No One Man Should Have All That Power

"Finally, and most boringly, year-end lists often favor late-year releases, when the sense of anticipation fulfilled is still fresh. In this regard music critics are no better than Oscar voters. The last thing they remember as they fill out their ballots is the triumph of Mr. West’s album, or reading about someone else’s insistent perspective on the triumph of Mr. West’s album, or assuming—rightly, at it happens—that for the next few weeks before the actual year’s end, nothing they or anyone else will do will detract from that triumph, or perception of triumph.
"Having such strict agreement among critics is a bit like letting the blind judge a beauty pageant: the results are sometimes unreliable, and even less translatable to the world at large."

Jon Caramanica in The New York Times questions the critical acclaim for Kanye West's latest album.