Despite numerous pushbacks and delays, Carlmont students finally got a taste of the highly anticipated album ‘Cruel Summer’ on Sept 10. This album was the first Kanye West-helmed project to feature West himself and his G.O.O.D Music labelmates Kid Cudi, Common, 2 Chainz, and Pusha T among others.

Die-hard fans were excited to see 90 second previews on iTunes of every track on the album, not just previously released singles “Mercy,” “Clique,” “Don’t Like (Remix),”  “New God Flow,” and “Cold.”

“I’m treating this album with some caution. I don’t think it can match his old stuff, theres just too many people on different wavelengths involved,” said junior Theo Fedronic, in reference to ‘Cruel Summer’ living up to the standard of West’s Grammy-winning solo work of years past.

“It’s going to be so sick. Kanye is a mastermind end of story. All the doubters will see, just wait a bit,” said junior Eric He of the highly anticipated album.

Not all fans and critics can as easily throw that amount of faith at a West album anymore.

West’s previous offering, “Watch the Throne” was a collaborative project with mentor and friend Jay Z. Critically, it was met with mixed reviews, with some critics suggesting that the album simply could not live up to the immense hype it garnered. This album has proved to be no different.

Last October, the blogosphere was set ablaze with a cryptic tweet from West that read, “GOODMUSIC. THE ALBUM. SPRING2012.” Speculation and rumors aside, the G.O.O.D Music crew took part in their fair share of trumping up the album all over the internet.

The true weight of their words remains to be seen, as the album is set to be officially released on Sep. 18, 2012.