My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

by Kanye West

Overview

As fatiguing as it is invigorating, as cold-blooded as it is heart-rending, as haphazardly splattered as it is meticulously sculpted, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is an extraordinarily complex 70-minute set of songs. Listening to it, much like saying or typing its title, is a laborious process. In some ways, it's the culmination of Kanye West's first four albums, but it does not merely draw characteristics from each one of them. The 13 tracks, eight of which are between five and nine minutes in length, sometimes fuse them together simultaneously. Consequently, the sonic and emotional layers are often difficult to pry apart and enumerate. Nothing exemplifies its contrasting elements and maniacal extravagance as much as "All of the Lights." Rattling, raw, synthetic toms are embellished with brass, woodwinds, and strings. It's a celebration of fame ("Fast cars, shooting stars") and a lament of its consequences ("Restraining order/Can't see my daughter"). Its making involved 42 people, including not one but two French horn players and over a dozen high-profile vocalists, only some of which are perceptible. At once, the song features one of the year's most rugged beats while supplying enough opulent detail to make Late Registration collaborator Jon Brion's head spin. "Blame Game" chills more than anything off 808s & Heartbreak. Sullen solo-piano Aphex Twin plays beneath morose cello; with a chorus from John Legend, a dejected, embittered West -- whose voice toggles between naturally clear-sounding and ominously pitched-down as it pans back and forth -- tempers wistfully-written, maliciously-delivered lines like "Been a long time since I spoke to you in a bathroom, ripping you up, fuckin' and chokin' you" with untreated and distinctively pained confessions like "I can't love you this much." The contrast in "Devil in a New Dress," featuring Rick Ross, is of a different sort; a throwback soul production provided by the Smokey Robinson-sampling Bink, it's as gorgeous as any of West's own early work, yet it's marred by an aimless instrumental stretch, roughly 90 seconds in length, that involves some incongruent electric guitar flame-out. Even less explicable is the last third of the nine-minute "Runaway," when West blows into a device and comes out sounding something like a muffled, bristly version of Robert Fripp's guitar. The only thing that remains unchanged is West's lyrical accuracy; for every rhyme that stuns, there's one deserving of mockery from any given contestant off the The White Rapper Show. As the ego and ambition swells, so does the appeal, the repulsiveness, and -- most importantly -- the ingenuity. Whether loved or loathed, fully enjoyed or merely admired, this album should be regarded as a deeply fascinating accomplishment. ~ Andy Kellman

Product Details

Release Date:	11/22/2010
Label:	Roc-A-Fella / Universal
UPC:	0602527474465

Tracks

1. Dark Fantasy
2. Gorgeous
3. Power
4. All of the Lights (Interlude)
5. All of the Lights
6. Monster
7. So Appalled
8. Devil in a New Dress
9. Runaway
10. Hell of a Life
11. Blame Game
12. Lost in the World
13. Who Will Survive in America

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Kanye West   Primary Artist,Vocals
Jay-Z   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Pusha T   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Raekwon   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Bon Iver   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
RZ   Primary Artist
John Legend   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Rick Ross   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
RZA   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Kid Cudi   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Prynce CyHi   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Swizz Beatz   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Chris de Burgh   Primary Artist
Alicia Keys   Vocals
Mike Lovatt   Trumpet
Amber Rose   Vocals,Vocals,Vocals
Tim Anderson   French Horn,French Horn
Charlie Wilson   Vocals,Featured Artist,Vocals
Chris Rock   Vocals
Dwele   Vocals
Rihanna   Vocals
Ryan Leslie   Vocals
Mike Dean   Bass,Cello,Piano,Guitar,Soloist,Keyboards
Jeff Bhasker   Cello,Piano,Keyboards,Co-Producer
Fergie   Vocals
Beyonce   Featured Artist
Elton John   Piano,Vocals
Justin Vernon   Vocals,Featured Artist,Vocals (Background)
Simon Finch   Trumpet
Nicki Minaj   Featured Artist,Vocals (Background)
Mark Frost   Trombone
Rachel Robson   Viola
The-Dream   Vocals
Drake   Vocals
Chris Soper   Handclapping
La Roux   Vocals
Big Sean   Featured Artist
Ian Allen   Handclapping,Handclapping
Alvin Fields   Chant,Vocals
Ken Lewis   Bass,Brass,Chant,Organ,Guitar,Vocals,Woodwind
Philip Judge   Trombone
Rosie Danvers   Cello,Conductor
Richard Ashton   French Horn
Tom Rumsby   French Horn
Teyana Taylor   Vocals
Brent Kolatalo   Keyboards
Jenny Sacha   Violin
Emile Haynie   Co-Producer
Andrew Gathercole   Trumpet
Uri Djemal   Handclapping
Elly Jackson   Vocals
Tony Williams   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Kotono Sato   Violin
Chloe Vincent   Flute
Chris "Hitchcock" Chorney   Cello
Danny Flam   Brass,Woodwind
Kay Fox   Vocals
Salma Kenas   Vocals
Tony Gorruso   Brass
Wilson Christopher   Handclapping
No I.D.   Co-Producer
Warren Trotter   Vocals

Technical Credits

Tony Iommi   Composer
Beyonce Knowles   Composer
Bill Ward   Composer,Composer
Charlie Wilson   Composer
Corey Woods   Composer
L.A. Reid   Executive Producer
James Brown   Composer
Eddie Bo   Composer
Carole King   Composer
Greg Lake   Composer
Leesa D. Brunson   A&R
G. Clark   Composer
Geezer Butler   Composer
Gene Clark   Composer
Robert Fripp   Composer
Patrick Reynolds   Composer
Jon Anderson   Composer
Pete Rock   Composer
S1   Producer
Robert Diggs   Composer
Peter Sinfield   Composer
Richard D. James   Composer
Kanye West   Composer,Producer,Art Direction,Executive Producer
R. Diggs   Composer
Mike Dean   Mixing,Composer,Engineer,Producer,Mixing Engineer,Cello Arrangement,Additional Production
Ozzy Osbourne   Composer
Jeff Bhasker   Composer,Producer,Cello Arrangement,Additional Production
Michael Giles   Composer
Kasseem Dean   Composer
Mike Oldfield   Composer
Anthony Kilhoffer   Mixing,Engineer,Mixing Engineer,Drum Programming
JP Robinson   Art Coordinator
Brenda Russell   Composer
C. Smith   Composer
Bink   Producer
Gerry Goffin   Composer
Manny Marroquin   Mixing,Mixing Engineer
Noah Goldstein   Engineer
Gil Scott-Heron   Composer
Malik Yusef   Composer
Manu Dibango   Composer
Manfred Mann   Composer,Composer
Tony Joe White   Composer
Sylvester Stewart   Composer
Ian McDonald   Composer
Larry Griffin   Composer
Gaylord Holomalia   Assistant,Mixing Assistant
Ernest Wilson   Composer
Roger McGuinn   Composer
RZA   Producer
Justin Vernon   Composer
Nathan Perez   Composer
Mike Caren   Composer,Producer
Vlado Meller   Mastering
Kid Cudi   Composer
Christian Plata   Mixing Assistant
Ryan Gilligan   Engineer
Andrew Dawson   Mixing,Engineer,Mixing Engineer,Additional Production
Erik Madrid   Mixing Assistant
Alex Graupera   Assistant,Mixing Assistant
The-Dream   Composer
J. Stephens   Composer
Marcos Tovar   Vocal Engineer
K. Lewis   Composer
Tommy Danvers   Producer
Scott Mescudi   Composer
J. Franks   Composer
Kristen Yiengst   Art Coordinator
Ken Lewis   Composer,Engineer,Drum Programming,Horn Arrangements,Composer
K. Mitchell   Composer
Stacy Ferguson   Composer
Doug Joswick   Package Production
Boris Bergman   Composer
Che Smith   Composer
Shawn Carter   Composer,Executive Producer
Roosevelt Harrell   Composer
Kyambo "Hip Hop" Joshua   Executive Producer
Peter Bischoff   Engineer,Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Chris Atlas   Marketing
Don-C   A&R
John Stephens   Composer,Composer
Plain Pat   Producer,Additional Production
Rosie Danvers   Orchestration
Brian Russell   Composer
J.P. Lang   Composer
Todd Russell   Art Coordinator
Tracey Waples   Marketing
Patrick "Plain Pat" Reynolds   A&R
Andwele Gardner   Composer
M. Giles   Composer
Richard James   Composer
Brent Kolatalo   Engineer,Drum Programming,Keyboard Programming
Emile   Producer
Eric Weissman   Sample Clearance
Terese Joseph   A&R
Emile Haynie   Composer
Clifford Smith   Composer
Jean-Pierre Lang   Composer
George Condo   Artwork,Paintings
Yusef Jones   Composer
DJ Frank E   Producer
Dion Wilson   Composer
William Roberts   Composer
Terrence Thornton   Composer
B. Bergman   Composer
Phil Joly   Engineer,Assistant,Mixing Assistant,Assistant Engineer
CyHi the Prynce   Composer
Onika Maraj   Composer
Justin Franks   Composer
Cary Clark   Mixing Assistant
Gee Roberson   Executive Producer
Tommy D.   Producer
Al Branch   Marketing
Christian Mochizuki   Engineer,Assistant,Mixing Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Chris "Hitchcock" Chorney   Cello Arrangement
Fabien Montique   Photography
Khloe Mitchell   Poetry,Composer
Virgil Abloh   Art Direction
J Branch   Composer
Francois Pierre Bernheim   Composer
Sean Anderson   Composer
Larry Griffin, Jr.   Composer
No I.D.   Composer,Producer
John Roger Branch   Composer
Warren Trotter   Composer
Alfred Scramuzza   Composer
Malik Jones   Composer
John Osbourne   Composer