hmm my precognition stated aproximately 1 month ago........
this album will be one dimensional and flawed in both execution and concept
it will have latent potential, considering who the artist is, but this first album will demonstrate the weeknd's inability to craft masterpieces at a whim, like with many fresh artists his best project may have been dumb luck, and we are seeing what else the artist has to offer, which isnt usually what we want. This project will however have standout tracks that signify the points in the album where everything comes together right, musically and thematically, and these songs will show what the album was intended to be/do. However, i should say that the album will not be bad, and for a certain demographic it will likely become a sensation similar to his previous works. This album will follow the trend this year in hip hop has set, of mediocre, somewhat disappointing releases from top notch artists
I havent listened to the album yet, ill edit an say whether im right or not after, this is what i expected a while ago after he dropped his second single (kissland was my shyt for a while after that i thought this would b a great project)
EDIT:for the most part i think im right, except it was honestly worse than i expected, there were 4 original songs i liked, 2 of which were singles, and the wanderlust remix/odd look were cool, not great or original tracks, but they were straight. Weeknd mangles this album with annoying, high pitched "crooning" that seemed to loop on and on forever. Every fukkin song sounded like a subterrainian factory under the sea, the drums were almost always the same robot industrial sounding shyt, and every song had this slight ambience that evokes the ocean, kinda like how every drake/weeknd song sounds. shyt was monotinous and crude, overall just not captivating. And lyrically it was as bare as a popeyes drumstick, after im done with it. Dude is gonna have to pull some strings to come back from this, his first time in the mainstream limelight with a mediocre album.