Looking back on '808s and Heartbreaks' now, it's strange to imagine Kanye West's career without that dramatic left turn. It was an album that no one saw coming, and when 'Love Lockdown' first hit radio, it sounded both intensely original, and built from Daft Punk's scrap parts. 'Guilt Trip' is almost a visit down that familiar lane; Kanye gets his autotune on, and the synths from Steve Miller Band's 'Fly Like An Eagle' spiral like they belong in a Sega Megadrive opera. It's a glimpse of the vulnerability he showed before he returned to rap and declared 'Power' his second coming, and though there's certainly more bravado to this than we ever heard on 'Heartless' or 'Paranoid' but it's a perfect antithesis to the brash savagery that dominates 'Yeezus'.
9. Send It Up
It's an almost a mantra that starts 'Send It Up': "Reliving the past? Your loss!" It's both ironic and extremely true of 'Yeezus'; yes, it's an album of samples and revisited emotions, but it's never been done like this before. 'Yeezus' is an album, like '...Twisted Fantasy' and '808s...' before them, that no other big-name hip-hop star would ever dare to have thought about: whilst Eminem's just releasing 'The Marshall Mathers LP II' with longterm partner Dr Dre and Rihanna both featuring, Ye is enlisting the unknown 'King L' to star alongside him in a Daft Punk-produced car alarm of a song. Not only that, but he doesn't even need to show up for half of 'Send It Up'; Kanye leads only the second verse and ends it with "Yeezus just rose again". Apparently, he's also the only rapper alive to both compare himself to Jesus and make an erection joke simultaneously.
10. Bound 2
The album ends with 'Bound 2', and it's somewhat of a return to Earth for the Chicagoan; it's as soulful as his 'Blueprint' work and probably the most radio-friendly thing on the album (which isn't that difficult for his most blasphemous, sexually graphic, abrasive effort yet). That's Kanye West for you, though; you're expecting an symphony of saw synths, tom drums and rabid anger, and what you end up with is soft, choral pop. It's another left turn for Yeezy, and the footnote to what might yet be his finest achievement: he could end up rewriting pop again with 'Yeezus', but on this record it feels much more important that he redefines what it means to be Kanye West.