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Aug 29, 201190Listening to something like Thursday is the ultimate form of escapism that so many of us flock to music for. That's a quality that should be celebrated, not criticized for its lack of immediate pleasure.
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Aug 29, 201185In short, Thursday is a mixtape of subtleties.
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Sep 13, 201184While less varied in the style department than its predecessor, Thursday is another intimate look at the Tesfaye and the life he lives as The Weeknd.
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Aug 29, 201183Thursday continues a linear narrative that House of Balloons started and its far from an afterthought or epilogue.
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Sep 21, 201181Nothing on Thursday sounds like filler.
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Nov 8, 201180It's yet another labor of love from The Weeknd, and it does not disappoint.
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Nov 8, 201180Toronto outfit, The Weekend, have been hailed as one of the most exciting new sounds in modern R&B -- hype that, on the basis of this equally startling follow-up, seems entirely justified. [Nov. 2011, p. 138]
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Sep 1, 201180It's not quite perfect: his voice is the star of the show but is occasionally buried under the clever beats and production. But that's a small complaint about someone who's looking more and more like one of the most exciting artists to emerge this year.
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Aug 31, 201180The Weeknd is in full command of his craft, and at this point it's almost impossible for me to imagine that he won't deliver on the finale. He's earned my trust, as would any other artist who had already released two of the year's best albums.
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Aug 31, 201180Rather than crystal-clear crooning, we get choirs of Tesfayes swirling and winding around elaborate, meandering songs.
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Aug 29, 201180Despite the ridiculously high highs of this album, it fails to maintain a great pace throughout. It struggles back and forth between "good" and "great," whereas its foregoer grabbed "great" by the balls on the first track and never let go.
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Aug 29, 201180File him beside Frank Ocean as an RnB star set to climb to new heights in 2012.
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Aug 29, 201179Though there's less breathing space on Thursday, and fewer melodic hooks, it still feels of a piece with House of Balloons.
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Sep 6, 201175It's a rare songwriter who can craft music that's so repellent yet also so irresistible.
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Aug 29, 201170To play the devil's advocate to the devil's advocate I just played, Thursday does shown a sonic growth from House of Balloons. It even dares – gasp – to up the tempo, bringing in a rapid fire hi-hat to propel the hook of Life of the Party and giving Heaven or Las Vegas a multi-instrument, layered sound we hadn't heard from them before.
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Sep 1, 201160But by continuing to relentlessly mine the same fundamentally limited descriptions of groupies and Schedule VI narcotics, The Weeknd risks coming off as bored as its debauched narrator.
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Aug 30, 201160While it's refreshing to hear an R&B singer emphasizing the psychic toll of libertinism, his angst sex grows tiresome. Once in a while, can't this dude just get laid, and have fun doing it?