A very so-so record from Kanye. Nowhere near as good as Dropout was, and not even up to Late Registration. Aside from Stronger and the track with Mos Def, nothing on this disc held my intrest.

Shame, too, I was hoping for it to be good.

So, anyone else listen? Anyone actually surprised? Sad to say it, but I think Kanye might have peaked as a rapper with his debut CD, and looking back on it, a lot of the best moments on it are guest spots.

I told myself after "Late Registration" that I was done with buying new Kanye West albums. Personally, I've only heard "Strong" from this one, and I wasn't feeling it.

BTW, Rolling Stone gave the album ****1/2, and said that you need to listen to it more than once before you're able to start "loving" it.

They're wrong. I mean, it's not BAD, but it's also not good. I expect more from Kanye. Even Late Registration had a couple of "Woah" moments (We Major with Nas, the Diamonds Remix) but this just has the one stand out track, and that's only because of the Daft Punk sample.

Disappointing.

That's funny, IIRC, the two songs from "Late Registration" that you cited were the only two that impressed me on that album too. The song with the guy from Maroon 5 was pretty decent too, but those two were the only ones that I really felt busted loose and I could latch on to.

I didn't mind the song with Mr. Maroon Five (whose name I can't ever remember, Lavigne? Or something...) was alright, but I grew tired of it quickly.

The guest spots on Graduation were just mediocre. Mos Def was alright, but c'mon... I expected a lot more.