As
fatiguing as it is invigorating, as cold-blooded as it is heart-rending, as
haphazardly splattered as it is meticulously sculpted, My Beautiful Dark
Twisted Fantasy is an extraordinarily complex 70-minute set of songs. Listening
to it, much like saying or typing its title, is a laborious process. In some
ways, it's the culmination of Kanye West's first four albums, but it does not
merely draw characteristics from each one of them. The 13 tracks, eight of
which are between five and nine minutes in length, sometimes fuse them together
simultaneously. Consequently, the sonic and emotional layers are often
difficult to pry apart and enumerate. Nothing exemplifies its contrasting
elements and maniacal extravagance as much as "All of the Lights."
Rattling, raw, synthetic toms are embellished with brass, woodwinds, and
strings. It’s a celebration of fame ("Fast cars, shooting stars") and
a lament of its consequences ("Restraining order/Can't see my
daughter"). Its making involved 42 people, including not one but two
French horn players and over a dozen high-profile vocalists, only some of which
are perceptible. At once, the song features one of the year's most rugged beats
while supplying enough opulent detail to make Late Registration collaborator
Jon Brion's head spin. "Blame Game" chills more than anything off
808s & Heartbreak. Sullen solo-piano Aphex Twin plays beneath morose cello;
with a chorus from John Legend, a dejected, embittered West -- whose voice
toggles between naturally clear-sounding and ominously pitched-down as it pans
back and forth -- tempers wistfully-written, maliciously-delivered lines like
"Been a long time since I spoke to you in a bathroom, ripping you up,
fuckin' and chokin' you" with untreated and distinctively pained
confessions like "I can't love you this much." The contrast in
"Devil in a New Dress," featuring Rick Ross, is of a different sort;
a throwback soul production provided by the Smokey Robinson-sampling Bink, it's
as gorgeous as any of West's own early work, yet it's marred by an aimless
instrumental stretch, roughly 90 seconds in length, that involves some
incongruent electric guitar flame-out. Even less explicable is the last third
of the nine-minute "Runaway," when West blows into a device and comes
out sounding something like a muffled, bristly version of Robert Fripp's
guitar. The only thing that remains unchanged is West's lyrical accuracy; for
every rhyme that stuns, there's one deserving of mockery from any given
contestant off the The White Rapper Show. As the ego and ambition swells, so
does the appeal, the repulsiveness, and -- most importantly -- the ingenuity.
Whether loved or loathed, fully enjoyed or merely admired, this album should be
regarded as a deeply fascinating accomplishment.
Andy Kellman. Allmusic.com
