Over the past couple of months, I've been hearing about this Toronto r&b act, The Weeknd. My first thought? "Oh cool, a new group!" It's a mystery to me and, I'm sure, a lot of other people as to whether they're a group or not. But as far as I know The Weeknd is made up of one guy, Abel Tesfaye. So don't let the name fool ya folks! Tesfaye even says it himself:
After reading numerous blogs, seeing friends link him up on Facebook, and even coming across Drake's tweets, I just had to see what all the buzz was about. First song I heard, "What You Need." Impressive. Now, if that isn't baby making music, then I don't know what is. The next song I came across was "Wicked Games" via thefader.com. Again, phenomenal. This guy is gonna make it big. He finally released his 9-track mixtape the other night and I couldn't wait to get it on my iPod. It nearly took me an hour to download House of Balloons because of the overload of fans on the The Weeknd's website. My thoughts on the mixtape? meh. It's just like movie trailers, they show you the best parts before it's released. And that's exactly what "What You Need" and "Wicked Games" were, the best tracks. I'll admit there were a couple of other songs that were worth another listen, but the rest either lulled me to sleep or could have been cut down three minutes shorter. I like the guy though and I'm not gonna give up on him just yet. But this House of Balloons definitely did not sweep me off my feet.
I came across this blog and I just had to comment. LOL I have to disagree. I was going to write my reasons but this review articulated my thoughts better - check it out: http://sputnikmusic.com/review/42590/The-Weeknd-House-Of-Balloons/
ReplyDeleteYou should definitely give House of Balloons a second chance. The dark theme of the party life, the spectrum of emotions incorporated and the quality of production are all dope (the samples used were a pleasant surprise).
And what I find interesting the most is that the music is so soothing, people don't realize the lyrics are so clever and also extremely vulgar with the huge amount of sex, drugs and alcohol references.
It's dark, humorous, honest and very refreshing.
Yeah, no doubt the lyrics are gold. I just expected so much more from this guy given the tracks he previously released and all the hype House of Balloons got. He's capable of making crazy quality music, I just wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be, that's all.
ReplyDeleteDamn, I thought I could change your opinion LOL. Nah, I get your point of view. Also, sorry for the random ambush of a comment. Your review was one of the few I found online who thought it was "meh", so I had to comment. LOL
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