GOOD Music - Cruel Summer

It's testament to the brilliance of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Kanye West's singular executive control over that project that I greet the news of another collaborative project of his with a mixture of disdain and hope. 2011's Watch the Throne was one example of such a project really getting nailed on the head, but it did possess one or two imperfections despite all of its brags and pomp. Since then, he's released one-off singles and returned to that 2007 phase he had where he's pretty much inescapable - I've personally lost count of the DJ Khaled productions.

The real purpose of Cruel Summer could be said, however, to showcase the talent available on the G.O.O.D. Music label. They've all had their own brushes with fame and brilliance - Big Sean entered the top 10 in the US with the Nicki Minaj collaboration Dance (A$$), Pusha T's parts on Kanye's Runaway were excellent, and 2 Chainz is all but inescapable - so it'll be interesting to see how they work as a unit. Will they connect and bounce off of each other seamlessly like Odd Future, or just look like a group of misfits?

The opening certainly argues in favour of the weird: R. Kelly is employed for an "I don't care" chorus on 'To the World' (the preamble to the title is "put your middle fingers up"). A fine production and small collaborative scale gives it a nice sheen, and ultimately Kelly's vocals demonstrate his run of form lately, and make it an infectious little tune. West references everything from Ving Rhames to Mitt Romney's tax figures, but tellingly vents "these niggas trying to hold me back". More of that later in the album. In the mean-time, the album's showcase hook emerges as 'Clique' - a track that, to this day, doesn't quite grab me in the sense that 'POWER' or even the vastly overrated 'Niggas in Paris' do, but is able to stand out with some dark chanting and repetitive lyrics. We get our first samples though on 'Mercy', most notably Super Beagle's reggae screech-fest  Dust a Sound Boy. Towards the end West takes the track down a markedly sinister route aesthetically but again, lyrically, the track is just mindless bragging and your typical champagne-drinking pot-smoking dullard.

West disposes of Big Sean and 2 Chainz and just drags Pusha T into 'New God Flow' - for me the album's most compelling and bipolar of selections. It flips between darkness ("that could mess up your whole life like an uncle who touched you") and light-hearted humour ("Went from most hated to the champion, god flow, I guess that's a feeling only me and LeBron know") unpredictably and also possesses one of the album's finest instrumentals. 'The Morning' samples My Fair Lady's 'Get Me to the Church on Time' and throws the largest collection of G.O.O.D. Music representatives together for a surprisingly understated effort... it's just, well, g.o.o.d.  It's testament really of the worth of creative and careful control, because the follow-up 'Cold' (formerly 'Theraflu') is just a mess. Certainly, West is at his most antagonistic here ("tell PETA my mink is dragging on the floor"), but the tune is a little annoying and, thankfully, forgettable. The reggae influences continue on 'Higher', a track that's all fine until Mase's verse (please, someone, inform me of something good that he's done) - so jarring that it causes the song to turn into a profane barber shop vocal at the end.

One welcome return for a MBDTF lover is vocalist Teyana Taylor (most recognisable as the hook on Dark Fantasy and Hell of a Life), who again provides a lovely interlude on the so-so 'Sin City' for the good (John Legend) and the should-already-have-been-dropped (Malik Yusef). The cute sounds continue on 'The One' but little else happens, and by now it'd seem fairly obvious that Cruel Summer's out of ideas, so we're thrown a surprise collaboration of Kid Cudi and Dan Black - 'Creepers'. A stomping, clapping rhythm provides Cudi one of the best hooks he's had, and it's a rare example of Kanye letting loose and finding a real gem elsewhere. The same can't be said for the overblown, tiring attempt at some futuristic soul/jazz fusion 'Bliss' - more recent Estelle than Janelle Monae. Rather than 'Clique' I'd tout closer 'I Don't Like' as the album's best nostril-flaring, slightly daft-very fun moment.

I suppose the lesson to be learned for me is not to have such high expectations of every single collaborative project that Kanye West involves himself with. The creative control and sheer volume of personalities is always going to clash with what I'd want from a solo album, and despite the endless guest roster of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy there was very much one man in charge. Here, the lines are blurred and everyone's vying for attention - and at times they certainly command it. There are some great songs, and no terrible ones. It's just that towards the end the styles get a little too varied and the energy lags, but nobody's really to blame: the album just doesn't have a resonant theme or strong message other than typical hip hop posturing. It worked better for Watch the Throne, but don't write this off.

Rating: 7/10
Highlights: The One, Clique, New God Flow, I Don't Like (Remix), Creepers, To the World
Avoid: Cold, Bliss, Mercy

Artwork Watch: I'm not ready for stone statues yet, what with the Doctor Who mid-season finale.
Up next: Green Day