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Oct 9, 2013He still has an ear for production and his voice remains a pliable tool, but to keep himself tethered to an aesthetic he defined and completed within a year is to do himself and the listener a disservice.
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Sep 27, 2013While this leap into the big leagues proves that he’s still very much a rare talent, it unfortunately seems that genuine inspiration is even rarer.
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Sep 23, 2013Kiss Land follows in the lethargic steps of 2012's Trilogy, but the pace is slower, songwriting thinner and vision more bloodshot.
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Sep 16, 2013Despite Kiss Land being The Weeknd’s major label debut release, what was once a breath of fresh air now sounds rather played out.
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Sep 13, 2013This debut album proper fails to develop or change-up his formula of predatory sexuality expressed in tremulous tones.
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Sep 12, 2013Killer hooks might transform his singular subject, "the loneliness of filling every need", into a perversely seductive portrait of ennui, but Tesfaye has always been a middling songwriter.
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Sep 12, 2013For the most part, songs come off as vapid and barely take a knife to the surface of his earlier work.
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Sep 12, 2013This album is a polished, lateral step with an accompanying barcode for Weeknd’s fans. And outsiders looking to understand his appeal are likely better off downloading the three mixtapes that preceded the album.
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Sep 11, 2013The punches seem half-pulled, and the production glides by without much of an impact.
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Sep 10, 2013The initial mystique of The Weeknd is gone, and we’re now confronted with the work of a young man who possesses an impressive voice, an incredible ear for production, and a complete lack of purpose in his confrontational, intensely graphic lyrical obsessions.
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Sep 10, 2013Unfortunately, Tesfaye can veer toward the portentous with his youthful, conflicted lyrical vision, which often confuses sex with love.
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Sep 9, 2013The slightly wider vocal range and additional expressiveness don't hurt his cause. For those who aren't as easily drawn into Tesfaye's world, this will seem roughly as insufferable and as bleakly aimless as the earlier material.
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Sep 9, 2013The problem with Kiss Land is that it fails on both fronts, presenting a musically static album that's also disturbingly backward on gender issues, with a sustained focus on degradation that no longer seems anything but vile.
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Sep 6, 2013It's in these moments--when he's paying attention to melody and songwriting--that Kiss Land demonstrates plenty of promise and tentative steps in the right direction.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 241 out of 297
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Mixed: 41 out of 297
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Negative: 15 out of 297
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Sep 10, 2013
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Sep 10, 2013
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Sep 13, 2013