There's been a lot of talk about this album being a piece of history, and undoubtedly it's hard to think of 2 bigger names who you could get to make an album together. With all the weight of expectation behind it, it's hard to know where to start when dissecting the record for a review.
Let's start with what this isn't. In my little opinion, this isn't as good as Yeezy's epic from last year - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. It's almost as if that album had the scale that this one deserves, and hence this feels a bit muted in comparison. Not that there aren't some big moments on here, in terms of both songs and production. 'Lift Off' is probably the zenith in terms of collaborations on here, just take a look through the credits - vocals by Beyonce, Seal and Mr Hudson, production by Kanye, Q-Tip & Pharrell, mixed by LMFAO. One of other main problems here is that every time the Jigga raps he blows Kanye off the stage, the quality of his lyrics is just so much better.
Those points aside, this is a good album. There's variety in the tracks, some great samples, and some good & thoughtful words mixed in with the usual bitch/shit/dick dirty talk. A good sign is that, having heard it 3 or 4 times today, I've liked it more every time, and tracks that passed my by at first are already starting to grow on me.
Either way, it's still pretty much an essential hip-hop purchase, and there are a lot worse things you could be spending your money on (or stealing, if you live in looting London at the moment).
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