MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN 808'S HEARTBREAK! YA'LL REMEMBER THAT SH!T?

You didn't think his humility shtick would last, did you?
On Kanye West's first album since his post-Swift mea culpa — and the first since he mewled through a disk of sad and desperate love songs ("808s and Heartbreak") — West has again become the megalomaniacal, infuriating mess we want him to be. After all, a repentant West makes as much sense as an introspective George W. Bush. It's just not in the DNA. And given the payoff on "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," we should all thank God it's not.

"Fantasy" corrects everything that went south on "Heartbreak." It's the most elaborate and confident recording of West's career. It's a mad, dense reach, if one that lacks the coherence and consistency of the "masterpiece" he believes it to be.

On the plus side, West's samples constantly avoid the obvious, both in choice and usage. The way West weaves a shock-rock touchstone like King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man" into the native chants and brusque handclaps of "Power" has bracing rhythm and orchestral sweep. His reinvention of Smokey Robinson's take on "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" creates a hook that both charms and nags.

There's even a positive result to his laughable attempts at singing on the last CD. It helped reset his rap flow, giving it a new musicality. West's beats have likewise developed. "Monster" has a buoyancy that brims with wit, even if the star's rap gets blindsided by a more innovative one from Jay-Z.

Not everything moves the script ahead. His lust for ambition causes some pieces, like the nine-minute "Runaway," to linger too long. Still, the lyrics to the latter let West cop to his own worst traits (though in a way that's often disingenuous).

Luckily, West can also be intentionally hilarious, and his best music has an originality that forgives a lot. In the end, it's the best we can hope for from West: a screwy stunner.