I’m not totally down on it, though: “Heartless” works a bouncy flute loop and Kanye actually sings, sounding just fine “Amazing” replaces Southern bounce with a heavy piano and organic percussion, providing a nice bedrock for Young Jeezy’s guest verse, and “Paranoid” is an modern uptempo take on ‘80s synth glam. The songs cover fairly generic love/hate/make-ups-to-break-ups, which in turn throws the spotlight back on the production, that at times sounds almost like an unfinished version of a regular mid-tempo Kanye song.īut even the Kanye West Mid-Tempo Jam has taken on a lot more character in the past. That leaves mainly the lyrics, and it's hard to turn a clever, punchy phrase as an R&B robot. But it just doesn’t make sense here, particularly given that Kanye’s actually got a pretty good singing voice (the several times he sings sans digital assistance, he sounds just fine).īut on '808s,' with its already-spare soundscapes, his voice plays front and center, and all of the manipulation gives things a weird, plasticized feeling. Now, someone like Lil’ Wayne, who has no discernible singing talent? I understand why HE would want to Auto-Tune himself into submission. It’s a little interesting that 808s is being released the same week as Guns N’ Roses’s long-awaited Chinese Democracy. The most mystifying part about all this is his album-long penchant for everybody's new favorite musical toy, the Auto-Tune.

Ye 808s and heartbreak release date