Graduation

Description

What do you do after you’ve reinvented a genre? Well, going on Graduation , the third full-length artist album by hip-hop’s most famous Noughties auteur Kanye West, you hunt across the pop landscape for fresh sounds ripe for plunder. Most obviously, there’s Daft Punk, whose track "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" forms the vocoder foundation to "Stronger". But Kanye’s learnt more from the robots than this straight steal would suggest--indeed, a good proportion of Graduation sounds informed by their vintage synthesisers and noveau ‘80s feel. Elsewhere, there’s much to suggest Kanye’s pop ambitions have no sign of waning: the opulent "Good Life" rolls along on a hook snatched from Michael Jackson’s "PYT (Pretty Young Thing)", while "Homecoming" follows Jay-Z’s lead and borrows the vocal talents of Coldplay’s Chris Martin. The album’s not without the occasional goof--"Drunk and Hot Girls", a boozy tale set to the tempo of an Eastern European drinking song, is something Outkast could more comfortably handle. But thankfully, there’s also numerous moments where Kanye simply does what Kanye does best. "Can’t Tell Me Nothing" is a sleek, swaggering statement of self-assurance, while "Everything I Am" kicks off on a battle tack but gradually softens, the sound of a man balancing power and responsibility: "Last year Chicago had 600 caskets," muses Kanye, "Man, killing’s some wack shit". -- Louis Pattison Given the remarkable critical and commercial success of 2005's LATE REGISTRATION, Kanye West's rich, rewarding sophomore release, expectations were high for 2007's GRADUATION. Ever savvy, West flouts those expectations by delivering a record .that delivers curveballs while staying true to his sharply sculpted, commercially minded m.o. West's rapping, never his greatest strength, is still entertaining. He delivers witty, smart, sometimes absurd rhymes (he seems to take more lyrical chances on GRADUATION) that fit nicely with the overall feel of his tracks. Review: Basically perfect - Came in perfect condition, nothing damaged at all. It comes with a pretty cool poster and the case itself looks really nice. The cd itself has nice art physically and when played sounds perfect. The only issue I had is that when big brother ends there is silence for a couple of minutes but that isn't that big of a problem. Great music and great cd. Review: Great music - Peak music and arrived very fast