Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (CD)

Recorded largely during a self-imposed exile in Hawaii following one of pop culture's most scrutinized public meltdowns, MBDTF arrived in 2010 as a maximalist statement built on orchestral samples, dense layering, and a who's-who of collaborators. Producer and arranger Mike Dean's fingerprints are all over the sonic architecture, helping West construct something operatic in scale at a moment when most expected a retreat.