10 Most Overrated Albums Of 2013
4. Yeezus Kanye West
Recording in a hotel room is apparently an adequate excuse for not adding depth and substance to your music; with West having been said to have opted for minimalism because "too much bass or complexity would simply overpower the room's poor acoustics". The fact he couldn't be bothered to find a room with good acoustics is in keeping with the rest of the album; it's simply plain lazy.
Leaked four days prior to release, Yeezus is an album that caused divide between the general public in 2013. But it was mainly the critics who are to blame for the album placing in this list of 'overrated albums'. Nothing more than a publicity stunt, West chose not to release singles prior to the album's release; and the non-existent CD art has been described to be "artistic" and symbolic of the album's "minimalist" theme, as opposed to sloppy craftsmanship and a transparent gimmick. What we have here is a simple record, that simple-minded people are tricked into thinking is a work of artistic genius. It really is as overwhelmingly simple as that. The album is comprised of a mash-up of styles and genres and sounds randomly put together; not surprising when you incorporate Indian film scores and rapping, really. Even Daft Punk's input to 'Yeezus' is no saving graze; it's evident that they saved their 'best material' for their own "Random Access Memories". Every single song is listed as being "Explicit" and that doesn't feel like an adjective that's quite strong enough; his lyrics are contradictory, misogynistic and not to mention factually incorrect: "I keep it 300 like the romans" springing to mind. It's hard to understand why people would voluntarily listen to what is fundamentally a self-indulgent rant, he has nothing to do but complain. Even when he's addressing serious cultural problems, West comes across to the listener as acrimonious. Does Kayne West really care about politics? Questionable. Does Kayne West care about himself? You might as well ask if the Pope is a Catholic. Speaking of religion, the title of the third track "I Am A God" epitomises what Kanye West thinks of himself; and I suppose it's whether or not you appreciate Kanye West as an individual as to whether or not you appreciate having your ears talked off for 40 minutes. A condensed religious service in "Kanyeism" I suppose. But I'm not a believer.