Why do you think TLOP, fell so much in the new update?

[Edre Depeche Head]

Out of all of Kanye's albums, MBDTF, Yeezus, and 808s saw the largest jumps, understandably so because MBDTF and Yeezus were bound to benefit from EOD lists and with the rise of trap in the late 2010s, 808s influence is becoming more apparent. Kanye's first three albums all remained relatively the same.

The one album that is an outlier is TLOP. It went from being in the 800s to the 1500s. I know this has to do with the fact it was largely ignored by EOD lists. It is now his lowest album on the 3000 (excluding the ones bubbling under and unranked), and yet it got rave reviews upon release and made a larger splash then 808s and Watch The Throne.

I guess I wanna know why you guys think it was excluded on many EOD lists. Was it because they had to make room for MBDTF and Yeezus or has it really weakened amongst critics that much since its release?

[FrankLotion]

TLOP was pretty polarizing to begin with for critics, it only got a 75 on Metacritic when it came out which for Kanye is pretty low.

It’s not a bad album but I definitely thought the EOY lists were over-inflating it, probably because back then there was still a strong contingent of people who acted like everything Kanye put out was some infallible work of genius (I was one of these people really until TLOP).

Now TLOP feels like the beginning of Kanye’s decline into all the disappointing albums that have come out since, so maybe that’s why critics have gone cold on it by the end of the decade.

It’s hard for me not to see it the same way, MBDTF and even Yeezus were legitimately exciting despite any shortcomings, I think TLOP had a great album buried in there but it’s just too messy and inconsistent to hold up.

[prosecutorgodot]

I think Kanye was still editing and "fixing" it until June 2016, so if you were like me and dismissed it prior to then, I would recommend checking it out again. The album to me has come to display Kanye's dichotomies maybe even better than MBDTF. One of my favorite tracks is the closer "Saint Pablo," which wasn't even on the first release.

[poorpete]

I wonder how much his political changes(?) affected appearances on end of decade lists. I could see someone leaning to an album with "Black Skinhead" and "Blood On The Leaves" recorded during a progressive era, over an album from 2016, the OG "worst year ever." All speculation of course...

I personally never listened, I think because when it was on my radar is was still only on Tidal.

[Edre Depeche Head]

Now TLOP feels like the beginning of Kanye’s decline into all the disappointing albums that have come out since, so maybe that’s why critics have gone cold on it by the end of the decade.

Lol, Ye is honestly better than MBDTF IMO and Kid See Ghosts is better than TLOP.

[Holden]

Having recently listened to all the Kanye albums for the poll, I can say that I feel like TLOP is one of those albums that got a lot of name recognition points, but it couldn’t stand up to his better albums when people were forced to pick for EOD. It definitely is a step down from his previous, and since then each of his albums has gotten progressively worse. Aside from KSG, which is definitely not as high up as his best but is still a decent record.

[Nick]

Having recently listened to all the Kanye albums for the poll, I can say that I feel like TLOP is one of those albums that got a lot of name recognition points, but it couldn’t stand up to his better albums when people were forced to pick for EOD. It definitely is a step down from his previous, and since then each of his albums has gotten progressively worse. Aside from KSG, which is definitely not as high up as his best but is still a decent record.

The trendline of how I'd rate Kanye's albums (other than Kids See Ghosts, which is great) is interesting in its consistency, and depressing in its truth.

Yeezus (10/10)

TLOP (8/10)

Ye (6/10)

Jesus Is King (4/10)

A 2 point drop per studio album.

[FrankLotion]

Now TLOP feels like the beginning of Kanye’s decline into all the disappointing albums that have come out since, so maybe that’s why critics have gone cold on it by the end of the decade.

Lol, Ye is honestly better than MBDTF IMO and Kid See Ghosts is better than TLOP.

Kids See Ghosts is great and much better than TLOP, but like Nick said it’s kind of the exception in terms of his recent releases.

Also I’m glad you enjoyed Ye so much! I can’t imagine there are many people on this forum that would put it above MBDTF.

[Edre Depeche Head]

Also I’m glad you enjoyed Ye so much! I can’t imagine there are many people on this forum that would put it above MBDTF.

Yeah that is true, I am aware it is unpopular

[Holden]

If I had to rate Kanye's albums:

The College Dropout: 9/10
Late Registration: 7/10
Graduation: 8/10
808s & Heartbreak: 8/10
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: 10/10
Yeezus: 5/10
The Life of Pablo: 6/10
Ye: 3/10
Jesus Is King: 3/10

Of these, I will say I definitely understand why people like Yeezus. I understand its appeal, but its just not for me. Honestly, I find Ye and Jesus Is King almost unlistenable, and Late Registration is so unremarkable that I really have no desire to revisit it. The Life of Pablo has maybe one solid track and the rest is really incohesive and not really all that notable, while The College Dropout is only held back by its interludes, which I find really annoying. Graduation and 808s & Heartbreak are both solid albums that just don't really have anything to push them up for me, and MBDTF is a gargantuan monster of an album filled to the brim with amazing songs.

[Nick]

I'm an enormous Kanye fan, so I'm gonna be giving out 10s like they're candy, but here goes nothing...

The College Dropout: 10/10
Late Registration: 10/10
Graduation: 9/10
808s & Heartbreak: 8/10
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: 10/10
Yeezus: 10/10
The Life of Pablo: 8/10
Ye: 6/10
Jesus Is King: 4/10

Including collaborations...

Watch the Throne: 8/10
Cruel Summer: 6/10
Kids See Ghosts: 8/10

It's pretty amazing to consider that his run from The College Dropout to Yeezus was done in just a little over 9 years (February 2004 to June 2013). That's 6 solo studio albums and 2 collaboration albums, an album every year except 2006 and 2009.