This is my first listen of a The Weeknd project. There is a lot of fanfare associated with him in R&B circles, but I've never felt the urge to listen. After listening to this I'm not extremely impressed. He has a much better voice than Drake, but that kind of one paced/limited range singing seems present with The Weeknd as well. I don't know if that's as far as his vocal talent extends or that's just the lane he has chosen for this type of music. There are times like on 'Pretty', when I think he is going to take off but his voice stays exactly the same. Whatever the reason, it just ends up feeling like it could've been better. A Michael Jackson, who he does somewhat resemble when he is at his highest pitch, would tear the track up. The production's all pretty dark/a bit cloud rap influenced and is fairly good throughout. Overall it's very solid and I liked it much more on my second listen than my first. A bit more extension in the vocals, a reduction in some of the song's lengths ('Kiss Land'), and no Drake featured, would have made this better.
Best Tracks: Adaptation, Pretty, Tears in the Rain
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