Graduation | Heroes & Thieves

I’m eagerly anticipating two CDs coming out right at the end of summer. Kanye West’s third album, Graduation, and Vanessa Carlton’s third album Heroes & Thieves.

West’s Graduation includes collaborations with John Mayer, Daft Punk, Coldplay, and John Legend, to name a few. I just listened to the album version of “Bittersweet,” the single with John Mayer, and it’s an amazing song.

Kanye West originally wrote it as a poem, and it was recorded when John Mayer paid him a visit in 2006. "Stronger" (with Daft Punk) is already the summer's dance club favourite.

However, I do have mixed feelings about Vanessa Carlton’s Heroes & Thieves. After her sophomore album, Harmonium failed to break into the charts (blame it on “White Houses”), she got dumped by her record company, and is now signed to Irv Gotti’s Murder Inc. Records. Weird combination eh?

Vanessa Carlton is hugely talented, and although Harmonium was a commercial disaster, it’s still one of the best albums I’ve heard in years; great lyrics, and piano play that just blows your mind away.