House of Balloons is a record comprised of slow-burning bangers, expertly crafted and dripping with a refreshingly ugly prettiness.
He commands the mood better than artists who have been in the game for years and yet this his first release.
An explosive debut unlike most of whatever is on Hot 97 or whatever your city uses to listen to Drake.
The group's penchant for druggy atmospherics is mirrored in their lyrical content, which is overtly sexual, narcotics-focused, and occasionally downright frightening.
Tesfaye breaks from radio sensibilities ... by pushing the unrest and inner turmoil those singers periodically touch on to unsettling extremes.
House of Balloons is an album suspended in contradiction—a collection of sex jams tired of sex, or a paean to coke addled irretrievably by the same. It lacks dynamism because it has to; the Weeknd know nothing else, just that in every solid groove lurks the metronomic pulse of something waiting to die.
Even detesters of r&b will not be able deny the sheer musical prowess of House Of Balloons.
This is a record that’s as ice cold as it is sad; for those who find Drake too much to stomach it might be off-putting, but for fans of the Canadian, it might just mark the arrival of a brand new obsession.
Lyrically, the mood vacillates between confrontational and reflective, but House Of Balloons really soars when his blunt resolve collides with a more nuanced or gentle vocal delivery, creating a tension reminiscent of Aaliyah’s clear-headed emotional states.
Despite being a free mixtape, House of Balloons feels like a true album, a true labor of love (and pain and hardship and everything else), more genuine than more prominent R&B stars, but perhaps that is due to The Weeknd’s anonymity. The music stands before the image – indeed, defines the image – contrary to so many other artists.
They bring to the table the most interesting, depressing, and drug-infested R&B record in years.
For what The Weeknd have produced, regardless of what genre it is or isn’t, is a very good record.
At the very least, House of Balloons is a pertinent reminder that it's possible—in the right hands—for R&B to sound as experimental as anything else.
Has anyone watched fantanos review.... It's NOT GOOD.
Favorite Tracks: High For This, What You Need, House Of Balloons / Glass Table Girls
The Morning, Wicked Games, The Party & The After Party, The Knowing
Worst Track: Loft Music
The comparison has been made before, but The Weeknd is essentially Michael Jackson if he was a huge partygoer and suffered from endless depression and substance addiction. "House of Balloons" pretty much capitalizes this by instantly hitting us with its druggy atmosphere and Abel's tenor vocal delivery. His pen game isn't anything great, but this record makes the lyrics work in his favor. Overall, The Weeknd's debut mixtape stands, with the rest of "Trilogy", as his best ... read more
Dark, depraved and disturbing yet intensely provocative. I think it's safe to say that Abel changed the RnB game forever.
High For This - 8
What You Need - 6
House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls - 10
The Morning - 8
Wicked Games - 10
The Party & The After Party - 10
Coming Down - 9
Loft Music - 8
The Knowing - 9
House of Balloons might be the best mixtape of all time. Very ahead of it's time and gets better and better after every listen. Extremely strong and concise track list, but What You Need is the only thing that holds this project back for me unfortunately, every other song is perfect.
Best tracks:
House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls
Wicked Games
The Party & The After Party
Coming Down
The Knowing
This is so good.
Glad I relistened to this again cause this is incredible. It's also impressive that this is the first mixtape or project from Abel. The influence from this project Is crazy as well, with the influence from this still resonating nearly 13 years after its release. High For This is an amazing intro that sets up the project really really well. The song is, as with a lot of the other songs here, really catchy and nice to listen to. What You Need is up next, which is probably my ... read more
1 | High For This 4:09 | 91 |
2 | What You Need 3:26 | 83 |
3 | House Of Balloons / Glass Table Girls 6:47 | 94 |
4 | The Morning 5:14 | 90 |
5 | Wicked Games 5:25 | 94 |
6 | The Party & The After Party 7:39 | 87 |
7 | Coming Down 4:55 | 87 |
8 | Loft Music 6:03 | 83 |
9 | The Knowing 5:42 | 90 |
#1 | / | Complex |
#1 | / | FACT Magazine |
#2 | / | One Thirty BPM |
#2 | / | Spinner |
#5 | / | FILTER |
#5 | / | Stereogum |
#6 | / | A.V. Club |
#6 | / | PopMatters |
#7 | / | Billboard |
#8 | / | The Guardian |