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After Hours is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer the Weeknd, released on March 20, 2020, by XO and Republic Records. Primarily produced by the Weeknd, it features a variety of producers, including DaHeala, Illangelo, Max Martin, Metro Boomin, and OPN, most of whom the Weeknd had worked with previously. The standard edition of the album has no features, but the deluxe edition features Ariana Grande and the remixes edition contains guest appearances from Chromatics and Lil Uzi Vert. Thematically, After Hours explores loneliness, self-loathing, and escapism. Prior to the album's release, the Weeknd confirmed that After Hours would contrast stylistically with its predecessor, Starboy (2016). Music journalists have noted the album as an artistic reinvention for the Weeknd, with the introduction of new wave and dream pop influences. The artwork and aesthetic for its promotional material has been described as psychedelic and being inspired by various films, such as Casino (1995), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Joker (2019), and Uncut Gems (2019), while its title is borrowed from the 1985 film of the same name directed by Martin Scorsese. After Hours was supported by four singles: "Heartless", "Blinding Lights", "In Your Eyes", and "Save Your Tears", three of which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The title track was released as a promotional single. In March 2020, After Hours broke the record for the most global pre-adds in Apple Music history, with over 1.02 million users. The album received generally positive reviews; some critics named it the Weeknd's best work. It debuted atop the Billboard 200, marking the Weeknd's fourth number-one album in the US, and stayed atop the chart for four consecutive weeks. After Hours also reached the top spot in 20 other countries, including his native Canada and the United Kingdom. As of December 2022, the album is certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Yeah, I think this will age better than people think, very strong and introspective tracks on here.
It's pretty remarkable that this is a mainstream pop record. Credit for pushing the boundaries. I'm a big fan of the really early music that he released for free with Beach House samples and real dark vibes.
I tried to like this but the dream-pop, repetitive drum machine and his high pitched vocals really got under my skin. The only redeeming thing about this album was Blinded by the light.
There's a few certified bops here, for sure. But as a whole album? This just felt bloated, bland, and boring. It's a shame, from the singles and lots of features I know him from, I had high hopes for this, but it just wasn't for me.
The image, overprompted, persists: A man following you more-or-less obvious, protesting innocence pain & contrition. After Hours puts musical effort into the not-dance, creating quite a contrast with the singles. When they enter the mix, they complicate. A less extravagant project, a promising direction, a record that pulls the last punch.
Wow, the first single off this album has over 4 billion streams on Spotify since it came out in 2020! That is truely impressive. And with my exposure to The Weekend being limited to only a few radio-hits (among which Blinding Lights) I had some good hopes that the rest of this album would also be packed in that lovely 80's poppy-synth sound. Too bad though. I'm probably too old to 'understand' this, but this album is driving me nuts. In a bad way. Very well produced and catchy, but oily slik, falsetto wining and awfully bland lyrics. With the chance of insulting a whole generation: I'll skip the Weekend and will go right into Monday.
Some immense talent on display here. Thanks for sharing!
One of the most, if not the most important artist nowadays. Great album. The side B of the record is majestic.
Did not expect this one But very very very deserved 5 It's impossible to choose a favorite song from this album He really found the secret formula somehow Think he found it somewhere in the 80s
Rating: 10/10
Amazing!
I really wanted to dislike this album. I really did. It's a 3/5 easy but Blinding Lights and Save Your Tears and legit pop bangers worthy of an extra star. 4/5.
Good listen all the way through. Thanks for suggesting.
A recent classic. Very strong effort from Abel. If it had been shorter and had included a few more songs of the same quality as "Blinding Lights", "Save Your Tears", "In Your Eyes" or even "After Hours", we would be talking about the "Thriller" of our time
Powerful beats, great voice, fantastic to listen to.
This has some seriously great pop songs, but I would have included Beauty Behind the Mask over it. Beauty Behind the Madness is a great album from beginning to end, and it was more important for establishing Weeknd and his influence on the pop landscape. This album's pivot to synthwave was cool, but it wasn't super revolutionary or anything... and there was a lot of filler.
I had no idea that The Weeknd was the #1 streaming artist on Spotify, as well as maybe this album? I have heard a few tracks from The Weeknd but could not have told you who they were by. That said, this was better than I thought. Musically the beats and blooming synths sound great on their own, which unfortunately are brought down to earth by the vocals one-dimensionality. He’s kinda like the new T-Pain with the use of auto tune here, although it’s not a strongly used. Lyrically it’s all about longing and wanting that person back, which is so boring in pop music to me but… it’s universal and what you’d wanna sing about to get the most fans, for sure. Overall not bad. Although I wouldn’t go out of my way to listen, it wouldn’t also make me immediately reach to turn it off. Win?
Favorite part: drum programming Least favorite part: vocals
I can get into this. If I listen to a lot of The Weeknd it starts sounding whiney, but this is a cohesive album with a lot of strong songs. "Save Your Tears" really jumped out on this listen for some reason. May have been because it was reminding me "Apocalypse" by Cigarettes After Sex.
I enjoyed this, but it's hard not to compare it to similar-vein greats like Prince and find it lacking.
This album is extremely boring and extremely popular. Abel's voice is really grating to me - it's so high and so robotic. He hits the right notes but has absolutely zero emotion. Basically the two popular songs are decent and everything else is so mid. 5/10
5/10. Well, I think that was enough autotune to keep me satisfied for a few years. Not bad by any means, and there were some nice lyrics as well, but I don't really like the overall sound that much.
It was a decent album. I recognized several of the songs. Each song sounded very similar. It was also a little long.
It's curious to me how this album has such good singles but is not super strong otherwise. It's sort of a late night synth pop album featuring trap beats and elements of New Wave. These elements are interesting on their own, but they start to sound the same especially over the course of 50+ minutes. There are a few stand out songs that break the monotony, and I believe that the Weeknd, as massively talented as he is, is capable of crafting more interesting music.
R&B, new wave, dream pop. Un megahit (Blinding lights). Ni fu ni fa.
If the rest of this album sounded more like Blinding Lights or In Your Eyes or even Save Your Tears, i.e. 80s technopop, I'd like it a lot better. So much of this is so dour though. On the other hand it's amazingly produced, it sounds great in my headphones. Overall just a little too monotonous.
Slick production and a shimmery vibe that I enjoyed. This album certainly has its moments and is a strong touchstone for what's been going on music recently. Still, I have limited patience for this style of vocal and The Weeknd definitely could have edited this down by a few songs. Fave Songs: Blinding Lights, After Hours, In Your Eyes, Save Your Tears
It's interesting to hear an album by one of the biggest artists on the planets and get a feeling of what the kids are currently down with. It's much weirder and more arty than I'd imagined, but something about it is still quite bland. Very of it's time and difficult to see anything beyond Blinding Lights being remembered in 10 years time, but as a fully fledged old guy, I don't think I'm supposed to get it. Blinding Lights has over 4 billion streams on Spotify. Crazy numbers. Rating: 2.5 Playlist track: Blinding Lights Date listened: 29/09/24
Annoying. 2/5
I remember seeing advertisements for this album on television. Therefore, I find this way too 'in the face'. Also, the excess of way to obvious autotune bothers me a bit too much. I bobbed my head on 'Blinding Lights', but that's almost it.
Ik weet dat dit heel hip en happening is, maar ik vind het toch allemaal iets te gelikt.
I tried, I really did, but this just isn't interesting to me. 2 stars.
I do not care for this and that’s o.k.
Instantly forgettable
2 hits and the rest the same repetitive female vocal sound
I liked Blinding Lights, but this album was an incredibly disappointing listen after all the hype. It hardly ever changes gear and feels bland.
First go at a full Weeknd LP and I left feeling unsatisfied. There's an immense amount of effort poured into the production here, with not a single synth out of place in the airtight but expansive soundstage that most of the tracks live in. However, all that works means nothing when the instrumentals feel limp and uninspired, aggressive synth stabs making short appearances only to be replaced by pretty basic melodic placeholders. Abel sounds bored and like he can't be half-assed to pour any real emotion into his vocals, and it makes sense when the lyrics are thinner and less imaginative than a piece of toilet paper. Just a frustrating LP overall – it's clear Tesfaye wanted to build something massive here, but the end product feels empty and sterile due to his lack of follow-through.
can see the appeal, not for me
I love the weeknd's production, but he is just so whiny.
Gross, dude. I get that he’s got some bangers, and he puts Canada on the map a bit more so that’s cool. But this album sucks. It doesn’t even showcase him at his peak of public appeal.
nope