#5 Album: Kanye West ‰ÛÒ My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

After his self-imposed exile, Kanye West found his way back into the public consciousness via Twitter (“Why girls from Stockholm be so fresh????!!!!”) and has come back in the biggest way possible. Over the most grandiose production of the year and in between an absurd amount of features, Kanye gives verse after verse of sex-driven narcissism and high fashion one-liners that go over the heads, and pay grades, of most of his listeners. The self-crowned pharaoh sits atop his throne alone for the world to see, making My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy both his most gaudy and most honest album to date. Trying to balance being both a saint and a sinner, he provides perhaps the most apt sports reference of the year on “Devil in a New Dress‰Û, rapping, “I‰’m the Lebron of Rhyme / Hard to stay humble when you‰’re stunting on the JumboTron.‰” My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is the tale of Kanye‰’s flight too close to the sun and how he‰’ll pick himself up and try again. With better wings this time. Probably Prada.

Written by Kevin Kunitake

#5 Song: LCD Soundsystem – “All I Want”

All James Murphy wants is your pity. Oh, and your bitter tears would be nice too. In this nearly seven-minute track, Murphy croons about selfish longing and desire in homage to Bowie‰’s epic “Heroes‰Û. The tracks share a certain ache and similar guitar loop that yearns and moans. But Murphy introduces a crescendo of synths and whirling sounds that churn into an overpowering cloud, ultimately leaving him to cry out “Take me home!‰” over and over again. It‰’s indulgent, moody, and ambitious. But hey— we can be heroes, just for one day

Written by Emily White