The Life of Pablo: Ranking the tracks on Kanye West’s latest album now the dust has settled

I usually don't go in for album rankings; how can you conceive the songs in any other order when they’re designed meticulously to tail into one another?

The Life of Pablo though, for better or worse, almost feels intentionally interchangeable, as though Kanye just recorded a bunch of tracks and drag and dropped all the files in a folder. It’s like Kanye gave us more of a mood board than an album, and putting them in some sort of linear, chronological order is just an unfortunate necessity of the release method.

With that in mind, here’s my current ranking from least favourite to most after a ton of listens, though, to quote Ye, I MIGHT CHANGE MY MIND.

18. Silver Surfer Intermission

17. I Love Kanye

Let’s get the skits out the way. The former is just a retort to Wiz Khalifa, and he should have left all that stuff on Twitter. The latter however is a much-needed dose of self-awareness and self-deprecation amid all the self-aggrandisement (it’s a Kanye West album, so I’m going to be using the word ‘self’ a lot), it still tickles me on repeat listens.

16. Facts

How the hell did this not get cut? It co-opts the flow of Drake’s Jumpman but to lesser effect and the beat sounds like a sample you get with new production software. This is a mixtape track/Soundcloud GOOD Fridays treat at best. Rapping about Nike? Lines including ’Couches, couches, couches, couches, which one should I pick?’ I think few would disagree this is the weakest track on the album.

15. Famous

Kanye goes hard in the verses but the Rihanna hook just jars with them and sounds all fairground-y. Probably intentional but still it doesn’t work for me. It actually works better at the end with the original Nina Simone vocal, but ultimately goes nowhere.

14. Fade

Absolutely no denying the tasty house beat, but the track just feels like it was written to accompany a catwalk show, and probably was. A strange, tangential end to the album.

13. Father Stretch My Hands Pt.1

Now we’re getting into the tracks I do like. I mark out for that truncated Metro Boomin producer tag every time and the beat has such a pleasant roll to it.

Sadly there’s no forgiving that ‘And if I fuck this model / And she just bleached her asshole / And I get bleach on my t-shirt / I’m a feel like an asshole’ line though. Predictable, sophomoric and kind of nonsensical, it comes across like a poor version of that ‘Gorgeous’ lyric: ‘She told the director she tryna get into school / He said "take them glasses off and get in the pool”’.

12. High Lights

Was really excited for this track but Young Thug was used too sparingly. The ‘I need every bad bitch up in Equinox’ section flows nicely and brings to mind 'The New Workout Plan' but it ain’t quite as good. This song could comfortably sit on Graduation which I don’t think is a good thing.

11. Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 2

Lyrics way more focused than 'Pt. 1' and the song has such bounce. Desiigner doesn’t add much here, though I’m completely obsessed with that Caroline Shaw multi-harmony ending.

10. Feedback

That distorted dial-up tone-esque beat! The ‘y’all sleeping’ on me huh, had a good snoooooooze?’ line is just insanely singalong-ready from the very first listen.

Also a big fan of the ‘Name one genius that ain’t crazy’ line and the brilliantly dumb ’ghetto Oprah’ outro.

9. 30 Hours

I could see this end up being my favourite track at some point. It might be the best beat on the album, although sadly kind of wasted. I love a rough, ad-lib, freestyle ‘bonus track’ too Kanye, but one that does more than give shout-outs to the “design team”. ‘Last Call’ it ain’t.

Also, the ‘feat Andre 3000’ was such a tease - I was hoping to hear a lot more from 3 Stacks than just a harmony on the hook repetition. Think what K-Dot would have done to this beat, ‘Buried Alive Interlude’ style.

8. Wolves

This is such a beautiful song and the off-kilter drums in the background throw it off balance in a good way. You could argue Kanye is outshined by his guests here (Sia is angelic, Frank Ocean’s wounding final chorus renew our prayers for his next album) but it’s still so cavernous and crystalline and cathedral-like it transports me every time it comes on.

I have to try hard to pretend that 5/10 line ‘I know there’s corny bitches you wish you could unfollow / I know there’s corny n*ggas you wish you could unswallow’ doesn't happen though, and that it gets repeated four times.

Welcome change of pace and style, although I sometimes find myself wanting to bail after Kendrick has finished destroying.

6. Waves

Just insanely beautiful production. That wavering, glitchy gospel vocal sample is like a microcosm of the sound of the whole album. Breezy hook also really strong.

5. FML

This feels a bit like the ‘Runaway’ of the album. A real personal and The Weeknd is stellar as ever.

My absolute favourite thing about this track, and the album as whole, is that coda though - the wooziest, most hypnotic vocal I've heard in a long time. ‘Throw them / Throw them away’ she sings, like the mollied up utterances of someone who doesn't really know what it is they're throwing away.

4. Low Lights

I'm not a religious or spiritual person but this song makes me feel both. I love how simple the arrangement is, just that prayer and the simple bass synth and piano chords. Reminiscent of that ‘A touch of God. Reigns. Out’ verse in ‘Never Let Me Down’, it’s just so passionate and earnest.

Type of track that comes on when you’re out walking late at night and it just comes as a complete gut punch. I love that he had the balls to put this at the centre of the album.

3. Ultra Light Beam

Kanye absolutely taking it to church and the Chance the Rapper verse is sensational. The way he switches up the flow on “I’m just having fun with it / You know that a n*gga was lost!’. Probably the best guest verse on the album.

2. Freestyle 4

This might seem a weird choice for second best track but I just love how hype it is. It has that Yeezus anger on ‘CAN EVERYBODY START FUCKIN’!’ Just a manic, operatic, dirty song and a recipe for a crash if played in a car. Tyler, the Creator has my back on this.

1. Real Friends

I usually hate it when singles are released from albums early as I end up bored of them by the time the album drops - yet I still look forward to 'Real Friends' even though it’s been around for weeks. It’s just a completely enchanting beat you want to listen to sat cross-legged under a waterfall or something. Ty Dolla $ign's very of-the-moment autotune vocal works in harmony with Kanye's more direct style and I love how personal Ye is willing to go with that laptop anecdote. I will still be bumping this in the summer.

Speaking of which, that’s also when we’re apparently getting another Kanye album.