That's My Dad.

Top 50 Songs of 2012: #7, The Weeknd - D.D. 

I’ll be the freak you can taunt.

Abel Tesfaye’s rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Dirty Diana” was the most slept-on hit of 2012. Coming from his third act mix-tape “Echoes of Silence”, The Weeknd answers all calls by covering his most compared influence: the king of pop. Remarkably enough, Tesfaye delivers and then some. The classic single from “Bad” comes into a new sonic generation with the same high-intensity drama and larger-than-life production style from Jackson’s era topped with a modern, dark and twisted edge. “D.D” follows the rules of essential music covers with dignified grace, adding to what made Jackson’s version essential and blending Tesfaye’s own style in on a pitch-perfect ratio. As the vocal comparison, the resemblance is mystifying. 

(Source: Spotify)

Returning with his third mix-tape and the finale to his trilogy of previous releases House of Balloons and Thursday, R&B project The Weeknd is back with his most mature, well-produced and daring release: Echoes of Silence.

This, without question, could be The Weeknd’s most recommendable release yet by a long-shot. Where House of Balloons was an experimental R&B release, there was a slight requirement to keep an open mind and a bit of patience to appreciate the complexities of the album. On Echoes of Silence, we’re given a perfectly structured mix-tape where old and new fans can fall into The Weeknd’s immersion and intoxication almost immediately.

The mix-tape opens with “D.D.”, a phenomenal cover of Michael Jackson’s classic pop track “Dirty Diana”. Comparisons between The Weeknd and Jackson have always floated around, but this cover blows all possibilities way out of the water. The Weeknd gorgeously updates the 80’s hit, honoring it with a bold musical treatment by building bigger, darker and sadder beats along with a production style that’d give Nine Inch Nails a run for their money. It almost seems like The Weeknd even goes so much to improve on Jackson’s version by giving a focus on the storytelling where Jackson only used it as a vehicle for his abundant style. The Weeknd keeps both style and substance intact, and then some. It’s such an accurate cover, I could put money on the fact that if you played it for your parents, they’d think it was an unreleased Michael Jackson B-side or a remix of the original.

The rest of the album glides through with all of the elements The Weeknd is known for while also presenting a lot of new themes and ideas. The romance found in the lyrics is devastatingly sadder, mournful and gorgeously decaying. The drugs, the nightlife, the alcohol, are now a realized evil. There is an overshadowing darkness that gives everything the past two Weeknd releases were about a mirror to show how horrifying the party really was. By being the most mature mix-tape out of the three, Echoes of Silence makes sure not to make past releases seem inferior. Instead, it gives all of the Weeknd’s work a certain closure, making the themes come full circle and seem like it had been liked this all along; right from the release of House of Balloons. It was almost like reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the succession between the two series are similar.

This release alone not only works as the most successful Weeknd release that can be appreciated individually, but also credits the past two releases dramatically and places it in a more interesting context.

House of Balloons welcomes to the party of your life while warning you of the dangerous and intimidating high you’re about to encounter. Thursday explores the experience and provides the wishful thinking associated with that high. Echoes of Silence is what it feels like the morning after. The painstaking reality, the pain, the sadness, the sorrow, the regret of everything you just went through. You want to experience this. I don’t suggest you wait. It’s a critical musical experience for our generation for this year.

This album was my dad. (10/10)

———————————————————————-

Follow us! Entertainment review blog: That’s My Dad 

Tumblr: http://itwascoolandfunny.tumblr.com/

Twitter: @itsmydad

Top 25 Albums of 2011 (1-10)

1. The Weeknd - House of Balloons

2. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy

3. Battles - Gloss Drop

4. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

5. Frank Ocean - Nostalgia, Ultra 

6. The Head and the Heart - The Head and the Heart

7. Shabazz Palaces - Black Up

8. James Blake - James Blake

9. Bon Iver - Bon Iver

10. Florence and the Machine - Ceremonials

Inside your self-centered world of glamour, everything is falling apart.

The Weeknd’s is an experimental R&B project of 21-year old Abel Tesfaye that has caught on major popularity in the indie community from their debut mix-tape, House of Balloons, earlier this year. Not only was House of Balloons a major game-changer for the genre currently and earned prestigious critical acclaim, it also earned my vote for the best album of 2011. Several months later, The Weeknd is back with it’s sequel: Thursday.

As far as Weeknd’s fans are concerned, this is a brand new style from the previous mix-tape and not the easiest one to get into. Those familiar with House of Balloons will go through a major transition from what they’re used to listening to the reality of new efforts. House of Balloons’ music style was one that felt immaculate in storytelling, atmosphere-setting and progressive in blending production from different genres; this starts to fall apart on Thursday, yet comes off as a necessary sacrifice in order to produce a new sound. It’s not easy to like Thursday, but does click after predestined expectations are broken down.

There is no doubt that Abel Tesfaye can sound as smooth as Michael Jackson and twice as sensual. Each song by The Weeknd sounds like a dangerous experiment at a party with repercussions completely unknown. Listening to “Life of the Party,” one could envision lines of cocaines being snorted off a woman’s chest and living through the high. Where The Weeknd allows liberties is how that situation concludes, it could be about a violent overdose or a night filled with intoxicating sex. And that’s what makes The Weeknd so exciting. It’s like the songs don’t play the same way twice; the number of interpretations possible are near endless and disturbingly beautiful. With Thursday, this formula still resides yet, the execution lacks definitiveness. This is certainly an experimental side of The Weeknd, but one that wasn’t as well-constructed as thought.

Certainly not as masterful as House of Balloons, Thursday makes for a relatively decent sequel mixtape, Let’s hope we have something better in store next from The Weeknd.

This album was like a shady drug-dealer. (3/5)

Top Five Albums of 2011 (So Far)

1. The Weeknd - House of Balloons

Takes R&B and drowns it in a nightlife colored in with hopeless, narcotic-abusive, sex-addicted, disturbing surroundings. It’s the darkest thing that’s happened to the genre. Inventive, smooth and as addicting as the world it lives in. 

2. James Blake - James Blake

A broken man (former dub-step producer James Blake) shares himself in shattered abstract pieces through his idea of mixing pleasure and art. It’s a vision layered with dense, extremely subtle genius. 

3. The Head and the Heart - The Head and the Heart

A blessed album with the sweetest of intentions. The spiritual equivalent of trekking a range of northern mountains in the fall, searching for yourself and maybe something meaningful in your point of view on things. 

4. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

Naturalistic poetry and enormously scenic thoughts will get you as close Mother Nature’s finest creations without having to take your headphones off.  

5. Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Part 2

One of the most polished albums from the oldest of reckless rappers of this year. It’s hip as fuck and supplies all the catchy jams you’ll need for awhile.