Lou Reed Reviews Kanye West’s ‘Yeezus’

Lou Reed is a fan of Kanye West’s: The veteran rocker praises the rapper’s new LP, Yeezus, in a review for The Talkhouse and comes to the conclusion that like West, the album is “majestic and inspiring.”

“People say this album is minimal. And yeah, it’s minimal,” writes Reed, who was hospitalized over the weekend for dehydration. “But the parts are maximal. Take ‘Blood on the Leaves.’ There’s a lot going on there:  horns, piano, bass, drums, electronic effects, all rhythmically matched – towards the end of the track, there’s now twice as much sonic material. But Kanye stays unmoved while this mountain of sound grows around him.  Such an enormous amount of work went into making this album. Each track is like making a movie.”

Best Albums of 2013 So Far: Kanye West, ‘Yeezus’

The musician, author and photographer analyzes the architecture and structure of each song, and notes that the intelligence of the album stems from West’s ability to unbalance a listener. Listening to Yeezus, Reed says, requires active participation from the listener to reach its full effect. As a whole, Reed says, the album sets a new standard.

“There are moments of supreme beauty and greatness on this record, and then some of it is the same old shit. But the guy really, really, really is talented,” Reed writes. “He’s really trying to raise the bar. No one’s near doing what he’s doing, it’s not even on the same planet.”