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Ok, so I think I've identified what it is about this album that I love so much. I'm actually trying to hear the negative now, straining to even, but man... I just can't. And do you know why that is?
It's because this music is fucking ecstatic. It's booming and it's joyful and it sounds like it was ripped right out of Ye's (and Chance's, Thug's, Kendrick's) chests. Even the sad songs have an almost heavenly sound to them. Even the big beat tracks (talking about Feedback) just force me to feel. That's such a huge part of music for me. The feeling that I can't fight. All of my favorite music is music I can't deny, and this album is liberating in its absolute "I don't give a fuck"-ness, and the positivity and gravity of its sound.
It makes me smile. It makes me want to bounce. It makes me sad. But I tell ya, I didn't think Kanye would ever make music that sounded this open and alive ever again.
Basically, louder, you pretty much got your wish! Kanye made a pretty fucking happy album, dude! Yeezus was an excercise in pinpointing anxiety and panic and rage. This album has some serious moments but it's also got *funny* moments (I'm the ghetto Oprah! You get a fur, you get a fur, you get a check, you get a check, WOO!) like on Dropout, only ... You know... actually kinda funny, not totally skipable.
When Famous segues into that Bam Bam sample with the choral scale behind it (thanks Pitchfork for teaching me how to describe that) it's EPIC. Waves? Epic! ULB is fucking epic. These are the most positive moments on a Kanye album since Graduation.
I really wish at least one person here would agree with me and (NPR and Pitchfork, and the folks on torrent sites), but ultimately it doesn't matter. This album makes me incredibly happy. As long as I can see Kanye live when he's touring behind this, I'd be pretty damn happy if he called it quits for good. All that really matters for me is how it feels going into my earholes. And it feels like heroin made in heaven.
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