It's okay. I respect it more than I like it. I respect that he's in a space where he is doing what he wants, going against what people expect of him, going with the whole no promotion, no singles, no cover/booklet thing. But for me this is the first time since I've become a rabid fan (a few months after MBDTF's release) that he hasn't been able to back up his arrogance with the music.
I don't really like the production throughout. On Sight with its distorted electro. Black Skinhead has a cool tribal thing going on but it's pretty skeletal and doesn't get me pumped like Kanye's vocals do. I Am a God continues in the same vein. I was excited by New Slaves originally because we only got snippets in the projections. But the beat never really picks up, even as Kanye does. The Frank Ocean outro feels exactly that, an outro, disconnected from the song. Hold My Liquor can't even Hold My Attention, the guitar solo does absolutely nothing for me whatsoever. Rubbish guest spots from Chief Keef and Justin Vernon. Even if I like but don't really love that opening four, Hold My Liquor is still a massive bummer coming after it.
I'm In It veers dangerously close to trap. Blood on the Leaves you all love... and it's one of the better beats on the album. But it still doesn't feel like anything special to me, which is what's always set Kanye apart. I feel like it's a bit that could have been on any GOOD Music project. The last 90 seconds is totally superfluous, almost as painful as the lengthy vocoder solo in Runaway.
I like Guilt Trip quite a bit, with its dark, almost anxious beat, twisted vocoder, that twirly synth bit, and Kid Cudi ends it nicely. Send It Up flat out sucks. I'm sure it will surprise no one that Bound 2 is my favourite track on the album. After like 36 minutes of Kanye being aggressive, angry and anti-everything Bound 2 comes as a welcome relief. From his opening line he sounds like he's taken a breath and just settled down a bit. Sort of like, well the Kanye of old is still there, even if he's taking things in a different direction. Like Charlie Wilson's spot as well.
808s is the only album of his I'll take it over, and that's because I've hardly spent any time with 808s. None of the songs would rank in my top whatever Kanye songs list. I will take Cruel Summer over Yeezus without a moment's hesitation, and White Dress destroys everything on those two records and I wish someone else would acknowledge its existence.