Amazon.com For haters eager to see Kanye hit a sophomore slump--no such luck. Late Registration can't replicate the novelty of last year's College Dropout, but otherwise, this is an impressively more mature and labored-over album. Lyrically, Kanye's only improved a notch but musically, the album sounds incredible, especially with co-producer Jon Brion helping polish the songs to perfection. Tracks like "Heard 'Em Say" (featuring Maroon 5's Adam Levine) and "Hey Mama," are richly textured in their soulfulness while the flint-edge of "Crack Music" and "Gone" (feat. Cam'ron) will appeal to the street-oriented. There's a few duds on here--the sickly-sweet, syrupy "Bring Me Down" (feat. Brandy) being one of the worst offenders--but when the album's good, it's very, very good. In short, Kanye's detractors may not be swayed in their resistance to his charms but not only will his past supporters be rewarded but Late Registration has enough appeal to earn new crowds of fans. --Oliver Wang
2010-06-01 Kanye laces orchestral beats with goofy rhymes "Late Registration" personifies Kanye's comical side, with catchy rhythmic hooks, strange rhymes and some song samples that reach excessive emotional climaxes.
Kanye West has never been the type to downplay the catchy hooks of recording samples in his song. By working with film composer Jon Brion, Kanye takes the samples to his humorous extreme, with everything from Ray Charles to a James Bond theme song. Although the dramatic power sounds overblown with the amount of orchestra sounds and samples, "Late Registration" succeeds in showing off how West and his DJ can turn any sample into a hip-hop track.
The biggest example, "Gold Digger," actually features Jamie Foxx impersonating the vocals from the Ray Charles song, "I've Got a Woman." The beat is a heel-stomper, with a rapid-fire bass drum and some rhythmic scratches from West's DJ, A-Trak. We'll never know whether West is rapping about girls who pester boyfriends for money, or girls who cheat on guys. Still the song makes for a quick romp between frat boy stomps and R&B.
Other tracks take advantage of popular vocalists, such as Brandi and Adam Levine, to accentuate West's raps with crooning melodies. There's even a dramatic rap version of the theme to the James Bond film "Diamonds are Forever," conveniently retitled as "Diamonds from Sierra Leone." West often flaunts his ego to the point of disbelief by bragging that he's the "international a****** who complains about what he is owed and throws a tantrum like he is three years old." Yet, no one can blame West for making James Bond sound snobby and cool at the same time.
There's still quite a few songs to nitpick about. The song "Crack Music" falters under a chopped up sample with some awkward testimonial at the end, about rappers who ooze with crack music through their nooks and crannies. Other songs, such as "Celebration," sound a little stupid when West litters the track with some random rhyme about how his future baby will be his "favorite accident."
Admittedly, West's raps can tend to turn completely incomprehensible. However, the production values are high enough for anyone to enjoy the theatrics of this album from start to finish. If anyone wants to hear the roots of West's foray into catchy R&B samples, though, they should check out "The College Dropout" first.
2010-05-15 Passes with flying colors
Strikingly solid sophomore proved West pretty much owned the top production spot in mainstream hip hop at the time.
2010-04-21 Kanye West's second release is his strongest and most cohesive effort yet Kanye West's second release is his strongest and most cohesive effort yet. While many CDs shine because of strong lyrical performances, this is different. Late Registration shines not because of West's lyrical ability but because of the incredibly strong and varied production. I'm a sucker for great beats and Late Registration has them in spades and because of this, this is easily one of the best albums I've heard in some time. Heck, on the track Gone, West demonstrates the type of lyrical ability that makes you think that he's as good as he thinks he is and when you combine good and sometimes great lyrics with exceptional beats, you've got an excellent album on your hands.
Favorite Tracks - Gone, Roses, Addiction, Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix)
2009-09-27 Sophomore album impresses Without a doubt Kanye's best album to date. The beats are very vibrant and laid back, which made this the hottest album in 2005. That egotistical [...] knows how to make one hell of an album. Good job Mr. West.
2009-09-01 Kanye's Best Album If you sifted through Kanye's discography and put all of the best songs on one album, you wouldn't call it "Kanye's Greatest Hits", you would call it "Late Registration".
Completely devoid of autotune, this album mixes some pretty sweet instrumental music with Kanye's sometimes nonsensical (borderline humorous and yet still inspiring) lyrics. It's by far my favorite of Kanye's albums.
This is one of my favorite albums and I don't even like rap/hiphop music that much at all. If you've never listened to Kanye West before, I'd absolutely recommend this. It's an amazing album and if you really give it a chance it'll become one of your favorites too.
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"Late Registration" personifies Kanye's comical side, with catchy rhythmic hooks, strange rhymes and some song samples that reach excessive emotional climaxes.
Kanye West has never been the type to downplay the catchy hooks of recording samples in his song. By working with film composer Jon Brion, Kanye takes the samples to his humorous extreme, with everything from Ray Charles to a James Bond theme song. Although the dramatic power sounds overblown with the amount of orchestra sounds and samples, "Late Registration" succeeds in showing off how West and his DJ can turn any sample into a hip-hop track.
The biggest example, "Gold Digger," actually features Jamie Foxx impersonating the vocals from the Ray Charles song, "I've Got a Woman." The beat is a heel-stomper, with a rapid-fire bass drum and some rhythmic scratches from West's DJ, A-Trak. We'll never know whether West is rapping about girls who pester boyfriends for money, or girls who cheat on guys. Still the song makes for a quick romp between frat boy stomps and R&B.
Other tracks take advantage of popular vocalists, such as Brandi and Adam Levine, to accentuate West's raps with crooning melodies. There's even a dramatic rap version of the theme to the James Bond film "Diamonds are Forever," conveniently retitled as "Diamonds from Sierra Leone." West often flaunts his ego to the point of disbelief by bragging that he's the "international a****** who complains about what he is owed and throws a tantrum like he is three years old." Yet, no one can blame West for making James Bond sound snobby and cool at the same time.
There's still quite a few songs to nitpick about. The song "Crack Music" falters under a chopped up sample with some awkward testimonial at the end, about rappers who ooze with crack music through their nooks and crannies. Other songs, such as "Celebration," sound a little stupid when West litters the track with some random rhyme about how his future baby will be his "favorite accident."
Admittedly, West's raps can tend to turn completely incomprehensible. However, the production values are high enough for anyone to enjoy the theatrics of this album from start to finish. If anyone wants to hear the roots of West's foray into catchy R&B samples, though, they should check out "The College Dropout" first.
2010-05-15 Passes with flying colors
Strikingly solid sophomore proved West pretty much owned the top production spot in mainstream hip hop at the time.
2010-04-21 Kanye West's second release is his strongest and most cohesive effort yet
Kanye West's second release is his strongest and most cohesive effort yet. While many CDs shine because of strong lyrical performances, this is different. Late Registration shines not because of West's lyrical ability but because of the incredibly strong and varied production. I'm a sucker for great beats and Late Registration has them in spades and because of this, this is easily one of the best albums I've heard in some time. Heck, on the track Gone, West demonstrates the type of lyrical ability that makes you think that he's as good as he thinks he is and when you combine good and sometimes great lyrics with exceptional beats, you've got an excellent album on your hands.
Favorite Tracks - Gone, Roses, Addiction, Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix)
2009-09-27 Sophomore album impresses
Without a doubt Kanye's best album to date. The beats are very vibrant and laid back, which made this the hottest album in 2005. That egotistical [...] knows how to make one hell of an album. Good job Mr. West.
2009-09-01 Kanye's Best Album
If you sifted through Kanye's discography and put all of the best songs on one album, you wouldn't call it "Kanye's Greatest Hits", you would call it "Late Registration".
Completely devoid of autotune, this album mixes some pretty sweet instrumental music with Kanye's sometimes nonsensical (borderline humorous and yet still inspiring) lyrics. It's by far my favorite of Kanye's albums.
This is one of my favorite albums and I don't even like rap/hiphop music that much at all. If you've never listened to Kanye West before, I'd absolutely recommend this. It's an amazing album and if you really give it a chance it'll become one of your favorites too.