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"Kanye West has described 808s &amp;amp; Heartbreak as &amp;quot;a little bit of Auto-Tune and a whole lot of f**ked up life&amp;quot;, a summary that&amp;#039;s slightly inaccurate - there&amp;#039;s a whole lot of Auto-Tune here too. Since the release of last year&amp;#039;s Graduation album, West has split from his fianc\u00C3\u00A9e and lost his mother, devastating events that have clearly heightened his feelings of isolation and dissatisfaction. Sample lyric: &amp;quot;Do you think I sacrifice a real life for all the fame and flashing lights?&amp;quot; He&amp;#039;s channelled these emotions into the stark, startling music on 808s, which largely consists of minor key piano chords, sinister sound effects and rudimentary beats provided by the Roland TR-808 drum machine referenced in the title. This sonic palette, which West describes as &amp;quot;minimal and functional&amp;quot;, is brave in itself, but the album&amp;#039;s real leap of faith comes with its vocals. West barely raps at all here, instead opting to sing - yes, sing - using the pitch-correcting Auto-Tune effect popularised on several recent rap hits. This tactic seemed gimmicky and pointless on trailer single &amp;#039;Love Lockdown&amp;#039;, prompting many to question why one of the world&amp;#039;s best rappers wanted to turn himself into a barely adequate singer. However, it&amp;#039;s brilliantly effective across the album as a whole, amplifying the alienation and heartbreak in his lyrics. Recurring themes here include loneliness, the bitterness of breaking up and, perhaps most surprisingly, something close to self-doubt. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m a problem that can&amp;#039;t be solved,&amp;quot; West admits on the misleadingly-titled &amp;#039;Amazing&amp;#039;. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m the only thing I&amp;#039;m afraid of.&amp;quot; All of this makes 808s sound like a difficult listen, but actually it&amp;#039;s consistently gripping and far from inaccessible. The minor key eighties disco of &amp;#039;Paranoid&amp;#039; is as instant as anything West has put his name to, while the synthetic strings of &amp;#039;Robocop&amp;#039; would sound pretty if they weren&amp;#039;t married to harsh industrial beats. Other standouts include &amp;#039;Heartless&amp;#039;, a memorably bleak break-up song, and &amp;#039;See You In My Nightmares&amp;#039;, which is suitably chilling. As you&amp;#039;ve probably guessed by now, it&amp;#039;s far from feelgood, but this bold, twisted pop opus could be the most rewarding Kanye album yet. West&amp;#039;s relentless bragging had started to distract from his musical gifts on Graduation, but here he shows a darker, more vulnerable side. In doing so, ironically enough, his talents burn brighter than ever.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/music/album-reviews/review/a136849/kanye-west-808s-heartbreak/>