First Impressions: Kanye West's 'The Life of Pablo,' Live at Madison Square Garden

Image via Complex Original

At the top, we're hearing what is, ultimately, the strongest song on the album. "THIS IS A GOD DREAM," Kanye sings. With full gospel choir backing and what sounds like a vocal assist from Frank Ocean at one point, "Ultra Light Beams" is what Kanye West meant when he promised us a gospel album. "ULB" is also the most ambitious song on The Life of Pablo, a two-part trap-gospel overture featuring Kelly Price, the-Dream, and a torch-snatching blitz from Chance the Rapper.

Track two, and it's the most immediately exciting song on the album. "Father Stretch My Hands" opens with a sample of Future's signature drop for Metro Boomin but then sneakily substitutes a sample of Brooklyn rapper Desiigner, who sounds like Future ("I got broads in Atlanta/Twisting dope, lean, and the Fanta"), for two latter verses on Pt. 2. What pointless confusion. Shit is powerful regardless. From Kanye, with a full choir wailing high alto notes on Pt. 1: "I just fucked this model, and she just bleached her asshole/and it just bleached my tee shirt." Cudi's on the hook, singing about moanful mornings. On Pt. 2, we hear Kanye's rapping about his parents' divorce with lyrics that he teased via Twitter earlier today.

He think he James Brown, spazzing fantastical resentment of PETA and "no-pussy-getting bloggers" over a space flute melody. "Pablo bought a Roley and a Rottweiler," Kanye raps, establishing his alter ego, a.k.a., "the ghetto Oprah—you know what that mean? You get a fur! You get a fur! You get a jet!"

Swizz Beatz is shouting all over this one, so I'm assuming he produced it, or co-produced it. Note that "Famous" is the song previously titled "Nina Chop," with rumors and snippets circulating ever since The Life of Pablo was previously titled So Help Me God. At the top, Kanye takes a rather hotheaded stab at Taylor Swift, claiming, "I made that bitch famous," and suggesting he and her "might still have sex." Hearing it live at the venue, "Famous" was certainly the most shocking moment of The Life Of Pablo, sounding like provocative holdover from the Yeezus sessions, with Hudson Mohawke on the boards and Rihanna on the hook. And shouts to Sister Nancy, whose classic "Bam Bam" groove surfaces here as a chant for the bridge, with a gospel twist.

The first eight measures of synth pulses on "High Lights" had me bracing for the "Rock Steady" by the Whispers—alas. Here, instead, we have the song that Kanye West and Young Thug will perform together this coming weekend on Saturday Night Live, though Thugger's just on the hook, and really it's the-Dream who pulls this song together. It's at this point in the live premiere of this album that I'm realizing that The Life of Pablo is one part Surf (also a gospel album, if you ask me), one part Yeezus (also a gospel album, if you ask me), one part Free TC (also a gos—). And I'll say, Kanye's rapping on "High Lights" sounds rather obviously indebted to Kendrick Lamar, with that M4 carbine flow of his.

In my notes, with no clue from the maestro regarding his song's title, I jotted this down as "THE SONG WITH NO DRUMS, with, "PROD. HUDSON MOHAWKE" being my best, immediate guess. With sparse piano and creeping, horror score violin, "Feed Back" reminds me of the first Resident Evil game soundtrack, more than anything else. The weakest song on the album, for sure.

Short, sweet, with no hook: a presumably untitled freestyle in which Kanye West mocks fans who miss "the old Kanye," "chop-up-the-beats Kanye," with a distaste for every creative departure he's made since My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. It was charming, if simple as a ditty, yet hardly memorable. (UPDATE: Looks like this one's gonna make the final cut of The Life Of Pablo, in the form of a song called, "I Miss The Old Kanye.")

The provenance of "FML," featuring the Weeknd, isn't immediately clear from where I'm sitting, leaving me to speculate that it's a discarded cut from Beauty Behind The Madness; at least, that's how it sounds. Not a huge fan!

A guy sitting in front of me stood to start clamoring for this song, and voila—Kanye played it. This is when the Grey Goose hit the fried chicken sandwich in my stomach. I was feeling hot and right. Never mind that "Real Friends" isn't a song that ideal suits an arena—you can't dance or pump to that shit—and it's Kanye's most retro gesture on an album that otherwise hovers in the lineage of Yeezus. As this album's penultimate track, "Real Friends" rounds out the general tenor of resentment, regret, and rejection of intimacy that defines The Life of Pablo.

We heard the earliest version of "Wolves" at Yeezy Season 2 a year ago, featuring Sia and Vic Mensa, who then performed the song with Kanye on Saturday Night Live. Sia and Vic are missing, however, from the album version of the song. Consolation prize? Frank Ocean, whose voice closed the scripted run-of-show as it closes the album. Here I'll admit that I ignored "Wolves" and really hadn't heard the song at all until this afternoon. Upon first listen, it clearly resonates with "Only One," though with vulgar twists: it's Kanye's steamy love letter to Kim Kardashian with loving, PG-rated promises to Nori. Kanye West is one hellish father-of-the year. "I know it's corny bitches you wish you could unfollow," he raps. "I know it's corny niggas you wish you could unswallow."

At Madison Square Garden and on his posted tracklist, Kanye played straight from "FML" to "Real Friends," leaving us to assume that he cut "Fade" from The Life of Pablo in the past 24 hours. After closing out the front-to-back portion of the arena listening session for the album, Kanye did ultimately cue "Fade" between "Facts" and the new, untitled Young Thug song that Kanye premiered during the Soundcloud DJ encore. "Fade," which Kanye premiered at Yeezy Season 2 a year ago, is fine for what may ultimately just be a bonus cut. Streets need that Thugger single even sooner, however.