.]
7) Highlights - 8/10 [Grew on me a lot. Varied sounds mixed together, and a banger too.]
8) Freestyle #4 - 7/10 [Could have been better, but so hypnotic. You feel the sex-addict darkness.]
9) I Love Kanye - NA [Same as Lowlights.]
10) Waves - 10/10 [Sheer beauty.]
11) FML - 9/10 [Gorgeous. Like driving into a scary city at night. Ending is beautiful.]
12) Real Friends - 9/10 p[Old-Kanye lyrics with a haunting, new-Kanye beat.]
13) Wolves - 9/10 [One of my favourite instrumentals. Aching. Repetition and bad lyrics stop it being a ten.]
14) Frank's Track - NA [Same as I Love Kanye.]
15) Silver Surfer Intermission - NA [Same as Frank's Track.]
16) 30 Hours - 8/10 [Funny as fuck, great beat, like Kanye says, ride-out vibes. Dorian Ye remix is superior.]
17) No More Parties in LA - 9/10 [Madlib, Kanye, Kendrick. Nuff said.]
18) Facts - 7/10 [Good banger, Only One is here in my library.]
19) Fade - 8/10 [Music that sounds as delicious as chocolate tastes.]
20) Saint Pablo - 10/10 [Could have been the ending of Kanye's career. His best closer.]
BONUS: Only One - 9/10 [Should have been on in place of Facts.]
Only counting the full songs, I feel like 10-17 is one of the best runs you're ever gonna hear.
I mean, I also think 1-20 is one of the best ever, too - but that's a personal one!It's largely the more contemporary pop oriented stuff that turns me off. It's just not for me. I'm using the term 'pop' loosely though as it's what I'm perceiving to be 'pop' (but it might not actually be). Yeah it's a pretty indistinct genre but idk. I'm simply not clued up on a lot of contemporary mainstream genres. With a couple of simple changes a lot of these tracks would be getting extra points. Changing up a lot of the autotune stuff for example. Shortening a couple of songs... Weirdly however I really quite the stuff he did with Paul McCartney just prior to TLOP, two thirds of which is pretty pop, but probably in a more traditional manner. All of that stuff was pretty good. Even Rihanna sounds good to me so that thing I wrote about never liking her voice was obviously BS - ha. Only One - 7/10 FourFiveSeconds - 8/10 All Day - 7/10 |
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Post by The Escapist on Sept 17, 2021 18:34:06 GMT -5
It's largely the more contemporary pop oriented stuff that turns me off. It's just not for me. I'm using the term 'pop' loosely though as it's what I'm perceiving to be 'pop' (but it might not actually be). Yeah it's a pretty indistinct genre but idk. I'm simply not clued up on a lot of contemporary mainstream genres. With a couple of simple changes a lot of these tracks would be getting extra points. Changing up a lot of the autotune stuff for example. Shortening a couple of songs... Weirdly however I really quite the stuff he did with Paul McCartney just prior to TLOP, two thirds of which is pretty pop, but probably in a more traditional manner. All of that stuff was pretty good. Even Rihanna sounds good to me so that thing I wrote about never liking her voice was obviously BS - ha. Only One - 7/10 FourFiveSeconds - 8/10 All Day - 7/10 I did think categorising Waves as "too pop" was a strange one - I know it has he-who-shall-not-be-named on it, but it's a pretty abstract track, really. One verse melody and then an extended vibe-out with choirs and samples and beats. It sounds beautiful to me, but then, I do like modern pop, so maybe I'm more liable to give weight to those sounds. I think, like The Beatles, Kanye's talent lies in taking the pop of the time with more "arty" edges and elevating them both to their best levels - Waves would not be a bad example of that, I suppose, but to me it feels more like Arca made pop than pop made Arca, if you get me. Incidentally, what's your favourite Kanye album so far? I take you as a Yeezus man, but I'd like to know for sure. |
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Post by glider on Sept 17, 2021 22:20:39 GMT -5
Listened to this album quite a bit recently so here's some ratings of how much I enjoy the songs. 1) Ultralight Beam - 10/10 - Classic song. Amongst Kanye’s very best. Great features.2) Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1 - 6/10 - Starts strong but a mixed bag overall. Nicely concise.3) Pt. 2 - 5/10 - Not bad but not my cup of tea.4) Famous - 5/10 - Again not my thing. Never liked Rihanna's voice. Not sure why this song is so popular.5) Feedback - 8/10 - Great beat switch-up. Concise. Yeezus-esque. Mad end.6) Low Lights - 6/10 - Decent enough but it sounds like an overly long intro. Fits weirdly on the album.7) Highlights - 4/10 - The least 'my thing' on the album. Gets better when Kanye properly comes in. Would've dropped.8) Freestyle 4 - 7/10 - Legit weird. Dark. Concise. Yeezus-esque. I didn't need the Desiigner feature.9) I Love Kanye - 7/10 - Just some self aware good fun.10) Waves - 6/10 - Refreshing but a bit too pop for me.11) FML - 7/10 - 1st verse is twice as long as it needed to be. The weird Section 25 outro is wonderful. 12) Real Friends - 7/10 - Solid track but not one of the major album highlights for me.13) Wolves - 6/10 - Lots of autotune stuff. Sia sounds good as usual.14) Frank’s Track - 5/10 - Sounds like a very rough demo. Harmless but it doesn’t add enough for me.15) Siiiiiiiiilver Surffffeeeeer Intermission - 4/10 - Adds even less. Get rid.16) 30 Hours - 7/10 - Cool drums. Goes on for much longer than it needs to be.17) No More Parties in LA - 8/10 - Solid all round. Madlib & Kendrick - aw yeah. A little bit long.18) Facts (Charlie Heat Version) - 6/10 - Fun intro/outro. I like the synths. Bit average.19) Fade - 8/10 - Lots of hooks. Interesting twists and turns. The sampled bass line is excellent.20) Saint Pablo - 8/10 - Solid, likeable ending to the album. MBDTF-esque.Sure it's a mess but it's a pretty decent album and it ends strongly. Personally I'd have enjoyed it much more had it been about 14-15 tracks long and had a bit of different flow. Less features and autotune would've helped too. Yeah, this is pretty much my rankings. I'd only disagree on Waves and Wolves. The Sister Nancy sample on Famous saves the song for me. I think it's interesting how many younger fans find TLOP to be Kanye's masterpiece when I remember those days very different - it was highly criticized and the chaotic release and constant "software patches" was interesting to witness. |
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Post by The Crimson Rambler on Sept 18, 2021 6:36:41 GMT -5
It's largely the more contemporary pop oriented stuff that turns me off. It's just not for me. I'm using the term 'pop' loosely though as it's what I'm perceiving to be 'pop' (but it might not actually be). Yeah it's a pretty indistinct genre but idk. I'm simply not clued up on a lot of contemporary mainstream genres. With a couple of simple changes a lot of these tracks would be getting extra points. Changing up a lot of the autotune stuff for example. Shortening a couple of songs... Weirdly however I really quite the stuff he did with Paul McCartney just prior to TLOP, two thirds of which is pretty pop, but probably in a more traditional manner. All of that stuff was pretty good. Even Rihanna sounds good to me so that thing I wrote about never liking her voice was obviously BS - ha. Only One - 7/10 FourFiveSeconds - 8/10 All Day - 7/10 I did think categorising Waves as "too pop" was a strange one - I know it has he-who-shall-not-be-named on it, but it's a pretty abstract track, really. One verse melody and then an extended vibe-out with choirs and samples and beats. It sounds beautiful to me, but then, I do like modern pop, so maybe I'm more liable to give weight to those sounds. I think, like The Beatles, Kanye's talent lies in taking the pop of the time with more "arty" edges and elevating them both to their best levels - Waves would not be a bad example of that, I suppose, but to me it feels more like Arca made pop than pop made Arca, if you get me. Incidentally, what's your favourite Kanye album so far? I take you as a Yeezus man, but I'd like to know for sure. It's the Chris Brown bit which I'm possibly wrongly labelling as contemporary pop. It's not 'bad' it's just really not my thing. Maybe it'll grow on me. It's a 6.5 as of now but I wanted to distinguish it from the 7's I like more. I'd be hard pressed to say what my favourite Kanye album is as I don't often listen to full albums of his. Probably TLOP but I'd have to revisit some of his others. Yeezus is a very understandable assumption but the second half of the album really doesn't do it for me. On Sight, Black Skinhead, I am a God, New Slaves and Bound 2 are all good though (7-10), especially the first two. I might try and rate that and a few of his others at some point. |
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Post by The Escapist on Sept 18, 2021 7:11:27 GMT -5
Listened to this album quite a bit recently so here's some ratings of how much I enjoy the songs. 1) Ultralight Beam - 10/10 - Classic song. Amongst Kanye’s very best. Great features.2) Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1 - 6/10 - Starts strong but a mixed bag overall. Nicely concise.3) Pt. 2 - 5/10 - Not bad but not my cup of tea.4) Famous - 5/10 - Again not my thing. Never liked Rihanna's voice. Not sure why this song is so popular.5) Feedback - 8/10 - Great beat switch-up. Concise. Yeezus-esque. Mad end.6) Low Lights - 6/10 - Decent enough but it sounds like an overly long intro. Fits weirdly on the album.7) Highlights - 4/10 - The least 'my thing' on the album. Gets better when Kanye properly comes in. Would've dropped.8) Freestyle 4 - 7/10 - Legit weird. Dark. Concise. Yeezus-esque. I didn't need the Desiigner feature.9) I Love Kanye - 7/10 - Just some self aware good fun.10) Waves - 6/10 - Refreshing but a bit too pop for me.11) FML - 7/10 - 1st verse is twice as long as it needed to be. The weird Section 25 outro is wonderful. 12) Real Friends - 7/10 - Solid track but not one of the major album highlights for me.13) Wolves - 6/10 - Lots of autotune stuff. Sia sounds good as usual.14) Frank’s Track - 5/10 - Sounds like a very rough demo. Harmless but it doesn’t add enough for me.15) Siiiiiiiiilver Surffffeeeeer Intermission - 4/10 - Adds even less. Get rid.16) 30 Hours - 7/10 - Cool drums. Goes on for much longer than it needs to be.17) No More Parties in LA - 8/10 - Solid all round. Madlib & Kendrick - aw yeah. A little bit long.18) Facts (Charlie Heat Version) - 6/10 - Fun intro/outro. I like the synths. Bit average.19) Fade - 8/10 - Lots of hooks. Interesting twists and turns. The sampled bass line is excellent.20) Saint Pablo - 8/10 - Solid, likeable ending to the album. MBDTF-esque.Sure it's a mess but it's a pretty decent album and it ends strongly. Personally I'd have enjoyed it much more had it been about 14-15 tracks long and had a bit of different flow. Less features and autotune would've helped too. Yeah, this is pretty much my rankings. I'd only disagree on Waves and Wolves. The Sister Nancy sample on Famous saves the song for me. I think it's interesting how many younger fans find TLOP to be Kanye's masterpiece when I remember those days very different - it was highly criticized and the chaotic release and constant "software patches" was interesting to witness. I don't think I've ever seen an album change in reputation so massively in so few years as The Life of Pablo. It was no doubt considered a mess when it came out - no focus, end of his run, he's lost it, etc. Can probably scroll back in this thread and read it (as well as me hating on hip-hop before even listening to it, lol). But like you say, among younger fans, it's pretty much the Kanye album. So many times I've played music with friends, and so many with so many put on something from that album. I think he captured a lot of the zeitgeist sounds of the 2010's, both pop and experimental, while getting across his personality better than he has on any other project. If "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" is him creating a perfect persona in music, "The Life of Pablo" is him communicating his true self, if that's not too pretentious a way of phrasing it. It's a real internet-nerd cultural reference, but I feel like when Fantano re-reviewed the record and improved the score two years later, the "instant fine aging" process that the album went through was complete. The music just kind of stuck. |
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Nov 4, 2024 5:04:30 GMT -5
Nov 4, 2024 5:04:30 GMT -5