Mar 21, 2021 Abel rereleased the mixtape in its original unmastered incarnation to celebrate the 10 year anniversary. Up until now besides looking up the tracks on xoxxxoooxo on YouTube, Trilogy was the only official way to listen to HOB. But now that the vintage mixtape is available publicly, fans can listen to his first sounds which is quite different from Trilogy in some ways besides just audio quality. OG XO fans know this, but for those who will listen for the first time, "What You Need" has an Aaliyah sample, and "Coming Down" has a Fate/stay night dialogue sample. Enjoy.
Mar 21, 2021 10/10 classic Still remember the first time I heard this, I was nearly 17. Was blown away by how good it was, then a few months later he was sprinkled all over Take Care (another classic influenced by Abel). Great times
Mar 21, 2021 What's sad is that I kind-of agree. But, I mean, "Rolling Stone" is the direct harbinger of that. Lol. It's not ironic at all. And this was all voluntary/willful, on his part.
Mar 21, 2021 The title track/Glass table girls has haunted me since I first heard it I think it’s beautiful in a way similar to mr bright side, it’s an amazing song but it takes me to a pretty dark place tbh And the “What you need” version with the aaliyah sample is a once in a life time vibe
Mar 21, 2021 @Jay Zeus sums it up well enough, but even then I think Abel's evolution as a musician project per project is very interesting to look at as he sort of reinvents himself in a few ways with each one. Honestly I could make a whole essay out of it but for the purpose of this post I'll try to be concise about it. The Balloons Trilogy (first of which this thread is about) is obviously The Weeknd at his most raw, personal self. Before fame, stardom, or superstardom. The fact that this is how almost graphic he can be with his lyrics makes the listener feel the emotion he's experiencing as the inspiration for the song and when he's singing his words. There is a reason a lot of hardcore fans feel like he's peaked here. But in my opinion, Kiss Land shares a lot of what makes The Weeknd personal in his music. Which is to say I feel like Kiss Land is a very personal album as well in the story he tells. It's in line artistically wise in my opinion as the Balloons Trilogy but with studio album production. It's either this or one other album that might be his best album but because Kiss Land as an album is (again to me) a reflection of Trilogy sequel as a studio album may be why it wasn't his big commercial breakthrough. Nonetheless, this chapter was his introduction to the taste in the life of fame. Beauty Madness on the other hand IS his big commercial breakthrough. Four singles released in the top 10 on the US Billboard 100, and two out of the four at #1. After Kiss Land, Beauty Madness represents him now experiencing the life of stardom and now superstardom and the experiences he's having in this life. Now while I think this album brought about his greatest record ("The Hills"), it is also my opinion that Beauty Madness is also the least best project in his discography. Then we get to Starboy. From the title track alone we can tell this album is all about the braggodicious lifestyle. He has experienced the life of superstardom and now he's reflecting back on it. This is the life he's now been used to and accustomed to, it's his world and he's just telling a story of where he fits in it. When Starboy first released I didn't really like it that much because of the amount of pop incorporated, but it has grown on me a lot since then and I realize that there was arguably just as much pop in Beauty Madness but the output in Starboy sounded more inspired. My Dear Melancholy was described by the media has sort of a return to form of his darker self from Trilogy, but it is an EP. To me MDM is kind of like a midquel between sequel stories. He was very specific with this project, not that that matters but I enjoyed the depressing sound to it because it reminded me of Trilogy even though it was very different. For example if you compare "Wicked Games" to "I Was Never There," tone wise you might find them similar, but one of the many differences is that with "Wicked Games" it is totally ambiguous who the lover is that he's crooning about not loving who he once did, whereas with I was Never There and MDM overall, everyone knows who he's singing about. If someone listens to all of Abel's discography and goes from Starboy straight to After Hours, thematically they wouldn't miss a beat but they are missing an important chapter in his life of superstardom. But speaking of After Hours, this was his real return to form in my opinion. And I felt this the most in the song "Escape from L.A." After all of this time since Starboy, Abel has grown use to the life as a superstar, but in his album he is taking time to remember that that is where he is now but how hard he had to work to get there and how different he was before. As such I find After Hours to be a very personal album, just like Kiss Land. He did once say that Kiss Land is the only album he could ever see himself doing a sequel to. Not that I believe After Hours is a spiritual successor to Kiss Land, but what I am saying that this album (despite how much pop there is to it; h--- "Blinding Lights" is not only his biggest record but one of the biggest records of all time now) is most return to form he has had since his beginnings as an artist. For that I often feel like After Hours could be his best album as a tossup between it and Kiss Land. Snowchild feels like a sequel to Reminder which feels like a sequel to Rolling Stone. And the amazing thing is I don't think he has even peaked yet. Every album that he releases, he just gets bigger and bigger. Beauty Madness had hits, Starboy's hits topped those, and After Hours has made him the most mainstream he's ever been. We might see a lot more from him. With his fallout with the Recording Academy, I think he may have the power to really transform the industry and for the better.
Mar 22, 2021 You entitled to your opinion, but that n----- fell off. Not too late to take that PBR&B Sub-Genre to the next level though. And no, I don't mean "Return To Form" as I think that would be a copout.
Mar 22, 2021 I backed up my opinion with everything I said there. You're entitled to yours as well, but if you mean he fell off popularity-wise, there's no way that is true. He's gotten bigger and bigger with every release. I do agree about brining back PB&RB though. "The Hills" was him at his best.
