- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Feb 10, 2012Despite a couple of missteps and the odd moment of doubt, I can't remember the last time a series of three full-length records released this close together has captured me--and others--in the way that this has.
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Feb 3, 2012House of Balloons is still his finest hour to date, but Echoes of Silence comes damn close to it.
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Jan 30, 2012The ubiquity of the Weeknd has saturated their latest mixtape, and ultimately Echoes of Silence struggles under that ubiquity.
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Jan 12, 2012It's an impressive consolidation of his strengths, tightening up his songwriting and sharpening his often disturbing wordplay.
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Jan 12, 2012The dragging beats, washes of synthesiser and eclectic musical references – chillwave and crunk hip-hop, Aaliyah and France Gall – somehow contrive to sound not just eerie and desolate but cosseting as well, inexorably drawing the listener into a deeply troubling world.
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Jan 11, 2012While some of the beats seem recycled from Thursday or House of Balloons they still sound good and don't detract from the songs [here].
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Jan 10, 2012One of the more vocal complaints about The Weeknd's second mixtape was its lack of immediacy, which Echoes of Silence certainly outgrows.
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Jan 10, 2012It's Tesfaye's total commitment to his ghastly persona that makes Echoes Of Silence so entrancingly chilling.
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Jan 9, 2012Disappointing as Echoes of Silence may be as a collection of songs, it nonetheless serves its purpose in giving the Weeknd's triptych a suitably grim finale.
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Jan 4, 2012Tesfaye's velvety melodies infuse his trippy minimalism like incense smoke, getting lost only on the too-woozy title track.
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Jan 4, 2012The Weeknd has helped make R&B a creepier place, crooning too-honest come-ons over cavernous, ballad-slow tracks that balance leering sensuality with vague menace.
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Jan 3, 2012A strong finish to Tesfaye's first trilogy, providing just enough closure to satisfy, and just enough mystery left to entice us back for the next round.
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Jan 3, 2012The mood is still dark, druggy and claustrophobic, but this time Tesfaye is channelling a pain that's less about cold emptiness than it is about more traditional heartbreak and longing.
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Jan 3, 2012Echoes is a profound listen that, despite its veneer of cynicism, oozes pain and crisis.
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Jan 3, 2012Thoroughly compelling and impeccably produced.
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Jan 3, 2012A completely brilliant beginning to what hopes to be a long and bright career.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 188 out of 204
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Mixed: 8 out of 204
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Negative: 8 out of 204
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Jan 8, 2012
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Jan 5, 2012
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Jan 5, 2012