Poll: Which is the greatest Kanye West album? (original) (raw)

Kanye tell us which West is best? … Vote in the poll below. Photograph: Jerritt Clark

Guardian.co.uk/music has more than 3m album pages, where you can submit your own review of pretty much any record. Click here for information on how to do it. Earlier this week we asked readers to submit reviews of their favourite Kanye West album. Below are some excerpts from the reviews we received – but which album do you think is best? Have a read, then let us know what you think by voting in the poll at the foot of the page.

aboynamedandy on The College Dropout

It's absurd to think the debut album of a promising Chicago Hip Hop producer-slash-yearning emcee named Kanye West was rejected by multiple A&Rs before receiving the Roc-A-Fella stamp of approval. He rose to minor fame through his work behind the boards, crafting soulful harmonies for the likes of Talib Kweli, Cam'ron and most notably Jay-Z, for his opus, The Blueprint, but Kanye was shut down before he even got a chance to spit his own hot sixteen. To say, with assurance, that The College Dropout went on to claim the number one spot on the US Billboard Top Rap Albums and cleared the future path for so much for the man, makes Kanye West's debut album just that little more special.

Every West record is permeated with exceptional moments (even that 808s... one), but it's easy to forget that his debut is the only LP that boasts an unadulterated catalogue of Kanye West production; that pitches the highest tier of the mainstream with the poetical underground (Jay-Z and J. Ivy both featured on "Never Let Me Down"); and that truly sets aside time (almost 13 minutes, to be exact, on "Last Call") to tell the success story of the man behind the music. And sometimes, the journey is more compelling than the destination.

ShadowFC on Late Registration

Listening to Kanye's second album Late registration is as much a treat for fans of hip hop as is the 'Thriller in Manilla' for boxing fans. While the College Dropout is a fine album, Late registration sees a man at the top of his game who after years of struggling to get a record deal is flying with confidence off the success of his first album.

Late registration is real 'producers' album. At the time mainstream hip hop was heavily reliant on the rap element of the track, however on this record the producers Kanye West and Jon Brion returned to hip hop's roots of the rap being just one element of the track, with the precussion, strings and vocals creating a much bigger sound. You could listen to this album without any rapping on this and it would still be a great piece of music. While this is a sound that you hear in College Dropout it's perfected in Late Registration with tracks such as Touch the Sky and Diamonds from Sierra Leone. Hence the reason that Late Registation is an essential for an Hip Hop fan and is Mr West's greatest piece of work.

estebanet on Graduation

Once Kanye West established on his first two records his cred as the most original artist in the hip hop world, he set out to accomplish his real goal: becoming a global phenomenom. The songs contained in Graduation - which accomplished the right balance between krafty hooks and insightful verses - are the perfect vehicle to create a new superstar.

In less masterful hands, the record would have been a glossy mess, yet Kanye is able to accomodate into his narrative Elton John and Daft Punk samples plus, on Homecoming, an appareance by Chris Martin, and not make the sound of the record feel overblown. Graduation is music for the masses in a time when hip hop became the new pop music.

The most personal track Everything I Am is the best example of the soulful and introspective atmosphere that has come to dominate the rap world (from Drake to The Weeknd) and it contains the best and most passionate verse against the glorification of violence in rap lyrics "Killin's some wack shit / oh, I forgot, 'cept for when nigga's is rappin'/ do you know what it feel like when people is passin'?".

It is clear that his stint as a support act for U2- during the Vertigo Tour prior to the recording of the record-widened the scope of what Kanye wanted to achieve on Graduation, which is filled to the brim with songs that are ready to be sung on an arena. With this album- a veritable "best of" - Kanye achieved what he sings on Big Brother: Stadium Status and assured his presence in the pop pantheon for decades to come.

xnthony on 808s and Heartbreak

It's not often that rappers abandon their egotistically charismatic charm and lust for money/cars/girls in pursuit of a more bleak and melancholic honesty, but in 808s and Heartbreak West ditches the glitz and the glamour of Graduation and replaces it with an introspection of exactly what the album title reads - Heartbreak. The gutsy rapping style of College Dropout, Late Registration and Graduation is swapped for a mostly low and emotive crooning as Kanye lines up a blend of distortion and autotune which bitterly conveys the sorrow he has encountered at this point in his life.

The album cycles through loss, heartbreak, paranoia and insecurity across a diverse palette of synth lines, string arrangements, 808s and tribal drums. However, this odd fusion works perfectly and moments of musical genius are seen; particularly in 'Say You Will', the opening track that manages to surface six minutes of dark string arrangements, a seemingly effortless synth bleep and an almost non-existent drumbeat. It ultimately forms a minimal RnB album and as Kanye drops his trademark technique of pitched-up sampling of older Soul tracks, the nearest we find to any sampling is where he reconstructs the chorus to 'Memories Fade' by 80s pop duo 'Tears for Fears' and sings his new take of lyrics over the melody.

With all musical changes considered, it's fair to say that the album is a huge gamble, particularly for a well established Hip Hop artist with such pop-ego and radio presence. There are moments where pop songs are evidently present such as Paranoid, but beneath the fusion of upbeat glitch-pop and glossy synth chords, the sense of longing for things we can't have and raw emotion is still ever present. Despite the riches West has found himself, it's lonely at the top, and money can't buy him everything.

Jambo234 on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy honours West's own admission of being "young, rich and tasteless" by melting all his previous records into one chaotic, scatterbrained pot. Somehow, as a result, this is the first Kanye album that has a genuine flow. From Nicki Minaj's spoken-word introduction to Gill Scott-Heron's sampled cries of "Who will survive in America?", the listener is taken through an intense psychological journey, invited into the very depths of Yeezy's fascinating trail of thought.

This is what Fantasy … does best: Its honesty allows people to see through the ego, in turn finding a man unafraid of admitting his flaws. Glossy production doesn't pull the shutters over the predatory nature of Hell Of A Life, the sore-to-the-bone Blame Game or Runaway's intense, shaky vocals. In doing this, Kanye gives us an insight into what goes on in the brain of a man who's almost killed his career by snatching an award gong from the hands of Taylor Swift.

And whilst it relies on a seemingly never-ending stream of guest stars – from Chris Rock to Elton John – Kanye's the one steering the ship, making the most ambitious album of his career. Although at first overwhelming, it is a stunningly daring effort, and a potential classic.