The Weeknd
Echoes of Silence


5.0
classic

Review

by kingsoby1 EMERITUS
December 29th, 2011 | 837 replies


Release Date: 2011 | Tracklist

Review Summary: A completely brilliant beginning to what hopes to be a long and bright career

In a year following the overhyped, yet worthy My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, it is unfortunate that the hip-hop genre has done almost nothing to pick up where Kanye left off. We saw the emergence of a new production demigod in Clams Casino, yet the artists he pairs with leave much to be desired. Danny Brown continues to do his best Lil Wayne-in-Detroit impression, yet falters in the beats department (hint hint Clams Casino). No single rap record encompassed a complete package enough in 2011 to make a true musical statement for the future.

Enter Toronto's Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd, the spiritual inheritor of Kanye's cross-genre torch. House of Balloons introduced the world to Tesfaye's beautiful R&B falsetto, while firmly entrenching his art as innovation through Downtempo-laden production. The title track has easily become an anthem for 2011 in its indiefied interpretation of the original post-punk classic "Happy House". Follow-up Thursday proved HoB wasn't just dumb luck and met his new found audience head-on with a less chilled out offering, more influenced by trip-hop than anything else and maintaining a high standard for production and atmosphere.

Finally, Tesfaye closes out a completely massive 2011 with Echoes of Silence - doing the nearly unheard of and releasing three genre classics within the span of a single calendar year. A sum of its parts per-se, Echoes is an amalgam of all previous mixtapes, yet emphasizing a more pronounced hip-hop vibe. "D.D." uncovers a rift in time and space with Captain Eo and Tesfaye planted firmly in the middle; there is no question MJ traversed the temporal planes to steal the concept for "Dirty Diana". No single track is worthy of the malevolent skip button for lack of quality; if anything it's to get to an even more excellent track. "XO/ The Host" flaunts one of the finest beats found this side of the year 3000, where the tempered atmosphere of "Same Old Song" and "The Fall" encourage a definitely butchered yet emotionally charged duet with your car speakers on your way home from whatever it was you were doing at five o'clock in the morning. While many grasp for thematic interpretation of the Balloon-trilogy, they are missing the real essence of The Weeknd; drug/sex references and hazy nightclub escapades only take a potential artist so far with poor songwriting and create-a-rapstar production. Let the complete composition wash through your neurons and take it for what it is: a completely brilliant beginning to what hopes to be a long and bright career.



Recent reviews by this author
Thundercat ApocalypseNacho Picasso and Avatar Darko Vampsterdam
Gorguts Colored SandsRun the Jewels Run the Jewels
The-Dream IV PlayJames Blake Overgrown
user ratings (857)
4
excellent
other reviews of this album
rmill3r (3.5)
Comparisons to other mixtapes aside, "Echoes" is Tesfaye's aggressive finale to a smooth R&B trilogy...

Gyromania (4.5)
Echoes of Silence might just be Tesfaye’s best mixtape yet....

Funeralopolis (5)
Partying Is Such A Sweet Sorrow...



Comments:Add a Comment 
robertsona
Staff Reviewer
December 30th 2011


28180 Comments


jeez

AsoTamaki
December 30th 2011


2524 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Oh, snap. He went and broke out the 5.

kingsoby1
Emeritus
December 30th 2011


4970 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

tl,dr



I can't wait until he releases all 3 mixtapes on vinyl

Gyromania
December 30th 2011


37468 Comments


Damn staffers replacing my features :P Just kidding - the review is really good, Sobhi, and I'm glad to see that you and I agree for the most part.

Gyromania
December 30th 2011


37468 Comments


One small thing:

A sum of it's parts per-se


its*

kingsoby1
Emeritus
December 30th 2011


4970 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

gonna have to smack my editor

kingsoby1
Emeritus
December 30th 2011


4970 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

you just lost your feature privileges pal




i think itS time for another review review

kingsoby1
Emeritus
December 30th 2011


4970 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

i'll listen to more take care. i liked it, but didn't really get floored like MBDTF

fuckthatnoise
December 30th 2011


1479 Comments


>Best New Music
>5.0 featured staff review
>#1 in popular albums list as i type this.

I approve, Sputnik. I approve.

Jash
December 30th 2011


5215 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Fluorine
December 30th 2011


104 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

Here come the 5s. Flash 'em loud and proud.

But for serious, if there's a 'classic' of 2011, it's this...or The Balloon Trilogy in general.

captaincrunch11
December 30th 2011


1544 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

BRING THA SEVEN ON SEVEN NAH

TMobotron
December 30th 2011


7253 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

TBH I think dirty diana was done better by the weeknd. Maybe it's my huge boner for this dude, but I really enjoy the way he holds his notes longer than MJ does, and the fact that 80s cheese guitar solos aren't all over the place. Plus his seems like a way more emotional outpouring vs MJ's which is more or just a pop song.



Not to say MJ's isn't classic, and I know it was probably much more fitting for the time, but this version seems like a rendition of a classic that has been revised to better fit today's style, while making some small improvements here and there.

paxman
December 30th 2011


4084 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Why do you talk about Kanye West in a Weeknd review?

AsoTamaki
December 30th 2011


2524 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Because Kanye had the definitive hip hop release last year. And The Weeknd had the definitive R&B release this year. And hip hop and R&B are the same thing on sputnik.



D.D. isn't really that great. Abel sounds like he's singing it with no conviction. I get that for some of it, he's doing a more relaxed style, but there are times when he tries to get "passionate" and it doesn't work the same as MJ. Compare the "I'll be the freak you can taunt" part or the "she said he's not coming back because he's sleeping with me!" bit. It's so weak. No fire.



Montreal is the first track whenever I listen to this.

cvlts
December 30th 2011


9943 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

I can't wait until he releases all 3 mixtapes on vinyl


lmtd to 500. just wait

TMobotron
December 30th 2011


7253 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Don't really get how you can say the "because he's sleeping with me!" part is weak in the weeknd version. It's fucking huge.

Rev
December 30th 2011


9882 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

agreed

gabethepiratesquid
December 30th 2011


4522 Comments


Good review for the most part even though the first paragraph made me cringe.

AsoTamaki
December 30th 2011


2524 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Because it just sounds like the volume is turned up too loud and gets distorted. That's what gives it that "huge" effect. Whatever though.



You have to be logged in to post a comment. Login | Create a Profile





STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS // CONTACT US

Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


Site Copyright 2005-2023 Sputnikmusic.com
All Album Reviews Displayed With Permission of Authors | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy