Following Beck's Hyperspace, experimental music somewhat fascinated me. While I wasn't familiar with Kanye West's prior music, this album's experimental nature drew me to it.
Lyrically, the album deals with a failed relationship, the downsides of fame, and the passing of West's mother. For the production, Wests employs the titular drum machine in conjunction with auto-tune to create a mellow and brooding soundscape. I felt that the autotuned vocals make him sound sadder than the lyrics themselves.
The opening track "Say You Will", does an excellent job introducing the subsequent tracks' feel. The second track "Welcome to Heartbreak" features Kid Cudi singing an amzing chorus, the track would go on to become the first of many collabs Ye would go on to have with the lonely loner. Personally, I liked the production on the tracks "Welcome To Heartbreak", "Amazing" and "Love Lockdown".
While I found the experimentation in this album was amazing, I hoped Ye would have done more albums along the same vein- less hip-hop. Unfortunately, he went straight back to hip-hop... Nevertheless, my opinion of his production improved and I was led to try his 2013 album.