The Life of Pablo still feels unsettled. Kanye West would make several changes after the release of his seventh studio album, and it may be simpler as to why this was the case than first thought. With such an abundance of collaborators, with Rick Rubin part of the production team, everything feels up in the air. Volatility is a mainstay of West as an artist now but there was a time, like here or Graduation, where it was refined and left a lasting impression. A case of too many cooks and insufficient ingredients appears for The Life of Pablo, an ambitious piece which would kick on into a slide West has, to this day, never recovered from. Years of work and for what? There is a tetchiness to The Life of Pablo. A sense of insurmountable expectations off the back of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
What is life without more? Ultralight Beam feels like a chance to exorcise those indifferences, those moments of spectacular shortcoming. It is the pursuit of righteousness which once presented itself in the works of West, as it does in abundance on The Life of Pablo. No more is it present, and his listeners are all the worse for it. This is an album remembered for its moments. Early spots like Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1, are clipped to hell and back for social media stories. Beyond its inevitable Instagram reel placement, it remains a strong piece of work, the apology cycle continuing, defined here not by West but the backing vocalists, the power and electronic distortion which pairs together so brilliantly. That too many cooks feeling finds a fine line between the marvellous like Famous and the forgettable to follow. Lightning strikes of great quality to be heard through The Life of Pablo, as rare as they are, keep it together.
Those contemporary culture boasts on Feedback feel for a politically tense moment, one which still lasts. West manages to keep himself at an erratic best but keeps himself, and his listeners, hooked on the feedback loop of the modern day. Oprah Winfrey to OJ Simpson and the attitude of officers of the law makes all the difference for that and the later moments of The Life of Pablo. Bits like Highlights and Freestyle 4 feel like lopsided ventures where experimentation takes precedence over anything else. Much of the album is very solid, if a bit forgettable. A lot of instrumental opportunities with a depth repeating on the desires for extra layers to the soul, to new angles on old loves and features of the past. Those haunts are responsibly detailed, as is the case for FML, but have some distance between the powerful words and the impact they could have.
A few standouts above a consistent core make all the difference for The Life of Pablo. Real Friends is a powerful, latter-stage shot at former friends and, with a bulk of new collaborators heard on here, it is clear West has cleared house. Those later moments, the likes of Wolves and No More Parties in LA, are moments of greatness from West and the collaborative pool. Pieces of true fixation and terror in the face of self-reinvention do not get carried far enough on The Life of Pablo, but certainly makes an impact on the scale of the production. Sharp writings on 30 Hours and the rest of it has The Life of Pablo spring to life in such sudden, wonderful fashion. It comes to a staggering end, and it truly stands as the last great piece of work West has put out.
