August 30, 20213 yr Released without his approval by label, which is why Jail Pt 2 wasn't on it originally https://pitchfork.com/news/kanye-west-says-...t-his-approval/
August 30, 20213 yr Wish the features were on the songs so the got chart hits especially with Marilyn Manson!
August 30, 20213 yr Author Listened to the album a couple of times. It's such a long, extensive listen but I certainly have my highlights from it. There are some truly GREAT moments: 'Jail' is absolutely brilliant, Jay Z's feature is an album highlight, 'Off The Grid' is a monster BANGER of a tune and i'm happy it's smashing on streaming and 'Jesus Lord' is beautiful - that closing monologue is very powerful. There are some incredible moments throughout the rest of it too, lyrically it's pretty great but of course the issue is the length. It's the length of a film - that isn't usually a problem but when there's a fair bit of a filler it really does make the experience a chore at times. I always listen to albums from start to end, do I make an exception with this and create a shorter playlist with the highlights? I am so glad we have the album though - it is farrrrr from his best/probably bottom 2 oops, but as mentioned there are some brilliant moments. The production is F I R E throughout.
August 30, 20213 yr Marilyn Manson is not a person you want to be rooting for right now lol I’m thinking of his chart longevity lol, I think though that’s why Kanye has him on it overall as a two fingers to certain groups. Not bad this album on first listen but there’s a lack of female voices on it for me.
August 31, 20213 yr not the bestest review on Pitchfork, just a 6 https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/kanye-west-donda/
August 31, 20213 yr I'm not loving this at all so far, I'm not sure there's anything that's up there with his best material. My favourite part is the Lauryn Hill sample.
August 31, 20213 yr Author Not bad this album on first listen but there’s a lack of female voices on it for me. This is... such an odd take? :blink: Do all albums you listen to have a fair representation of male and female voices? Looking at the top 5 albums, where are the male voices on Sour or Solar Power for example - is that an issue? It's an album by a male artist, I wouldn't expect female vocals on it (even though this actually does have a female featuring on two songs). Confused~
August 31, 20213 yr An album dedicated to his mother filled with homophobes and men accused of sexual assault — there is a limit to what I can defend and a limit to how much I can separate art from the artist. Beyond that — it's an arduous listen with barely a highlight to mention. It's just not worth the effort and mental gymnastics required.
August 31, 20213 yr This is... such an odd take? :blink: Do all albums you listen to have a fair representation of male and female voices? Looking at the top 5 albums, where are the male voices on Sour or Solar Power for example - is that an issue? It's an album by a male artist, I wouldn't expect female vocals on it (even though this actually does have a female featuring on two songs). Confused~ I don’t think Sour or Solar Power are comparable here really. The list of features on DONDA is never-ending, yet the number of women who feature is minuscule. That, along with the features from DaBaby and Marilyn Manson… really isn’t a good look. I haven’t managed to get through it all yet, but I do like quite a bit of what I have heard. There’s nothing to rival any of his best, but I’m liking it a lot more than Ye and Jesus is King. Still, I can’t see myself returning to the album as a whole much at all (if ever?) because of the length, which is a shame, as I love a Kanye album to be a full experience.
September 1, 20213 yr I was really just thinking one of my favourite singles he’s released is ‘Monster’ which has the perfect mix of both!
September 17, 20213 yr I have to mention somewhere that the Billboard Christian Chart was quite a picture last week (and to a slightly lesser extent this week)!
September 18, 20213 yr There is a great album in this if you trim off the fat - tracks 11 to 16 are a rough / fillery patch in particular, there are still a few songs that sounded like leftovers from 'JESUS IS KING' and the part 2 versions are really not needed, the only one that is a notable improvement on the original is 'Ok Ok Pt 2' so I'd just put that in place of the original and leave off the other 3. A good handful of solid bangers ('Off The Grid', 'Hurricane', 'Junya', 'New Again'), a couple of powerful emotional tracks ('Jesus Lord', 'Come To Life') and a couple of songs that sound like a better version of what he tried to do on 'JESUS IS KING' proving that ultra religious/gospel Kanye is not necessarily a bad thing ('Jonah', 'Pure Souls'). 'Believe What I Say' is a highlight too, the one song on here that sounds like vintage early Kanye. Also really liked the instrumental on 'God Breathed' (I don't know that it needed to take up such a lengthy outro but at least it sounded good!) As it is, it's definitely far too bloated but it has a lot more highlights than 'JESUS IS KING' had so it's a step in the right direction (highly questionable collaborator choices aside).
September 28, 20213 yr So apparently he's altered a bunch of the songs now like he did with TLOP, mostly just slight mixing changes but notably Chris Brown has been removed entirely from 'New Again', with his small vocal parts replaced by Kanye's own voice. Good, because that was a highlight on the album for me but felt a little dragged down by Chris' entirely needless minor presence on it. x
December 11, 20213 yr Listened to the album a couple of times. It's such a long, extensive listen but I certainly have my highlights from it. There are some truly GREAT moments: 'Jail' is absolutely brilliant, Jay Z's feature is an album highlight, 'Off The Grid' is a monster BANGER of a tune and i'm happy it's smashing on streaming and 'Jesus Lord' is beautiful - that closing monologue is very powerful. There are some incredible moments throughout the rest of it too, lyrically it's pretty great but of course the issue is the length. It's the length of a film - that isn't usually a problem but when there's a fair bit of a filler it really does make the experience a chore at times. I always listen to albums from start to end, do I make an exception with this and create a shorter playlist with the highlights? I am so glad we have the album though - it is farrrrr from his best/probably bottom 2 oops, but as mentioned there are some brilliant moments. The production is F I R E throughout. You don't like 'No Child Left Behind'? It reminds me a lot of Ultravox - Vienna with the music, definitely my fave on the album! Edited December 11, 20213 yr by Snakin' Stevens
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