After Hours

Rating: 10/10

R&B, new wave, dream pop. Un megahit (Blinding lights). Ni fu ni fa.

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.

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

Definitely a good album. It's not something I would listen to often, and I think his style gets old half-way through the album. This one (for me) is better when the tracks show up randomly on a massive playlist. Blinding Lights is great. 3.5

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.

I liked Blinding Lights, but this album was an incredibly disappointing listen after all the hype. It hardly ever changes gear and feels bland.

nope

It was a decent album. I recognized several of the songs. Each song sounded very similar. It was also a little long.

2 hits and the rest the same repetitive female vocal sound

Powerful beats, great voice, fantastic to listen to.

One of the most, if not the most important artist nowadays. Great album. The side B of the record is majestic.

Instantly forgettable

I do not care for this and that’s o.k.

Some immense talent on display here. Thanks for sharing!

I tried, I really did, but this just isn't interesting to me. 2 stars.

Ik weet dat dit heel hip en happening is, maar ik vind het toch allemaal iets te gelikt.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Yeah, I think this will age better than people think, very strong and introspective tracks on here.

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.

I enjoyed this, but it's hard not to compare it to similar-vein greats like Prince and find it lacking.

Good listen all the way through. Thanks for suggesting.

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.

Favorite part: drum programming Least favorite part: vocals

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?

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 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.

Annoying. 2/5