808s & Heartbreak

Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak
Critic Score
Based on 32 reviews
2008 Ratings: #196 / 806
Year End Rank: #34
User Score
2008 Rank: #64
Liked by 1,377 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

91
Entertainment Weekly

The Chicago rapper hangs a dramatic left on 808s & Heartbreak, an album whose frosty, minimal sound backs lyrics of surprisingly raw emotion.

90
Prefix

808s & Heartbreak may initially seem uncharacteristic, but without the limitations of genre, West is fully embracing the grand, theatric backdrops that he’s always loved.

89
Beats Per Minute
The lack of vocal hooks makes it hard to view his foray into singing as a pop move, and the lack of overt bangers will probably alienate some hip-hop purists. But the album is brilliant on its own terms, perfectly imperfect and believably scattered.
81
Paste

808s sounds nothing like West’s three previous LPs. It’s minimal and percussive in places, a sharp contrast to West’s previous signature sound—a giddy, maxed-out bounce. This new record may be closer to R&B than it is to rap.

80
XXL
He didn't get weaker, he got deeper. It was like part two of his life. He grew.
80
Evening Standard
This is a pop album — the 808s of the title are those ancient drum machines that set the rhythm for the Eighties — and none the worse for it.
80
Gigwise

Change is good, and while first impressions of “808’s & Heartbreak” were not that positive, the album is unquestionably a grower to the point that you’ll fall in love with it and won’t ever be able to put it down.

80
The Observer
It might seem harsh but let's hope he doesn't find too much happiness in the meantime. Loneliness is proving quite the muse.
80
God Is in the TV

Whilst he refrains to let loose this supposed heartbreak, the best parts of '808s and Heartbreak' arrive when he's his usual self, vocoder only improving it all.

80
NOW Magazine

The disc has few radio-friendly singles, and much of it is undeniably weird. Many will hate it, but those willing to give it a chance will be impressed by the naked humanity West reveals.

80
The Guardian

Even by Kanye West's standards, delivering an album of meditations on loneliness and paranoia, entirely sung through Autotune, is an audacious statement ... This album is admirable for much more than just its creator's chutzpah.

80
Sputnikmusic

Every track finds it’s spot and the fact Kanye West is always on topic lyrically makes 808s and Heartbreaks a desirable, interesting listen.

80
Consequence of Sound

808s has more than its share of awkward moments – both musically and lyrically – but the great artists are the ones who are not afraid of taking chances, and Kanye West is the greatest artist today’s pop scene has.

80
musicOMH

For the most part 808s & Heartbreak showcases the awkward dichotomy of emotion and mechanised sterility lurking gift-wrapped under a deceptively polished sheen.

80
PopMatters
The songs tell no cohesive story arc, lyrically, though there’s plenty of bitterness, sadness, confusion, betrayal, and the like. The album projects all of these actions and emotions, but it’s the stark yet intricate music that does it best.
80
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.

80
Pretty Much Amazing

This Kanye has been through a rough year. And the raw emotion he brings to every track proves that point. But West proves more than one point on this record.

80
HipHopDX
Few artists can stray so far from home and succeed. This is even more impressive when his art project was made using the musical equivalent of paint-by-numbers known as auto-tune.
76
Pitchfork
The album is much larger and brasher than it would first appear-- the closer it hews to a mix of sad-sack indie pop and elegant, monied Patrick Bateman commercial 80s sounds, the better it works.
75
A.V. Club
West creates and sustains a delicate, tricky mood—a fuzzy early-morning miasma of self-doubt, regret, and longing for people and places past. Sonically, the aptly titled disc splits the difference between the Auto-Tune R&B; of T-Pain and the glacial electronic atmospherics of '80s new wave at its loneliest.
70
Rolling Stone

Many of his best songs have focused on his ambivalence about materialism, but on 808s & Heartbreak, the theme has hardened into schtick.

70
NME
The resounding verdict is that it’s a surprising, but bold and brave progression from last year’s confused ‘Graduation’. As for the lack of raps, in truth, the less we have to put up with all that small-man prep-school-canteen bragging, the better.
66
Time Out London

The bitter, breathtaking ‘Heartless’, with panpipes that sound like they’ve been touched by Dr Dre, and ‘Pinocchio Story’, an eerily heartfelt live freestyle, signal a creative renaissance.

60
The Independent
The stylistic tropes quickly become irritating.
60
SPIN
With the exception of “Robocop” — the only track that tries to move beyond a verse/chorus to a bridge — the album feels strangely rushed and unfinished.
60
Spectrum Culture

Gimmicks aside, 808s & Heartbreak could be the true testament to Mr. West’s talent as a producer.

60
The Skinny

Kanye West's fourth album is a radical stylistic departure from everything he's done before, but the one thing he has retained from his previous life is his infuriating inconsistency.

59
Coke Machine Glow
As a hip-hop icon coming at pop from a different avenue, Kanye’s all-out attempt bypasses the historical evolution and thus runs into deficiency. “Runs” is too active a verb, though. Heartbreak is musical stasis. It’s atrophy. These simple melodies are begotten to barely dynamic production and vocals on life support that cannot nurture them physically or emotionally.
50
AllMusic
For anyone sifting through a broken relationship and self-letdown, this could all be therapeutic. Otherwise, no matter its commendable fearlessness, the album is a listless, bleary trudge along West's permafrost.
40
Slant Magazine

808s, despite its myriad flaws, is both a reflection of the hard times West has suffered through and a testament to his artistic fortitude.

40
Uncut
The Louis Vuitton don ditches the rapping and the soul and is left with… well, not much, actually.
FearFlour
84

"when u get sad and redefine modern pop music"

Fvck_mo
82

This record will be looked at 10 years from now as one of the most influential records in the game

exception
89

Still stands nearly a decade later as Kanye's most influential set of songs. Whether you like this album or not, there is no denying the enormous impact that 808's had on hip hop and pop music.

banandafirst
90

Paranoid best kanye song

this album is also literally me

Beatlesfan
85

3DCs & Geesebreak

paninimonkey923
81

pwetty good and sad

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Track List

1Say You Will
6:17
87
2Welcome To Heartbreak
4:22
feat. Kid Cudi
89
3Heartless
3:31
93
4Amazing
3:58
feat. Jeezy
84
5Love Lockdown
4:30
89
6Paranoid
4:37
feat. Mr Hudson
90
7RoboCop
4:34
78
8Street Lights
3:09
90
9Bad News
3:58
78
10See You In My Nightmares
4:18
feat. Lil Wayne
71
11Coldest Winter
2:44
87
12Pinocchio Story (Freestyle Live from Singapore)
6:01
Hidden Track
76
Total Length: 52 minutes
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