Thursday (Original)
By the time The Weeknd released *Thursday*, just five months after his debut mixtape, the world still knew little about him but remained hopelessly drawn into his darkness. The singer\'s cocktail of hedonism and anonymity made his second effort equally as potent as his first, thrusting listeners into his intoxicating world of sex and drugs once more. “It seems like pain and regret are your best friends, \'cause everything you do leads to them,” he coos on the tape\'s opening verse, a masochist courting a masochist. *Thursday*, which appears here with all of its original samples restored, is somehow even more joyless than its predecessor—tinges of aggression slice through the atmospherics of the production, and callousness wipes out any semblance of pretense. He spends the majority of the songs cautioning a would-be lover away, but his fragile falsetto is a starmaker capable of wringing sympathy from even the most skeptical listeners; it almost sounds like earnest concern when he begs, “Don\'t you fall in love, don\'t make me make you fall in love,” on “The Birds, Pt. 1.” The Weeknd knows that humans are compelled towards that which repels them, and he uses that fact to his advantage here to create tension both between the characters of his lyrics and between himself and his audience. He knows, perhaps better than many, that the things we crave most are those that come with a warning label.
The drugged-up R&B project returns with its second free album, picking up where House of Balloons left off and adding some new twists. There's the same ineffably skeezy vibe and a genuine sense of the album-as-journey, and the production is slightly harsher and streaked with violence, befitting the lyrical content.
The second of three free albums planned this year from downcast R&B project The Weeknd, Thursday garnered an impressive 180,000 downloads in its first day, due in no small part to the star power of rapper Drake, who spiritedly endorsed the artist’s first album, House Of Balloons, and delivers a guest verse on this…
The Weeknd's 'Thursday' spans a range of sounds that are darker and more abrasive than what R&B typically allows. Read our review.
The Weeknd - Thursday review: Thursday may not be immediately enjoyable. It lacks the memorable hooks and immediate production of its predecessor. And it's a better album for it.