Now I embody every characteristic of the egotistic

 Continuing my trip up Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time...

...Kanye vs Clash?  I'm not his biggest fan, but I struggle to imagine him losing this one.

#17 : My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Kanye West (2010)

Our relationship with Kanye West was still in its love-hate phase when he created the 21st century’s most awe-inspiring hip-hop masterpiece. It’s an album every bit as chaotic as he was at the time — from the creepy funk of “Gorgeous” to the crushing attack of “Hell of a Life.” After his Taylor Swift VMAs fiasco in 2009, West went into a kind of self-exile, eventually ending up in Hawaii, where he imported a huge group of collaborators who included Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Nicki Minaj, and RZA.

<truncated for reasons of generally talking bollocks, but you get the idea>

Our sixth (and final) visit with Kanye on this list and I think it's fair to say I've had a somewhat mixed reaction to his albums but you can't accuse him of being a man who doesn't try shit out.  This is generally accepted as his masterpiece and I've somehow avoided it, so I was interested to listen to it and was hoping for good things.

And overall, I quite liked it - I'm not sure I can pronounce it a masterpiece yet, but it's certainly not lacking ambition and (unlike some of his other efforts) he's certainly put the work in here.  It's surprisingly honest at times as well - he knows he's a bit of a cock and he's not sure he wants to be but he also knows he isn't going to change.  He doesn't sound like he's particularly enjoying his life at this time, but he's taken that and used it to create some quite interesting sounds and some very odd lyrics.  So much so, that we're going for a track-by-track breakdown.

1. "Dark Fantasy"
A particularly weird start to the album with a fake British accent reciting some weird poetry (Nicki Minaj reading Roald Dahl, apparently!), followed by a choral section, then it settles down somewhat to a "normal" Kanye track (whatever one of them is) - but I missed what the subject matter is (I've read the lyrics, and I'm still no clearer).  I quite liked it though.
2. "Gorgeous"
Very odd fuzzy vocal style but an expansive backing track - again, I quite liked it but didn't have a clue what he was on about.
3. "POWER"
Well, I know he's not happy about something here - "they said I was the abomination of Obama's nation - well that's a bad way to start a conversation" - but I still can't say I'm entirely sure what...
4. "All Of The Lights"
This has a very beautiful cello-based intro, which isn't necessarily what you'd expect from Mr West.  And for a change, I actually think I understood what he was on about here, comparing the bright lights we all aspire for and the bread line which is unfortunately closer to reality for many.  Overall, I liked it.
5. "Monster"
This is more "normal" hip-hop featuring some reasonably unpleasant sexual imagery (but NOTHING compared with what's to come).  For the first two verses, it's fine but nothing more - but Nicki Minaj absolutely kills the third verse.  Bizarrely, Bon Iver also gets a credit on this track and I've no idea where he fits into it all.
6. "So Appalled"
This is an interesting track because it starts as coming across as the usual hip-hop aspirational bullshit but turns the tables with its refrain of "I mean this shit is fucking ridiculous".  But at the same time he also knows he's not going to give it up "I went from the favorite to the most hated - would you rather be underpaid or overrated?".  And it's all over an orchestral backing track featuring electronic glitches - I liked this track a lot.
7. "Devil In A New Dress"
A more standard Kanye track featuring the chipmunk rap we all know and love.  Oh, you don't?  It's fine, but no more than that for me.
8. "Runaway"
Well, this is an unusual hip-hop track and not at all what you're expecting from Kanye because it's a track for his lady saying what an asshole he is - "You been puttin' up wit' my shit just way too long".  It's not an apology, but it's also not a justification - I can't quite decide if that's a good or a bad thing.  It does have a very odd chorus though.
9. "Hell Of A Life"
I've no idea what he's on about here, but there is some quite unpleasant sex stuff going on.  It's got a serious bassline to it though.
10. "Blame Game"
Hmmm.  The first half of the track is quite interesting - an interesting piano backing to some reasonably thoughtful consideration as to who might be to blame for break-ups.  But woah, the second half is another level of sexual imagery weirdness - sample quote "Who the fuck got your pussy all re-upholstered?".  Quite odd indeed.
11. "Lost In The World"
The chipmunks are back!  And chipmunk harmonies.  Odd.  Next.
12. "Who Will Survive In America?"
This track feels like it has a lot to say, but is all over in 1:38 - which doesn't feel like a very Kanye thing to do.  It also has some very odd lyrics (and yes, sexual imagery is again involved)

It's also an extremely odd album cover - it's Kanye having sex with a winged, armless phoenix who has a long polka dot tail.  Because why wouldn't you, eh?  It seems like the idea was to get the album cover banned in the US and unsurprisingly it did the job - I actually really like the one they did to replace it in more conservative areas (which I'm sure Kanye won't be happy to hear).

Wikipedia (unsurprisingly) has a lot to say about the album but, let's be honest, most of it is bollocks.  Apparently the album cost $3m to make - a lot of that must have been spent on flying people to Hawaii with an impressively large number of people I've actually heard of being involved - Raekwon, RZA, Rick Ross, Big Sean, Nicki Minaj, T.I., Drake, Common, Jay-Z, John Legend, Fergie, Rihanna, Elton John, M.I.A., Justin Vernon, Seal, Beyoncé, Kid Cudi, Mos Def, Santigold, Alicia Keys and Elly Jackson (and it would have been nice to see the La Roux album on this list).  Lots is written about how it not even being nominated for the Album of the Year Grammy was definitely a snub and, given the number of critics lining up to praise it to the heavens, you can see there is a good argument here.  However, you can also see that Adele, the eventual winner, was probably a safer bet in that you knew she'd only swear a lot in her acceptance speech - I can't even begin to imagine what Kanye might have done.

So, given this is our last visit with the colourful character, I'd better pull something special out of his Wikipedia entry - so, just to annoy him, I'm going to talk about "the Taylor Swift incident".  Yes, he was a bit out of order, although he did have a point - especially since Beyonce's video won "Video Of The Year" later in the show and she called Taylor back on stage to let her finish her speech (which was nice!).  But it seems like the US generally viewed his behaviour as the worst thing that ever happened - and his tour was cancelled as a result, which seems a slight over-reaction.  But I think it's safe to say that his, Taylor's and Beyonce's careers have not exactly suffered since...

"Customers also listened to" all them hippy-hoppy types that we've seen so much of.  But I liked this way more than most, and although College Dropout is still my favourite album of his, I can see me revisiting this and I'm happy enough with its presence on the list (if not necessarily its position).  Six entries on the list is far too many for the lad though - the critics definitely lose their minds a bit when they consider him and there's definitely no place for either Yeezus or 808s And Heartbreak on any list, let alone this one.  I'm prepared to listen to arguments for the other two, but I think you have to lose one to make it fair - I'll give him three entries as a reasonable number (and yes, I realise this is three more than many people would give him).  But he's certainly a man who has lots to say and he sometimes manages to say it in an interesting way.

#16 : London Calling - The Clash (1979)

Recorded in 1979 in London, which was then wrenched by surging unemployment and drug addiction, and released in America in January 1980, the dawn of an uncertain decade, London Calling is 19 songs of apocalypse fueled by an unbending faith in rock & roll to beat back the darkness. Produced with no-surrender energy by legendary Sixties studio madman Guy Stevens, the Clash’s third album sounds like a free-form radio broadcast from the end of the world, skidding from bleak punk (“London Calling”) to rampaging ska (“Wrong ’Em Boyo”) and disco resignation (“Lost in the Supermarket”).

How odd, I'd totally forgotten how everyone in London was on the dole and the heroin back in 1979 - thank goodness I've got Rolling Stone to remind me.  Overall, this list has had the unfortunate effect of making me realise how little I like The Clash, but I've never heard this album except for the title track (which is undoubtedly great) so I definitely felt I should fill in this blank in my cultural experience.

And well, it's OK and the musicianship is generally way better than I was expecting - but I struggle to see exactly what it's got that causes it to stand out from the pack.  You're certainly not getting a track-by-track breakdown because you'd get bored with me saying "Hmmm - it's got a good beat, but it just sounds like the last track".  The title track is far and away the best thing on the album - the rest just don't do anything for me.  I also definitely didn't need a double album of them.  I didn't hate it (and it's a very cool album cover), but I'm just a bit mystified by the whole thing - maybe if I'd lived through it (the dole and the heroin, that is) then I'd rave about it or maybe I'd get into it if I listened to a million more times (but that's not going to happen).  I'd have to say bits of the album reminded me of Elvis Costello, The Pogues and The Specials - all of whom I'd far rather listen to than this (and it's a shame we've only seen Elvis on this list)

Wikipedia basically tells me I'm wrong, but doesn't really tell me why - it seems there was some discussion at the time as to whether this was so good because it pushed the boundaries of punk or just left punk behind entirely.  It feels to me to like it was a move towards the US definition of punk (or maybe even "college rock") which possibly explains why it was so successful over there, but top 10 in the UK is an impressive achievement as well.  The band's Wikipedia entry is an interesting enough read if you're interested in the time - although I was amazed to read that "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" got to #1 in 1991 because I thought it was out way before then.  And it turns out I was right, because it first out in 1982 - but in 1991 for some reason (probably record company greed, which I imagine the band loved), they re-released "Should I", "Rock The Casbah" and "London Calling" (for the second time).

"Customers also listened to" The Sex Pistols, The Ramones, The Buzzcocks and Talking Heads (one of these things is not the same!).  So, our third and final visit is a far better experience than either of the previous albums (with Sandinista deserving a special mention for its unpleasantness).  But I'm afraid that, except for the title track, I just don't get it.  Never mind, eh? 

And yes, it's an easy win for Kanye for me.

#19-18 - two guys telling it like it is, fifty years apart
#15-14 - two albums that feel more than 16 years apart