After several closely monitored weeks of leaks, it's time to take a look at the year's most anticipated album that doesn't feature Buckethead. Given Kanye West's reputation for finding musical inspiration in unlikely places (be they leftfield samples or genre-bending collaborations) it's surprising to see the superstar rapper/producer embrace such a restrictive palette. As you've no doubt gleaned from this and other blogs, every song on this album is built from a blueprint of TR-808 drum machine beats and conspicuous digitally manipulated crooning. It's a departure that's especially confounding given the prevalence of Auto-Tune abuse in countless recent hip-hop hits. Kanye knows the pitch-shifting mechanism is played out, he just doesn't give a shit. It's still a crutch (a more skilled singer wouldn't rely on the gimmick) but we won't harp on it. The absence of samples is one key difference between this concept album and the acclaimed school trilogy. The lack of pop singer guest appearances and co-producers is another (though Jeezy and Weezy make high-profile if totally unnecessary cameos, and No I.D. co-produces two songs with Kanye). Those creative choices coupled with King of Pain (T-Pain?) lyrics help define 808s as a solitary pursuit. Don't expect any club bangers, this is more like a soundtrack for stalking ex-girlfriends on Facebook.