Label - Island Def Jam
BLURB - Very quietly, Kanye West released his fifth full length album this past week, a CD/DVD encapsulating his performance on VH1 Storytellers. The original airing of the show was well over a month ago and largely featured West's fourth release, '808's and Heartbreaks.' While this release does feature some unique and raw performances, ultimately it's a pretty lackluster representation of one of the greatest artists of the decade.
Rating - 5.5 out of 10
FULL STORY - Well here's the good: there is a full pit orchestra accompanying West for the duration of his Storyteller's set. So instead of just programming instruments and musicians into his production studio laptop, we actually get to see and hear West with a full, dynamic band. What's also good is the energy Kanye musters up for some of the songs, namely 'Touch the Sky' off his second album, 'Late Registration.' Here we see the performer that we've grown so accustomed to. You can hear and (if you have the DVD) see Kanye's amazing stage presence. He boldly commands the stage and the audience in a way that very few performers can claim. Everything was on point here. There were nice little alterations to the song's verses and choruses, an impressive parade of background vocals, and once again - the pit orchestra (w/ electric guitars) added a very unique flavor. Unfortunately, this was probably one of the few highlights from the CD.
What is also unfortunate, is the placement of Kanye's stories and narrative ad-libs. During 'Touch the Sky,' West (mid-song) arrogantly boasts how he feels terrible that he can not personally witness his own performances:
"I am so disappointed that I cannot see me perform...except for on playback. My greatest pain in life, is I will never be able to see me perform. So you are welcome to know a pleasure that I will never have."
Think what you will. Personally, I love when Kanye says crazy shit like this. If I was as talented as him I'd be the same way. Cocky, conceited and arrogant. Kanye West will go down as one of the greatest artists of the decade...it's a fact. So whenever he has a mic in his hand he's likely to remind us of this. My problem is that he goes on this personal diatribe for about six minutes right in the middle of the best song and performance of the show. This transforms the song into a 9:54 short story which I now cannot listen to without skipping forward.
'Flashing Lights' is also another highlight from the Storyteller's performance. This was one of Kanye's most overplayed songs when it came out, but for some reason I still feel it's underrated. A real testament to the song. The string section of the orchestra is featured on this track, and sounds amazing. Once again the energy and momentum are quickly halted as Kanye moves into another personal story. I'm seeing a theme here.
Here's my problem...I think I bit off a little more than I can chew on this one. In buying this album I really didn't factor in the Storyteller's premise of telling stories. Since it was a CD/DVD I figured that the CD would be all music (editing out the narrated sections) and the DVD would be the unaltered, unedited performance. Wrong.
Here's what else I didn't like. Song selection. Keep in mind that I'm going off of the CD (not the DVD) but in a program that showcases the career of Kanye West and how he got to where he is...how does he not perform any songs from "The College Dropout?" That album revolutionized aspects of hip hop and introduced Kanye into the mainstream. How can you not even have one song from that album? It doesn't stop there, as the album has only one track from "Late Registration" and three from "Graduation." So obviously the goal of this performance was to really market and sell "808's and Heartbreaks." Here's my beef. This whole album was made with auto-tone, a drum machine and a keyboard. This repertoire of songs isn't necessarily designed to be performed live and with an orchestra. You can make the argument that of '808's and Heartbreaks,' the only song that would fit this performance style would be 'Love Lockdown' with it's massive percussion sections, pianos and strings. Yet it's nowhere to be found.
The majority of the live auto-tune tracks sound terrible live. Again, this is a great tool in the production studio, but when used live is hard to predict exactly what sound(s) you will get out of it. 'Heartless' is probably the best of the live auto-tune tracks, but that is not to be viewed as a compliment. The old "best trailer in the trailer park" axiom surfaces here. Ironically, I actually do like 'Heartless' in the sense that the performance really darkened the song, musically. Heavy, distorted electric guitars are present throughout the song and give it a real 'metal' feel. Also, Kanye sounds and feels pissed off for the whole song. So even if the auto-tune makes it sound less than superb, the music and Kanye's persona sort of redeem the song, bringing it back to life.
At the end of the day, this album is something that I would really advise against purchasing. And this is coming from a tried and true, dedicated Kanye West fan. It's nice to hear Kanye's personal trials and tribulations weaved throughout his performances...but when I want to throw some Kanye on and blast the iPod, it's not going to be his VH1 Storyteller's performance. If anything, the DVD portion of this album may be worth seeing, but if you're looking for a collection of great live tracks from Kanye, you'll have to look elsewhere.
Tracks
1.) See You in My Nightmares
1.) See You in My Nightmares
2.) Robocop
3.) Flashing Lights
4.) Amazing
5.) Touch the Sky
6.) Say You Will
7.) Good Life
8.) Heartless / Pinoccchio's Story
9.) Stronger
No comments:
Post a Comment