Kanye West - Late Orchestration (Live At Abbey Road) > Reviews > Want To Get Into Rap?

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Soundtrack	Outstanding
How does it compare to similar films?	Not applicable

Advantages:	Very Good Artist
Disadvantages:	* None *

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

About 2 years ago Kanye West released College Dropout a multi platinum selling album and suddenly all the music producers in the world were wondering how this Chicago born rapper had gone undiscovered. However along with Pharrel and some other big names Kanye managed to produce a very good album.

Then again in 2005 he did it again with Late Registration. But this time he had a much bigger fan following and his album did even better than the predecessor. So with 2 massive selling albums in his portfolio what could he do to boost his reputation more? Then it must of struck him, why not do a live show at the most famous music studios in the world 'Abbey Road Studios'!?

Now this venue was very exclusive and only had a capacity of 300. So 298 people were personally invited as for the other 2 tickets, they were given away in a Radio 1 competition. So with the venue and crowd sorted they needed to choose some songs to use (obviously!).

Now the reason that the songs had to be chosen very carefully is becauses the only music that would accompany the rappers would be of a 24 piece orchestra! In the end they decided to use;
1 Diamonds from Sierra Leone
2 Touch the Sky
3 Crack Music
4 Drive Slow
5 Through the Wire
6 Workout Plan
7 Heard 'Em Say
8 All Falls Down
9 Bring Me Down
10 Gone
11 Late
12 Jesus Walks
13 Gold Digger

If i were to have chosen the songs i would' have probably swapped 'Workout Plan' for 'Family Business'. But then again that's my opinion and apart from that they got it spot on.

As for the songs he chose 8 from Late Registration and 5 from College Dropout. The song 'Gone' had not recieved that much recognition up to that point but after adding; Common,Consequence and Cam'ron to the mix you have one spectacular song lasting over 6 minutes. Brandy also sing there vocal cords out in the song 'Bring me down' in which kanye talk about what it's like to be a nobody in this cruel world we live in. Finally in 'All Falls Down' Kanye shares the stage with the fabulous Syleena Johnson. In that song they talk abou what it's like when you're at the top of your game and suddenly the world comes crashing down. With Syleena singing 'We raise it up but it all falls down'.

Not to ruin the Dvd I personally think that 'Jesus Walks' is the most influencial and meaningfull song. In the song he describes his relationship with God and questions why no other rappers talk about him.

The price varies greatly on this product. Although brandnew it costs as much as 25 pounds on ebay you can find it under 10.

As far as special features go, you don't get an awful lot. There is a documentary on how it was made and a few music videos but the point that i'm trying to stress is that you don't need any special features as the performance is just outstanding.

Too sum up I would strongly recommend this Dvd to anyone who's a fan of Kanye West, Jay Z, Nas, Ludacris or anyone else who likes meaningfull rap, as this is not just senseless swearing. Also anyone who wants to get into rap as this although mainstream is not at all like 50 Cent or G-Unit!