As usual, it's West's productions that stand out. While there are examples of his style-defining use of classic R&B samples and background choirs (as on the feel-good highlight "I Wonder"), West streamlines his sound to center on synth-driven lines, giving many of the tracks a retro-electro new wave feel. "Stronger," for example, another standout, is powered by a vocoder-drenched vocal sample, which implies that West might have been listening to more Kraftwerk than Motown to get hyped. The overall results make for a fun, inventive album that offers proof that West still has tricks up his sleeve.
Artist Influences8Ball & MJGA Tribe Called QuestBoogie Down ProductionsCommonDoug E. FreshDr. DreFugeesGoodie MobGrandmaster Flash & The Furious FiveJay-ZKurtis BlowNasRZASlick RickTimbalandWu-Tang Clan
Artist Contemporaries50 CentAlchemist (Rap)Alicia KeysBeanie SigelBlack Eyed PeasCee-LoDilated PeoplesFoxy BrownFreewayLudacrisLupe FiascoMos DefN.E.R.D.OutkastR. KellySlum VillageTalib KweliThe Game
Rolling Stone (p.108) - Included in Rolling Stone's "50 Top Albums of the Year 2007" -- "[T]he year's most high-impact work..."
Spin (p.114) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "West's third album is mesmerizing and alienating, like all the purest forms of pop culture. Its music is a rush of designer adrenaline..."
Q (p.95) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Musically, West is still capable of the inspirational. The cocktail piano of opening track 'I Wonder' soon gives way to the towering layers of '80s synthesizers that characterise the whole album."
