Kanye West - Yeezus: All 10 Tracks Reviewed And Analysed

5. Hold My Liquor

Time for a break from shouting down the walls around him: 'Hold My Liquor' is a Drake-like, auto-tuned sprawl featuring oft-called-upon Justin Vernon, A.K.A. Bon Iver. Each line from Kanye is proceeded with a screech - perhaps the smashed up Corolla car West mentions, or maybe the hangover in the morning - and as the song builds, Kanye unleashes a drug and booze-induced masterplan. This is honesty beyond 'Runaway'; he's not just "a douchebag", he assumes he can "own" his ex-girlfriend with one last night together. Remember I wondered whether we'd get any more pop culture references from Kanye again? Well that Corolla line might actually be his finest one yet. Sure, "smashing up your corolla" could be a sexual euphemism, but it could relate to the scene in 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', where Clementine crashes her ex Joel's car. Anyone who's seen that film can testify that the relationship is intensely tempestuous and thoroughly heartbreaking. Not unlike the song, really.

6. I'm In It

Following on from the shadowy 'Hold My Liquor', 'I'm In It' also begins in subtly dark hues; it doesn't quite shout like 'Black Skinhead', but there's just as much venom in the creepy electronics. That's before it drops, into the dancehall depths courtesy of Travis Scott. Sirens blare and the paranoia of 'Yeezus' really shines through; this is a rapper who isn't interested in simply giving his audience music these days, he wants to show us the inside of his mind, and 'I'm In It' is a magnifying glass on the darkest corners. He claims he's so scared of his demons, he sleeps with the light on. He makes references to the bikes that competitors kill each other with in 'Tron: Legacy'. It seems that Kanye West doesn't know how to hold back anymore.

7. Blood on the Leaves

'Blood on the Leaves' is perhaps the song that's caused most unrest among critics. How dare Kanye West, the man even Obama called a "jackass" they say, take a song about lynching and turn it into a self-centred analysis of his past relationships. How dare Kanye West, a man who compares himself to Jesus they say, soundtrack a "Let's have a look at what you could've won" moment with 'Strange Fruit'. Regardless of subject, connotation or controversy though, 'Blood on the Leaves' is the finest piece of art that West has ever put his name to. The melody is sumptuous. The TNGHT sample is inspired. The tightrope between Kanye's blood-boiling madness and his desperate melancholy is so elegantly danced, that it's hard not to think, "Well, the sample's not that bad". Because, really, is it? It's a stretched connection: a boundary-pushing, melodramatic metaphor from, well, who else? And for exactly six minutes, it makes perfect sense.