Kanye West "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy"

[caucasianheat]

As for Kayne, some good stuff but far from great. Just got a big ego and knows how to works to the media.

You don't see this as an equally accurate bullet summary of Eminem's career? I'm truly not starting anything because I don't dislike his music, but his sales in relation to other artists of the decade are all about the provocative face he gets the media to disseminate for him. What's the difference?

[DJ Ice]

Not really no, Recovery was a pretty awesome album and a return to form for the best rapper still going.

Best rapper still going? I'm sorry, but that is just a stupid comment to make. Eminem hasn't really achieved the 'best rapper' in anything. Sure he's a good rapper or anything, but people blow his rapping out of proportion and make him seem better than he is. He to me isn't all he's hyped up to be. I found Recovery hard to get into because there was a lack of the style that Eminem had become so renowned for using. Spacebound, Love The Way You Lie, W.T.P., 25 to Life, So Bad, You're Never Over and Seduction were all just terrible for me.

But that's just my opinion.

I loved Spacebound. But yeah, not too big a fan of the others

[IzzyX]

Not really no, Recovery was a pretty awesome album and a return to form for the best rapper still going.

Best rapper still going? I'm sorry, but that is just a stupid comment to make. Eminem hasn't really achieved the 'best rapper' in anything. Sure he's a good rapper or anything, but people blow his rapping out of proportion and make him seem better than he is. He to me isn't all he's hyped up to be. I found Recovery hard to get into because there was a lack of the style that Eminem had become so renowned for using. Spacebound, Love The Way You Lie, W.T.P., 25 to Life, So Bad, You're Never Over and Seduction were all just terrible for me.

But that's just my opinion.

I loved Spacebound. But yeah, not too big a fan of the others

Some chick that I like told be she cried during Spacebound. I felt like dropping her with a Lariat at that specific moment.

Edited December 2, 2010 by IzzyX

[RPS]

Eminem's songs visit the same 3 or 4 themes. Funny celebrity/juvenile songs, songs about domestic abuse and songs about his issues with the media and fame. It doesn't matter about how well he raps if it is the same shit over and over and over again.

Edited December 3, 2010 by RockPaperScissors

[DJ Ice]

Eminem's songs visit the same 3 or 4 themes. Funny celebrity/juvenile songs, songs about domestic abuse and songs about his issues with the media and fame. It doesn't matter about how well he raps if it is the same shit over and over and over again.

Well now it's mostly just him rapping about beating Rihanna while feeling sorry for himself.

Was there any "funny" songs on Recovery?

[YI]

So I finally gave this a proper listen. It's alright, some massive tracks. "All Of The Lights" is fucking awesome, even if it seems to guest everybody who has ever made music, even those who were in a shitty school rock band 2-decades ago. It's not really my genre of music, but I don't really get the buzz. Yeah, it sounds all big and grandiose, but seriously, it suffers so much from the 'modern day Muse effect'. Just because something 'sounds' big, doesn't make it big. And I've found a lot of the tracks to be a bit boring.

If this wasn't Kanye, I couldn't help but feel the media consensus would be "An often ambitious album, but suffers from too much style over substance. 3/5-7/10"...I'm not sure which opinion is right. Maybe it is a classic album and I just can't see it (there are very few straight hip-hop albums I can sit down and listen to in full), but I can't just help but feel everyone's just jumping on the Kanye train. 10/10 is fucking ridiculous (but then again, "In Rainbows" was fucking guff). Given the fact that it's already gone the way of other 'good'/'okay' albums to me, in that I'm not arsed about playing the thing through again, and just want to focus on specific tracks.

Edited December 3, 2010 by YI

[tristy]

I feel like if you aren't a fan of hip-hop then you probably shouldn't be trying to listen to an album everyone is seemingly loving and trying to find the same things they find in the album that makes it a modern day classic, for them. That would be like me trying to listen to one of these little unknown bands you always pimp and trying to find what you love about the Anal Eaters, or whatever, so I can appreciate the music and whatnot, when in reality, I have a small, passing interest in this genre and/or artist.

Oh, and "modern day Muse effect"? Do you just pull these phrases out of your ass or what?

[livid]

To be fair, I don't see what's so great about the album either. I mean, it's good, yeah, but album of the year? Eh, that's pushing it.

[apsham]

So I gave this album a spin - really wasn't my kind of thing to be honest, I don't think I could stand to listen to Monster again if you paid me. Oh well, I'm pretty much done with the genre anyways. Chalk it up to that.

[YI]

I feel like if you aren't a fan of hip-hop then you probably shouldn't be trying to listen to an album everyone is seemingly loving and trying to find the same things they find in the album that makes it a modern day classic, for them. That would be like me trying to listen to one of these little unknown bands you always pimp and trying to find what you love about the Anal Eaters, or whatever, so I can appreciate the music and whatnot, when in reality, I have a small, passing interest in this genre and/or artist.

Oh, and "modern day Muse effect"? Do you just pull these phrases out of your ass or what?

So ridiculously defensive. I'm not even saying it's a bad album. Hell, it's anything but. Just a couple of things.

So, as a casual fan of 'mainstream' hip-hop, as someone who likes "Graduation" and "Late Registration", if I hear that the new Kanye album is an album of the year candidate, an absolute masterpiece, not just from one segregated area of the music media, but the seemingly the entire thing, I shouldn't go into that album with high expectations? I shouldn't go in expecting to hear a masterpiece? Because it's being universally heralded as one. Yes, maybe my expectations were too high and maybe you're right, the fact I don't have a wide and varied appreciation of the genre did effect my judgement, but flat out suggesting that I shouldn't expect to hear what everyone else hears because of this, is the worst kind of elitism.

And, I still stand-by my feeling that the album suffers from all the problems that (modern day) Muse suffers from (Just because something 'sounds' big, doesn't make it big). Although I admit, on a whole the tunes are a hell of a lot better than new Muse.

Edited December 6, 2010 by YI

[New Damage]

Currently listening to this as it's finally up on Spotify. I've already heard/seen the "Runaway" film so I have an inkling of each of the tracks.

Dark Fantasy and Gorgeous I like. Power I knew was awesome, even if the GOOD remix with Jay-Z is better/epic-er. And despite the inclusion of Rihanna, All of the Lights is really good too (I just fucking hate her). I wasn't too keen on Monster, just wasn't my thing. Really not a fan of female rappers. So Appalled is decent, Devil in a New Dress is better. I've heard a more radio friendly in length version of Runaway and wasn't keen on it, so I doubt the 9 minute version will sway me, and it didn't. Hell of a Life was alright. Blame Game is good, but I like the feel that John Legend brings to it, and knew I would like it from the film. Didn't need Chris Rock yelling at me at the end though, even though I did enjoy it, the fact that it lengthened the track is not good. Lost in the World/Who Will Survive in America is really good.

EDIT: I agree with YI on the "sounding big" thing with Muse (can't fully comment on this album having this problem yet as it's still half way through). 30 Seconds to Mars' "This Is War" has the same problem. If all the songs sound "epic", nothing sounds "epic".

Edited January 5, 2011 by TheModernWay