By:  Declan Hertel
Entertainment Editor

This may end up as my favorite Kanye album.

I dig his first three albums, but “808s and Heartbreak” is the first album of his I really, really dug, and I’ve only dug each subsequent one more and more. “The Life of Pablo” is the latest in a line of really great records. I love the gospel sound with all my heart, plus it keeps the weird industrial synths and sudden tone shifts of Yeezus, and lyrically speaking this is an album of a man struggling with his faith, his fame, his marriage, his baser urges, his fans, and his own mythology. It’s heavy and weird and—somehow—a little bit inspirational.

Look, my boy Kanye is a bit of a polarizing figure. For people who don’t listen to his music or his interviews or anything, all they’ve got is the award show outbursts and the Twitter rants. And while it’s unfair, it’s understandable. But that’s Kanye West the Public Figure.

I recommend listening to “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” and “The Life of Pablo” to get a good idea of who Kanye West the Man is. I get this vibe from much of this album, and some of the tracks on “Fantasy” and “Yeezus,” that he is uncomfortably with finding himself happy.

He’s married to a woman who loves him and has guided him through his darkest times, not to mention mothered his children, and yet he still dreams of the destructive rock star life. He’s one of the biggest names in music, but can’t allow himself to take a break from work to tend to the rest of his life. On “Wolves,” the beautiful and haunting closing track of the album proper, he worries that his deceased mother would disapprove of his life and art, that he’s “too wild.”

He is a man deeply troubled by a great many things (not the least of which is his ego, which he freely admits), and his level of unabashed honesty on “Pablo” makes it really easy to empathize with a man who should be, by all rights, impossible to relate to.

Currently “The Life of Pablo” is only available on Tidal because who the hell knows, but just snag dat free trial, and I would be really, really surprised if it never found its way to a real release.

Incomplete and Miscellaneous Thoughts I Wrote While Listening to this Album Stoned:

Ultralight Beam:
Oh man when the gospel backing comes in, blew my damn mind for a second. Chance the Rapper’s verse is dooooope. Apparently this was why the album’s release was delayed initially, I can see why.

Father, Stretch My Hands Pts 1-2

Damn Yeezy getting weird again. Dude’s got a hell of a relationship with his family. His flow on Part 2 makes me uncomfortable and I loooove it

Feedback:
Man what a cool song. Savage feedback-y synths warm my soul parts

Low Lights:
More weirdness. Love the gospel influence. Ye did say this was a gospel record, dude wasn’t lyin’.

Highlights:
Oh man that first hook is giving me flashbacks to Daft Punk’s “Discovery.” Love it.

Freestyle 4:
This song strikes me as uncomfortably honest. So dope.
I Love Kanye:

Heheheheh Yeezy knows what’s up, love the self-awareness of closing with “I love you like Kanye loves Kanye”.

Waves:
The almost-namesake song. Comes in SUPER HEAVY after “I Love Kanye”

FML:
This song is fascinating, trying to give up the rock star life he worked so hard for so that he can be good to his family. Way dark and a bit spacey

Wolves:
Ugh this song breaks my heart. I hope he “fixes” it like he said he was gonna. I miss Sia and the other dude.