Albums to watch

808s And Heartbreak

Kanye West

808s And Heartbreak

The Grammy winning rapper and producer with his fourth album

ADM rating[?]

7.3

Label
Mercury
UK Release date
24/11/2008
  1. 10.0 |   The Sunday Times

    808s & Heartbreak is a triumph, recklessly departing from the commercially copper-bottomed script and venturing far beyond West’s comfort zone.
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  2. 8.0 |   Blender

    Kanye’s flat, nearly unmelodic singing underscores his own cyborgish detachment. He’s found a way to turn numbness into art.
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  3. 8.0 |   No Ripcord

    Unsurprisingly Heartbreak is a grower. At first it does sound minimalist and sparse but the album is layered with delicacy and marked with a maturity.
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  4. 8.0 |   Observer Music Monthly

    Let's hope he doesn't find too much happiness in the meantime. Loneliness is proving quite the muse.
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  5. 8.0 |   PopMatters

    The album is so successful because of his winning ways with both song and album construction.
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  6. 8.0 |   Evening Standard

    This isn't a rap album but a collection of tunes sung in a voice that has been enhanced/messed with by a sort of vocoder device.
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  7. 8.0 |   musicOMH

    Kanye is effectively ushering in a bizarre new emo-rap subgenre. Dr Dre, meet Dr Phil.
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  8. 8.0 |   The Guardian

    This album is admirable for much more than just its creator's chutzpah.
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  9. 8.0 |   The List

    While the majority of his contemporaries excel in formula, West’s confessional tone is compelling, and in parts brave and surprisingly coherent.
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  10. 8.0 |   The Observer

    Effects-laden vocals and ancient drum machines abound on this mesmerising album.
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  11. 7.0 |   NME

    The resounding verdict is that it’s a surprising, but bold and brave progression from last year’s confused ‘Graduation’.
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  12. 7.0 |   Rolling Stone

    This noble failure of an album might easily have been a noble success if he had tweaked the Fun-o-Meter just a bit. A slight pitch correction could have done the trick.
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  13. 6.0 |   Spin

    Most of the songs have hooks or rhythmic twists that other artists would bid Sotheby's prices for, and even a few may end up on a greatest-hits comp one day and be accepted as Kanyeezy standards.
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  14. 5.0 |   Daily Telegraph

    While it's easy to marvel at West's fertile creative vision as he hits a 'Hamlet' moment in life, the jagged edge of despair may make this one of his hardest albums to embrace.
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  15. 4.0 |   Uncut

    The lo-fi production makes everything sound like an unfinished demo, the songs are largely forgettable and the AutoTune’d vocals become a little tedious.
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