You'd be hard pressed to find a bigger Kanye stan than myself, but I've listened to this enough through the weekend to deliver a pretty objective review I think.

Echoing a lot of what others have already said and what you'll see in a lot of other reviews - this album is terribly uneven but close to being arguably his best work.

Getting the bad out of the way:
- There's about a handful of actually bad songs. He hasn't made many of those to date, but there's an abundance of filler and trash here. "Highlights" is sugary sweet and not nearly as good as he thinks it is, "Father Stretch My Hands" is pandering, "Facts" is the worst song he's ever put on a record.

- It's totally possible that he's not right mentally, but even then lines about nailing Taylor Swift and bleached assholes are still unforgivable. Him being a 38 year old father of two now makes them even more perplexing. Those two lines in particular are reminiscent of Eminem's worst moments and take me completely out of the moment on both occasions.


Now the good (and there's a lot of it):

- Ultralight Beam is a top 10 Kanye song, maybe top 5 even. It harkens back to the warm and extravagant production of Fantasy and Late Registration while never veering into cheese. Similar to Nicki's verse on "Monster", Chance makes a star turn here. It's easily the best song on the album and will make its case as one of the best records in his discography when all's said and done.

- No one has ever used guest appearances better than Kanye West, and nearly every role player here makes a statement: Frank Ocean's tender and muted delivery on Wolves is stirring, and though Post Malone will never be mentioned again after this album he's the primary reason "Fade" goes from being good to being special.


This album was close to being something brilliant, it could've been a live look at a wild man settling down and actually liking it. That would've been a great story to tell coming off of the violent hedonism of Yeezus. When he said this was a gospel album, he was actually closer to being right than this album would leave you to believe. "Ultralight Beam", "FML", "Waves", "Wolves", "Real Friends", and even last year's "Only One" shine a spotlight on a formerly torrid soul accepting the domestic life and ultimately relishing it. Scattered underwhelming interruptions like "Freestyle 4" hinder the potential of the narrative. But that's ok - the highs still far outweigh the lows, even if this his first non-concept album. In the end, Kanye's "really good" is still far better than what the majority of his peers are capable of on their best days.