Although Late Registration and Yeezus represent the pinnacles of Kanye's beautiful and ugly visions respectively, there is no doubt that there is only one album in his discography that truly balances these two sides of his sound to perfection. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is Kanye's masterpiece, and it managed to combine and hone the ideas and sounds employed on The College Dropout, Late Registration, Graduation and 808s... to such a note-perfect extent that he felt the need to release the hyper-aggressive Yeezus simply to move away from it. MBDTF topped most critics' end-of-year lists. It fared exceptionally commercially. It won several Grammy Awards (though, much to Kanye's annoyance, it failed to win Album Of The Year). But what continues to impress about the album is how grandiose it is, and how Kanye successfully takes the elements that made his first four albums so exciting and turns them into something truly magnificent. From the multi-layered choral vocals that introduce opener Dark Fantasy, to the simultaneously catchy and stompingly angry Power (which samples King Crimson's 21st Century Schizoid Man), to the Aphex Twin sample-meets John Legend vocal-meets Chris Rock comedy skit of Blame Game, this album has everything. If Yeezus is minimal, defined by how stripped-back it is, MBDTF is maximal to the extreme. Kanye squeezes so much detail into this album that it is still possible to find new sounds and ideas after multiple listens. Monster should be considered the template for how to work with guest rappers, with Jay-Z, Rick Ross and, most prominently, Nicki Minaj providing exceptional performances. All Of The Lights, with Rihanna's incredibly catchy chorus, is excellent, and the looping riffs that drive both So Appalled and Lost In The World are arguably superior to anything that Kanye had created in a similar mould previously. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EA4dCxb3rM&list=PL1EEA8FD9A56AE49A But it is Runaway, the album's lengthiest track, that is easily the strong point here. While Last Call on The College Dropout dragged sluggishly because of its vast length, Runaway is elegant and measured in its structure. Beginning with a sparse and delicate piano part, various other elements (both orchestral and trip-hop-inspired) gradually enter the fray, before the track closes with an astonishing three minute outro featuring synthesized guitars and the most excessive use of vocoder in Kanye's work. It is bizarre, complex and, to be honest, completely pretentious in its ambition. Much like a certain Mr. Kanye West.
