^ What he said.

I find the production to be incredible. The songwriting is pretentious but what can you expect from Kanye? I still like it though. I respect the opinion also. Any Kanye album you actually like?

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and The College Dropout are the only ones I've heard and I didn't like either of them. I'd be willing to check another one out if you have another suggestion though.

Out of curiosity, what is it that you like about the production on MBDTF?

Late Registration is probably his best.

In regards to MBDTF, from the beginning line 'Can We Get Much Higher' I was hooked.
I think you guys are telling porkies if you are saying it's a forgettable album.
Awesome production, and well placed guest slots make each track compelling to me at least.
From the up-tempo All Of The Lights with it's accompanying prelude to the r'n'b sing-song hook on 'Blame Game' and who could forget 'I'm a mutha****ing monstaaa' or the over-the-top chanting and echoing in Power.

I think some people set out with the intentions of disliking Kanye, or perhaps mainstream music in general. Before I came to MB, I was one of those people who would dismiss music I didn't think I'd like before giving it a chance, honestly, it wouldn't matter to me if a million people said this record was a piece of ****, I know in my mind it's ****ing awesome.

I'll check it out. Thanks! :)

Not sure what a porkie is but I can definitely tell you I don't find the tracks on MBDTF memorable. I listened to the first couple songs yet again a couple hours ago as a result of this conversation and still can't remember what any of them sound like.

I can assure you that's not the case for me. That album (and Kanye in general) has received such universal praise that I keep thinking there must be something of value there, but despite my continued listening I just don't hear it.

To me, the samples he uses is amazing. He used a King Crimson sample for Power. King Crimson! Plus Kanye knows what he's doing. A lot of rappers today have no clue what they're doing.

Janz listen to it all the way through just to be sure. If you don't like the beats your talking down on the likes of RZa, Q-Tip and others

The album has a lot of ranges/colors musically, yet still has a cohesiveness that feels like Kanye(as oppose to say a Lupe album that feels devoid of anything) The first single was a King Crimson flip, pretty distinguishable sound when his contemporaries are pleased to regurgitate monolithic bass with occasional snare.

I like Kanye's cadence. I find it amusing when he says "tell peta my mink is draggin on the floor", others find it idiotic. His sound is always original and dramatically different with each release.

He is slightly overrated as a producer. All of his beats follow a similar pattern and usually dependent on a blatant vocal sample but still.

edit:me and slow groove just said the same thing pretty much

I like Kanye as I have said, but after around three listens I genuinely can't remember any song on the album other than "All of the lights" which I don't care for.

I have, several times.

I've always been kind of lukewarm on RZA so if he was involved it's not surprising the album wouldn't grab me. I do like Q-Tip though. Based on a quick look at Wikipedia it sounds like he was more involved in a critiquing process than directly working on the album though.

Thanks for taking the time to really articulate what you like about the album. I don't necessarily agree with your assessment (except the comment about his beats), but still it's interesting to hear. :)