Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Music

All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best of 2009
Best of 2008
Best of 2007
Best of 2006
Best of 2005
Best of 2004
Best of 2003
Best of 2002
Best of 2001
Best of 2000
Best of the Decade

Upcoming &
Recent Releases

sort by namesort by score

75 2562
54 30 Seconds to Mars
62 50 Cent
71 AC/DC
70 The Album Leaf
52 Kris Allen
68 Tori Amos
66 Animal Collective
84 Animal Collective
77 Annie
57 Apse
63 Asobi Seksu
59 Bad Lieutenant
83 Julianna Barwick
82 Beach House
72 Beak>
72 Bibio
65 Justin Bieber
76 Biffy Clyro
74 Blakroc
75 Mary J. Blige
78 Blockhead
52 Bon Jovi
54 Susan Boyle
57 The Bravery
39 Chris Brown
64 V.V. Brown
70 Basia Bulat
79 Chew Lips
74 Citay
65 Clipse
66 Cold War Kids
75 The Cribs
58 Dashboard Confessional
81 Dave Rawlings Machine
70 Delphic
78 The Doors
58 Echo & The Bunnymen
73 Edan
59 Editors
69 Eels
80 Felt
74 First Aid Kit
69 Flyleaf
83 Four Tet
82 Ben Frost
82 Fucked Up
83 Charlotte Gainsbourg
63 The Gilded Palace Of Sin
68 Githead
65 Joe Goddard
58 Good Shoes
72 Gucci Mane
75 Holopaw
82 Jesca Hoop
79 Hot Chip
72 The Hot Rats
88 Ray Wylie Hubbard
54 Hurricane Chris
66 Allison Iraheta
59 Jay Sean
82 Freedy Johnston
57 Nick Jonas And The Administration
73 Norah Jones
49 Juvenile
58 Ke$ha
62 R. Kelly
66 Alicia Keys
68 Kid Sister
81 King Midas Sound
63 Lady Antebellum
76 Lady GaGa
71 Adam Lambert
78 Lawrence Arabia
61 Leona Lewis
74 Lightspeed Champion
36 Lil Wayne
82 Lindstrom & Christabelle
77 Lissie
78 Los Campesinos!
70 Lostprophets
73 Magnetic Fields
72 Massive Attack
64 John Mayer
71 Paul McCartney
58 Katherine McPhee
86 Memory Tapes
72 Midlake
88 Motion City Soundtrack
63 Mr. Hudson
53 Mudvayne
75 Oh No Ono
70 OK Go
72 Ola Podrida
61 OneRepublic
80 Owen Pallett
80 Pantha du Prince
90 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
80 Phantogram
60 Pit Er Pat
63 Priestess
70 Radian
79 Corinne Bailey Rae
54 Rakim
79 Real Estate
77 Retribution Gospel Choir
76 Rihanna
64 Rjd2
65 Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
77 Sade
77 Gil Scott-Heron
72 Shakira
82 Shining
61 Snoop Dogg
62 Snow Patrol
71 The Soft Pack
80 Spoon
64 Ringo Starr
59 Stereophonics
76 Angie Stone
79 Surfer Blood
74 Switchfoot
75 Them Crooked Vultures
74 Robin Thicke
50 Timbaland
79 tUnE-YaRDs
80 Vampire Weekend
79 Laura Veirs
79 Tom Waits
78 Wale
65 The Watson Twins
66 Kanye West
76 The Whitefield Brothers
64 Robbie Williams
80 Yeasayer
62 Young Money
75 Neil Young
61 Rob Zombie

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Graduation

EMAILPRINTby Kanye West

Kanye West reviews
79
8.3 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 31 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 190 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >

Album Info

Label: Roc-A-Fella

Release Date: 11 September 2007

Discs: 1 disc

Genre(s): Rap

Summary

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

91

Stylus Magazine

Musically, at least, it’s the most accomplished thing he’s ever done.

Read Full Review >
91

MSN Consumer Guide (Robert Christgau)

Every single track offers up its momentary pleasures--choruses that make you say yeah on songs you've already found wanting, confessional details and emotional aperçus on an album that still reduces to quality product when they're over.

Read Full Review >
91

Lost At Sea

Weighed and measured, Graduation is easily the best rap album this year.

Read Full Review >
90

Hot Press

West crosses genres with wilful and speedy abandon, taking the listener on an epic quest where the journey is just as enjoyable and unpredictable as the destination.

Read Full Review >
90

Rolling Stone

On Graduation, West tries hard to address the problems on his first two albums, and succeeds: The new disc is tighter than "Late Registration" (fifty-one minutes long), with no skits (thank heavens) and less ornate production.

Read Full Review >
89

Austin Chronicle

Chicagoan West innovatively samples Elton John ('Good Morning'), imports Coldplay's Chris Martin for the 'Homecoming' hook, and plays to Young Jeezy's ad-libbing ability on 'Can't Tell Me Nothing.' Lyrically, West sticks to his "I'm so self-conscious" tip, but unlike 50, he knows his rhyme schemes.

Read Full Review >
88

Los Angeles Times

The bliss that does surface on Graduation is all in the grooves, which range further than West has ever gone before.

Read Full Review >
87

Pitchfork

While it might not be as substantial a record as we're used to hearing from him, it is his greatest leap forward, and further proof that few are as skilled at tracing out the complicated contours of pride, success and ambition as he is.

Read Full Review >
85

Prefix Magazine

West's writing and delivery has improved since "The College Dropout," though they're still marked by both a cleverness and a clumsiness.

Read Full Review >
83

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Fascinatingly flawed, Graduation finds an imperfect man seeking, and occasionally finding, perfection in his music.

Read Full Review >
80

The Guardian

Still, the music is never timid or conventional. Only as a lyricist does West sometimes disappoint.

Read Full Review >
80

NOW Magazine

West delivers another failsafe collection of sharp, soulful songs, exposing his new affinity for synths and electronic drums while adding new lyrical ground to that campus-sized ego.

Read Full Review >
80

PopMatters

He sounds less like he’s pushing to create something epic, and at that he succeeds--as good as Graduation is, it doesn’t have the larger-than-life presence of "Late Registration." It’s more manageable, more everyday.

Read Full Review >
80

All Music Guide

Graduation is neither as bold nor as scattered as "The College Dropout," and it's neither as extroverted nor as sonically rich as "Late Registration." Kanye still makes up for his shortcomings as an MC and lyricist by remaining charmingly clumsy, frequently dealing nonsense through suspect rhyme schemes.

Read Full Review >
80

Billboard

An impressively creative hip-hop album that will hopefully inspire West's peers to try new sonic avenues.

Read Full Review >
80

Observer Music Monthly

The best track on this typically polished but ultimately quite disturbing album (the back-to-basics self-examination of 'Everything I Am') is a brave attempt to confront such uncertainties head on.

Read Full Review >
80

Spin

West's third album is memerizing and alienating, like all the purest forms of pop culture. [Nov 2007, p.114]

70

New York Magazine

Per Vulture, the Curtis-shaming Graduation "has better songs waiting in the wings. Bonus: No Jamie Foxx!"

Read Full Review >
70

No Ripcord

While another concise and accomplished release from an immensely talented rapper, it fails to really deliver the one thing Kanye’s always excelled at: beauty.

Read Full Review >
70

Dot Music

The album lacks the flab of previous efforts and, where he's been guilty of hiding behind guests before, the contributions are (perhaps inadvisably in retrospect) kept to a minimum. Sadly though, the grandstanding and chest beating take their toll on both Graduation's aesthetic and the listener's patience.

Read Full Review >
70

RapReviews.com

Graduation is neat, tidy, formal, but lacking in personality.

Read Full Review >
70

Village Voice

Grating bouts of narcissism aside, Graduation contains killer pieces of production: 'Stronger' uses Daft Punk's 'Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger' to practically revive Eurodisco, while 'Champion' snarkily snatches its hook from Steely Dan's 'Kid Charlemagne.'

Read Full Review >
69

cokemachineglow

Thing is, though, that for every failure Graduation puts me through it has many a saving merit that only the nigh witless audacity of Kanye West could afford

Read Full Review >
67

Entertainment Weekly

West's vocal mediocrity wouldn't be so glaring if the production were more of a diversion. There are no truly tragic compositions on Graduation--though the droning ''Drunk and Hot Girls'' could have been half as irritating at twice the speed--but most of the music just seems uninspired.

Read Full Review >
60

Slant Magazine

Graduation is worth note in the sense that it offers proof Kanye isn't on the five-year plan (The College Dropout registered in 2004), but I'm sort of looking forward to hearing the next album built around the disillusionment of his first entry-level position.

Read Full Review >
60

New Musical Express

Despite its five or six great tracks, Graduation feels more and more like the work of a follower, not a leader.

Read Full Review >
60

Tiny Mix Tapes

Like a good term paper, much of Graduation sounds great in theory but flounders in its execution.

Read Full Review >
60

Mojo

The album sounds squashed and claustrophobic, but lacks the sense of play that still characterises his clever, incident-packed rhymes. [Oct 2007, p.106]

60

Q Magazine

Graduation is mercifully skit-free, but it still feels insubstantial to West. [Oct 2007, p.95]

40

Sputnikmusic

Graduation is consistent, yes, but it’s consistently boring.

Read Full Review >
40

Drowned In Sound

At heart, he’s still a producer not a rapper (which explains how badly he hits the mic at times, more on that later). He’s got that hit-making part down pat... it’s just that he can’t make good hits anymore.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 190 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Kevin D. gave it a4:
This album is average at best. It only has four good songs. It will not be an album that lasts. Kanye's work has gotten progressively worse. I don't know what's causing it, but he needs to get it back together or go back to being a producer. If this was his first album, then nobody would be talking about Kanye. And don't let me get started on 808 and heartbreaks.

[Anonymous] gave it a9:
way above average album. kanye isl just about the only "mainstream hip-hop" artist i listen to because he does things so differently.

Evan T. gave it a9:
I am and always will be a rock guy. I listened to West's song 'Homecoming' at a party, and became obsessed with it. I bought the album, and will never look at rap the same way again. Thank you Kanye for revitalizing the genre.

Sachin D. gave it a10:
This was an amazing achievement for Kanye. The sheer variety in the songs makes it one of the most colorful and intriguing albums I've ever had the pleasure of listening to.

Dawood A gave it a9:
Not his very best this album did not top late registration or the college dropout but was still worthy of praise.

[Anonymous] gave it an8:
The only tracks that could be done without is "drunk and hot girls" and "Barry Bonds,"...apart from that its worth buying. still it could've been better

Isaac L. gave it a9:
I can't compare it to his other albums since I don't have them, but I enjoyed it lots and almost all of the tracks - especially Good Morning, Stronger, Can't Tell Me Nothing, Barry Bonds and Big Brother - were great. It doesn't get a 10 because of the inclusion of crap such as Everything I Am and I Wonder - both average tracks which let Graduation down.

Read more user comments >

Popular on CBS sites: College Signing Day | Olympics | Lost | iPhone | Cell Phones | Video Game Reviews | Free Music

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use