Kanye West: All 6 Albums Ranked From Worst To Best
6. Graduation
It is telling that the lowest album on this list is far from a bad album. Graduation, which Kanye put out in 2007, actually achieved incredibly positive critical and commercial reception upon its release. Moving away from the sample-based sound of The College Dropout and the multi-layered approach of Late Registration, this album sees Kanye beginning to work with the electronic and rock sounds that would ultimately drive his later work.
The albums most successful single, the Daft Punk sampling Stronger, features one of the first indications that Kanye was becoming interested in club genres. It is a wonderful crossbreed of French house and chart-topping hip-hop, with some of Kanyes most empowering lyrics driving the tune.
Other tracks, like the cut-up vocal samples and strings of Flashing Lights, the sing-a-long of single Cant Tell Me Nothing and he gorgeous piano-led I Wonder, are standout tunes in Kanyes discography, while he samples from artists as diverse as Can, Michael Jackson, Elton John and Steely Dan throughout the record.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXqXs7JEr_c&list=PLXu_cA-xfxWspbqI9oG0CfSajxDLIjYvKYet there is a reason for the low placement of Graduation on this list. Despite its brilliance, it just doesnt feel quite as groundbreaking as Kanyes absolute best work. It is stuck in between the beautiful songwriting of his first two releases and the incessant experimentation of the three that followed it. That doesnt negate the album at all - it just lacks the same shock of the new that Kanyes other albums inspired upon their release.