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Stylus Magazine

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

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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.

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Lost At Sea

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Los Angeles Times

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

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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.

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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.

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The Onion (A.V. Club)

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

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The Guardian

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Billboard

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

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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.

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Spin

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

New York Magazine

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

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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.

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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.

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RapReviews.com

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

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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.'

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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

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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.

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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.

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New Musical Express

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

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Tiny Mix Tapes

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

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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]

Q Magazine

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

Sputnikmusic

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

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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.

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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.

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