That was a great read.

But my thoughts...I agreed with the poster above when he said that the album was "emotionally empty." A major theme of your review, at least the way I read it, was Kanye's passion and honesty on MBDTF. I don't think those interpretations are mutually exclusive. I hear all the same intensity on this album that you hear: his voice inflections, his hunger and pain. It's obvious he worked really hard on this one. It's also obvious, to me, that he was going for shock value over any kind of relateable self-realization. Lyrically, the album was repulsive, disgusting. It's clear that's what he was going for. He wanted us to be appalled (pun not intended but kind of intended). And maybe that's why it doesn't resonate with me as much. I can appreciate the passion. I can't really relate to the content. (Edit: I want to make clear that I'm not offended by the content in any way. I'm not that prude. I just really don't care for his brand of "vile asshole." So many other hip-hop artists have achieved that style far more gracefully and effortlessly, with more entertaining results. There's nothing particularly endearing about his brashness anymore. He's just...a dickhead. He's humorless. If you're gonna be an asshole, at least make me laugh.)

The production on the album is excellent, for the most part. The rare times I do revisit this album are when I'm in the mood for production value over all else.

But yea. Maybe it's just the "everyman" lyricism I miss from Kanye. That's the type of hip-hop I've always been drawn to, and that's what was so appealing about Kanye early in his career. That is obviously missing from this album, and pretty much all his work after Graduation. Early in his career he was still passionate and honest. He was just less...pretentious, I guess.