14 DAY TRIAL // To say that Kanye West has an ego problem or a flawed relationship with the media and, at the same time, mainstream public, is an understatement at this point. With all this, Kanye West’s most recent album “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” is en route to becoming the best-reviewed release of the year.
The album, of which Kanye has shown glimpses through his G.O.O.D. Fridays campaign, which saw songs offered for free download, has generated lots of press before release, but it was never as positive as it now.
Reviews for the album are excellent, with Rolling Stone deigning to give it a 5-star rating, while music critics are hardly able to find any flaws to it, MTV Newsroom reports.
Laden with influences as varied as they are surprising and boasting some of the biggest collaborations of our times, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” is the actual expression of artistic growth, the work of a genius who has learned how to hone his muse to get perfect results, reviewers say.
As noted above, the prestigious Rolling Stone magazine gives the album 5 stars, which is a feat not many hip-hop releases can boast of.
“With Fantasy, he makes everybody else on the radio sound laughably meek, but he’s also throwing down a challenge to the audience. Kanye West thinks you’re a moron if you settle for artists who don’t push as hard as he does. And that means pretty much everybody,” Rob Sheffield writes in his RS review.
Spin magazine critic Chris Martins sees in Kanye’s new album the expression of a tortured genius, one who suffers for his art and who, at the same time, has finally decided to be straight with his fans, putting aside all pretense and gratuitous ego trips.
“West isn’t claiming to be flawless anymore. He’s trying to make a masterpiece. Trying to be honest with us. Trying to be honest with himself. Trying to figure out if he's closer to God or to something else entirely. Far more important than his aim, however, is the fact that he tries at all,” reads the Spin review.
Simon Voznick-Levinson of Entertainment Weekly agrees: Kanye is the most refreshing, inspirational and creative presence to break on the music scene in years and “Fantasy” is finally the vehicle that will allow the entire world to see that.
Inquirer Music Critic Dan DeLuca of Philly.com also has only excellent things to say about the new album: yes, Kanye can be insufferable at times and yes, he’s annoying almost constantly but, when it comes to music, there really isn’t someone better at it than him.
For the full reviews cited above, just follow the links included in the article.