Most pop stars are content with a me-against-the-world mentality, but The Life Of Pablo posits a mantra more like me-against-myself, expressed as a mainline rush of gospel, rap, soul, house, noise and pop, and full of digressions into the highest highs and lowest lows.
It feels far different from any of the tightly constructed, singular works of West’s past, and from a sonic standpoint, it sounds almost like a greatest-hits collection of nearly every sound and musical idea that he’s cultivated up to this moment.
Pablo may come just shy of being his greatest achievement (My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy holds onto that distinction), but it’s the grandest distillation of West’s world-swallowing artistic vision, a sum of its superlative elder siblings.
It's a labored-over opus that wishes it were a mixtape, trying hard to curate the vibe of a sprawling mess, and that's because it's made by an artist who feels like a mess and doesn't care to hide it.
A madcap sense of humor animates all his best work, and The Life of Pablo has a freewheeling energy that is infectious and unique to his discography. Somehow, it comes off as both his most labored-over and unfinished album, full of asterisks and corrections and footnotes.
If The Life of Pablo is about anything, it’s about the absurdity of being Kanye West.
The Life of Pablo is an album that needs no introduction.
Pablo could easily be confused for a collaborative album. It’s as if Ye said, “OK, ya’ll tired of hearing me rant? Well listen to how dope the rest of your favorite artists sound when Kanye is conducting.”
After seven manic albums attempting to prove his perfection, Kanye is seeking penance on The Life Of Pablo. Here, he delivers 18 heavenly hymns. It's everything else that needs forgiving.
In its utter madness it somehow forms a coherent picture of Yeezy’s unhinged genius.
A right-now snapshot of a restless, neurotic artist’s ever-evolving psyche. Like the man himself, the album is emotional, explosive, unpredictable, and undeniably thrilling.
T.L.O.P. does the perfect job of showcasing what makes Kanye brilliant — excellent production mixed with creative samples and his Quincy Jones-esque ability to get the best work out of some of music’s most talented artists.
A genius - and yes, perhaps a little bit crazy - with an attention to detail like no other, no matter what might slip from his grasp, Kanye West is in full control of every atom of ’The Life Of Pablo’.
The Life Of Pablo is a frustrating but undeniably engaging listen – dazzlingly unpredictable and fleshed out with enough strokes of radiance for us to follow Pablo’s lead and keep the faith.
As glacially paced, mood-enhancing music, Pablo is a hypnotic slam-dunk and this reviewer will be among those first online if an all-instrumental edition finally surfaces on Vocaroo, because over the long haul ‘Ye the MC here proves as elusive as the proverbial Cheshire Cat.
Kanye West's experimental opus.
A mighty weird “gospel album” wallowing in contradiction, a collection of music that acts as if music itself couldn’t have possibly existed before it.
Our political leaders may no longer present themselves as gods, but our rappers do. The Life of Pablo proves that sometimes they give us our Taj Mahals too.
It remains a modern gospel that is undeniably West's own, with a handful of vexatious moments peppered throughout the undeniably visionary ones.
The Life Of Pablo isn’t the greatest album of ‘life’, ever, or even the best album of Kanye’s career. But at times he’s still the most adventurous artist of his generation. And the most frustrating.
The Life of Pablo is a fucking mess—the scattered, contradictory work of an icon straining to keep up with his own brilliant pace.
The other way to look at the erratic Pablo is as an "instant" LP, one that was mastered at the last minute and debuted via streaming. On that count, it's a fascinating, magazine-like experience with plenty of reasons to give it a free play.
When The Life of Pablo is good, it’s very good indeed. What it isn’t is consistent. Perhaps it’s the sound of a man over-reaching himself. Perhaps it’s a document of a mind coming increasingly unglued.
West wants everything, equally we expect everything, so the result is exhilarating in its instability. The Life Of Pablo is bursting at the seams with ideas and talking points.
For a rapper who has excelled in redefining the artform, The Life Of Pablo is a sprawling, uneven and curiously unfinished sounding affair with a dearth of recognisable bangers.
It is so self-involved it crosses over into self-delusion, marked by such a tangible absence of perspective and objectivity it is as if he has actually lost sight of the elemental basics of his art.
The album is almost workmanlike, a reflection of the artistic process of its creator rather than a grand statement of intent.
Sonically, at least, Pablo delivers and impresses throughout. Lyrically and thematically, the album is a wayward, rambling, and all-around incoherent mess, with only a handful of revelatory moments.
“No, art is not done to decorate apartments. It is an instrument of war.”
Pablo’s failures are not the result of a single narrative, but in the attempted combination of all the narratives of his life. It’s the result of attention spread too many places, of perfectionism turned to over-tinkering, of an artist pushing himself to hit a self-imposed deadline, of working in the limelight rather than in the shadows.
The ultimate feel of the record is more like a mixtape than a completed album, and while the former would be interesting and welcome, as the latter The Life of Pablo is a crushing disappointment.
Sure, The Life of Pablo‘s obscurities and eccentricities make it ripe for endless dissection by West’s fans and followers, but make no mistake: this albums is flawed, it’s problematic, and most of all, it’s no masterpiece.
This has some of the best songs Kanye has ever created on it... but it is way too inconsistent and it is a chore to make it through this album
(Edit: original score 55) hahahaha holy shit I get it. This album is genius. It all makes sense you plebs!
Edit 2: The concept of this album is tough to pick up on first listen... or even first 10 or so listens... but it’s absolutely genius.
It's KKB, let's go!
走って登って撃って跳んで
Tomb Raider になりたいんだ
かっこ良くて強くて
憧れなんだ Tomb Raider
Windows 98, remember those days?
夢中になって遊んだ every day
誰にも負けない諦めない
自分に誓ったあのころ never fades
Time warp! I'm 22 years old
大人の世界に change over
秘境で嘘つき駆け引き for money
Hard to keep up always stopping me but
忘れない逃げない絶対
あのころ自分 ... read more
EDIT OF FINAL EDIT: I love Kanye
FINAL EDIT: uninspired and nothing new from kanye. i like it, but cant say its a hit anymore. very high highs, and very low lows.
EDIT: reading my original review made me cringe. 2 months after the release of this LP, i have some change of opinion. i still love this album. i think it's great, and will likely be one of my favorites of 2016. but the flaws are so apparent to me now. yes, the new mix definitely did tlop justice, however that doesnt change ... read more
Banger after banger but too many skits.
Best tracks: No More Parties In LA, Saint Pablo, 30 Hours
1 | Ultralight Beam 5:20 | 93 |
2 | Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1 2:15 | 94 |
3 | Pt. 2 2:10 | 78 |
4 | Famous 3:16 | 92 |
5 | Feedback 2:27 | 84 |
6 | Low Lights 2:11 | 71 |
7 | Highlights 3:19 | 79 |
8 | Freestyle 4 2:03 | 75 |
9 | I Love Kanye 0:44 | 84 |
10 | Waves 3:01 | 90 |
11 | FML 3:56 | 89 |
12 | Real Friends 4:11 | 90 |
13 | Wolves 5:01 | 89 |
14 | Frank's Track 0:38 | 81 |
15 | Siiiiiiiiilver Surffffeeeeer Intermission 0:56 | 63 |
16 | 30 Hours 5:23 | 88 |
17 | No More Parties In L.A. 6:14 | 96 |
18 | Facts (Charlie Heat Version) 3:20 | 82 |
19 | Fade 3:13 | 83 |
20 | Saint Pablo 6:12 | 96 |
#1 | / | Dummy |
#1 | / | The Daily Beast |
#1 | / | Time Out London |
#2 | / | Billboard |
#2 | / | Hypebeast |
#2 | / | NME |
#2 | / | Pretty Much Amazing |
#2 | / | Slant Magazine |
#3 | / | BLARE |
#3 | / | Crack Magazine |