Customer Reviews

Graduation

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Even if you're hopelessly alienated from American rap and hip-hop, Kanye West is extremely hard to resist if there is a musical bone in your body.
On this excellent record, he duets with Coldplay's Chris Martin on "Homecoming" and teams up with the young Grammy-winning blues guitarist John Mayer on "Bittersweet Poetry".
What makes these collaborations so good is that Kanye West is obviously not looking for crossover acceptance, rather he is demonstrating how he can excel in such distinguished company.
There's deft sampling of anyone who serves the cause, from Steely Dan and Elton John to reggae lion U-Roy and Daft Punk, and a new found maturity that ensures the swaggering but warm "Graduation": is that rarest of things: a keyboards-led hip hop album. It's tip top.
It's mature, adventurous, addictive.
With "Graduation", Kanye West proves once again that he is way ahead of the hip-hop pack.
Album's highlights: "Drunk and Hot Girls", "Can't Tell Me Nothing", "I Wonder" and "Stronger".
I'm loving it!

Kanye West is thoughtful ("Everything I'm not, made me everything I am," he explains on "Everything I Am") and has a voice like honey and a breathtakingly broad musical palette.
On his third album, West wants that acceptance on a big piece of paper, rolled up in a ribbon and presented to him in front of the applauding world. To make sure that everyone had the date in their diary, he pulled the release forward to clash with his nemesis, 50 Cent. But why bother? If anyone was going to get the prize for coming top of the class right now, it would be West.
"Graduation" sums up the qualities that made West a star: smart sampling, funny pitched-up vocals, a new found maturity, sagacious rapping and a finely attuned ear for infectious beats and rhythms.
There are also a couple of new ingredients: steely, electro synths from Daft Punk on "Stronger" and Caribbean lilts on "Good Life".
He's even got rappers' favourite indie boy Chris Martin doing his best Gilbert O'Sullivan impression on "Homecoming".
Despite all this, something about "Graduation" feels a bit cold.
The goofy glamour of "Gold Digger" and "Touch the Sky" have been edged out by over-earnest, gratingly repetitive self-promotion and an underlying sense of isolation and paranoia. And for all his right-on credentials, "Drunk & Hot Girls" veers close to hip-hop's tired old misogyny.
Kanye West is a 'conscious' rapper whose album samples Steely Dan and kraut rock beards Can; who muses on the stress of success; and who likes speeded up chipmunk vocals.
"Graduation" will leave some fans cold (it's a pop album that takes hip hop further into mainstream dance culture).
The album has magnificent moments (the Daft Punk-sampling "Stronger", the wonderfully upbeat "Good Life") but is weighed down by navel-gazing and pales in comparison to "Late Registration" and "College Dropout".
And yet, the record is beguiling and addictive: you want to go back and listen again as all those shiny, unexpected layers reveal themselves.
"Graduation" might yet to turn out to be as important as West thinks it is.

Kanye droped the bomb on this one. He used his terrific verbal skills to lay down fantastic lyrics and had some amazing beats. Some of the hard to pick favorites are "Flashing Lights", "I Wonder", "Good Life" & "Everything Iam" (Gotta love the premo turntable scratchings!). Overall this album is grand and was one of my favorite buys. Legendary album for sure. Everyone forgot all about 50, but who cares his time in the spotlot was long gone. Cop this album kids! You wont regret it and you will talk about "yo I have this legendary kanyeezy album, wanna pop it in" when your older. He's the new generation of hip-hop. Everyones gotta have this one!

Though it doesn't quite match College Dropout or Late Registration in pleasure-center overload, Kanye West's third album is both his most consistent and most enterprising yet, indicating that he might actually deserve the legendary status he constantly ascribes himself. Where his past records have mostly functioned as contagious nostaglia trips, Graduation finds him expanding his palette, merging his familiar vinyl-crackle soul samples with European sound sources ranging from Can to Daft Punk.

I'm a little torn, there are only 4 tracks I like which would make it a bad album. But those 4 songs are SO GOOD that I want to call it a really good album...
I'll give it a safe 3 stars, for the price its still good for 4 good songs :P [Not safe is calling it one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time like some people seem to be doing :@ Give 2001 by Dre a spin then try and tell me this is better ;)]
BTW they are Stronger, The Good Life, I Wonder, and Good Morning.

I must say that the "Graduation" album is alot better than the first two albums. You can listen to this album from start to finish, with the exception of 2 songs. My favorite tracks are "I wonder", and "Flashing Lights". The sample used for "I Wonder" really makes the song stand out.
I didn't purchase this CD because of the "contest" between Kanye and 50 cent, however I would not buy the album from 50 cent because I'm tired of his arrogance. I also got tired of hearing him rap about his bank account.

Kanye West moved his album forward to cost 50 Cent his third #1 album on the Billboard 200 albums. Stronger may have topped the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart- but it doesn't have the same appeal or charisma as Gold Digger from his previous album, Late Registration. Stronger samples a song from Daft Punk and the result is impressive. It's currently topping the Pop 100 in the U.S. Good Life, the second single is equally impressive. Graduation may have outsold Curtis, but that doesn't make the album better. No. Curtis may have been runner-up to Graduation- but it's still a better album. I can't help but wonder how impressive this album is considering that James Blunt's All the lost souls is #1 Canada and Reba Mcentire's Duets is #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums.

Graduation is still a great album- but the winner of the 50 Cent-Kanye West rivalry is 50 CENT.