After Hours is probably The Weeknd's best album to me, Trilogy & HOB are great too, but in After Hours, he portrays so much emotion in it & the character he created, bleeding non-stop until his face was covered full of bandages.
Completely agree, I feel like this and Kiss Land just wipe his other projects, and that says a lot when EOS and HOB are two of my favorite projects (I can’t consider Trilogy a project of his, it’s basically just cheating lol)
After Hours is his best album. However HOB alone is his best project. Kissland is right there at 3rd. After Hours is the Weeknd at his best on the biggest stage. It will hold up for years to come
Most people don’t understand how artistic n deep After Hours is they just blast Blinding Lights, Heartless, or Save Your Tears but it’s a whole story top to bottom
@@granolaman4410 most albums don’t. Music these days is all shit tik tok songs or bass boosted trap. He is so much better at what he does than everyone else
@@granolaman4410 no bro, see what's trending on music these days. Poorly written and rhyming catchy lyrics, add a pulsating beat, and there you have the recipe for a billboard hit these days. The weeknd is peculiar in many ways, he always go out of the vogue to create music that is close to him and that is gonna complement his narrative, totally neglecting if its gonna be on tiktok or shorts. Most artists dont do that, and telling a personal story through music is unbeknown to today's artists. After hours is so immersive and innovative that you find yourself lost in its vibe, it's an experience.
just listened to dawn fm. i think its such a good counterpart, sounding as if the sound of after hours was flipped to a brighter and more in between heaven and earth sound. idk how much i like it more or less than after hours, but it is an absolutely fantastic album with a more 80s sound.
In my opinion, After Hours is Abel's best album. The way he organically blends that signature darkness from Trilogy with this nostalgic 80s pop sound is immaculate. People say they want Trilogy, but an artist can never stay with something forever. And furthermore, the darkness this there on Faith, on the title track, on Until I Bleed Out. Overall, this is a very special XO release that everyone should appreciate.
@@haroldsido7237 Honestly, I can back it's one of his best closers, for sure. I think Dawn FM is a better album, but After Hours has stuck with me for awhile, and Untill I bleed out I'd one of the best songs on there.
I’m so hyped my gosh, not only is The Weeknd one of my favorite artists and not only is it a continuation to his best album and one of my all time favorite albums, but Tyler and Wayne are on (Tyler being my favorite artist behind Ye and Abel), Jim Carrey is narrating, the production from the snippets sound AMAZING, the visuals look like a freakin movie, and it’ll be the first album The Weeknd has dropped since I became a fan in September of 2020 (Ik I got on the hype train late, but I still hopped on in time for the second half of the rollout). I’m beyond excited, I’m wearing my Weeknd shirt tomorrow and probably gonna have Dawn FM on loop all day tomorrow 😂
Dawn FM sort of does the same thing sonically, there's an electronic granular bird type sound that plays at the beginning and end of the album. The Weeknd does seem to be interested in the cyclicality of life
5:55 a highly minor note but my personal interpretation of faith's ending is he's in an ambulance and not a cop car. He seems not be escaping from the law but from life itself in that moment, breaking the law is too minuscule a stake given the context of exhaustion imo it's being closer to death and the over-stimulation of the lights of the ambulance mixed in with that of Vegas/LA. He also mentions ODing previously in the song. Plus the way it segways into Blinding Lights kind of is vv typical weeknd- moment of clarity, and introspection followed by repeating his same destructive cycle with even more gusto.
Agreed, he talks about doing illegal things all the time. I don’t see how him being arrested after a bender would be such an epic and climatic moment in the album, I’m almost certain he is OD’ing. The lyrics in blinding lights back this up too, he says “I can’t sleep until I feel your touch”. He’s on the verge on death and he knows it. Also the second half of faith seems to reinforce this as well, it is somber yet triumphant the horns swelling and the ghostly vocals imo symbolize he is close to entering the after life. Glad somebody pointed this out and agrees with my personal take on it.
I think the reason why most automatically assume the ending of “Faith” is him in the back of a cop car is due the many references the “After Hours” music videos make from Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker movie. Since at the end of the movie the Joker is being taken away in a cop car after reaching his breaking point, I think that’s where the connection with “Faith” is made. I never thought about your interpretation of him being in an ambulance before reading your comment and I 100% agree that it’s what The Weeknd was trying to portray through sound.
I‘m late to the party but The Weeknd did an interview back in 2020 and said that Faith is about his darkest time, when he got arrested irl around 2013-2014 and that Faith represents that.
Disliking synthwave is probably the hottest take I’ve heard from this channel. I dunno, I feel like artists such as Perturbator, Carpenter Brut, GOST, Lost Years, Isidor, Daniel Deluxe, Home and Scattle do an incredible job putting their own spin on the 80’s sound as a fan of both 80’s music and electronica.
maybe it's hypercriticism ruining it for him but it could just be his musical preference, not that big of a deal i think (and the only thing i love more than synths in music is electric guitar)
@@updnup here’s my personal favourite releases from each of these guys: Perturbator - Sexualizer EP Carpenter Brut - Ep I GOST - Possessor Lost Years - Black Waves Isidor - 3218 Daniel Deluxe - Ghostrunner OST HOME - Odyssey Scattle - Timelapse
After Hours is just a perfect album, like literally perfect, I can say this for a very few albums and the time that it got released was very dark and difficult too, this one held me through tough times
That cover of Hardest to Love at the start almost made me tear up. That opening cinematic was such a perfect encapsulation of The Weeknd and what After Hours represents
Repeat after me interlude is so slept on, even tho it’s an interlude, it’s a perfect transition from the more upbeat songs to the more sad finale of After Hours. Also the instrumental is 🔥 with the lucid/dream like atmosphere it gives
Just listened to it. It's beautiful. I think he just topped After Hours. Conceptually it feels similar to Queen's of the Stone Age- Songs for the Deaf, with the songs all being just within a radio station. Still yet to understand if there's an underlying message or concept within the lyrics. But the epilogue poem by Jim Carey is super deep.
This video is amazing, just like After Hours. Dawn FM is gonna have a hard time meeting that level, but I have full faith in album. Combining synthwave influenced pop production with Abel’s artistic vision is gonna make for a cold atmosphere, and an amazing album. Great video as always Volksgeist. Your videos are always so great even if I don’t agree with a single word you say (this is one where I agree with almost everything you said)
ngl this was a good vid, didn’t agree with everything volk said ab 80s sounds, but it relieves me to hear you tell that story. from your reaction i can tell you are a genuine stand up guy, and earned my respect not just because you’re a youtuber but becuase you care for others.
First time I heard after hours I was high as fuck and I can never hear the album the same even after getting high and returning to it now. Alone Again was like a psychedelic vacuum sucking me into my own void in which I sank into and got lost into the entire album.
Idk if it was because of the rollout and the singles, but I was more hyped than ever for an album to come out, which usually ends in dissapointment . Not only I wasn't dissapointed, it turned out to be my favorite Weeknd album by far. And one of my faves of all time. It's all his good attributes into one album
in my opinion, i feel like After Hours is Abel’s character experiencing Hell, and Dawn FM is Abel’s character experiencing Purgatory. Since After Life was teased in Dawn FM, i believe that album will be about his character finally reaching the light, Heaven.
Don't you dare touch that dial Because like the song says, you are out of time You're almost there, but don't panic There's still more music to come Before you're completely engulfed in the blissful embrace of that little light you see in the distance Soon you'll be healed, forgiven and refreshed Free from all trauma, pain, guilt, and shame You may even forget your own name But before you dwell in that house forever Here's thirty minutes of easy listening to some slow tracks On 103.5 Dawn FM
I always tell people that after hours is his Magnus opus and everyone looks at me weird and laughs at me. I'm glad you share that opinion with me even if you're the only one. Thank you for not making me feel worthless and alone. Just like after hours depicts coicendientlly enough.
After hours is perfect way to anyone who want to understand how I feel all the time Iam no musician or have no good camera otherwise this world would see more like after-hours atleast on a small level
I've never seen you at like an 8 your entire video. Keep up the passion, I'm so interested in watching when you're so excited the whole time. Damn. The LA story was crazy and disgusting BTW, your perspective on it was interesting to hear.
amazing video! the time and effort that goes into these videos always impresses me! thank you to the weeknd and to you philip for your interpretation of this masterpiece
I think your critique of synthwave comes from you only hearing the “top hits” of the genre, as most of it is very well constructed and cinematic. Not all of it by any means, and there are many acts that use the same drums and bass patterns gif literally everything, but it as a genre is definitely not void of creativity. Loved everything else about the video tho, and I agree that Abel using the sounds of that genre definitely elevated his material, and the mood of the album overall.
he said on twitter we're witnessing another Trilogy. He will be making another album in this series of sounds too, and im really wondering what other sounds from the 80's will he explore? will this new trilogy of his become just as influential if not more than the original Trilogy? So excited.
0:14 idk man, this was posted before Dawn FM, and it's a real contender for instead, I didn't think After Hours could be topped but man is Dawn FM good
Respectfully gonna disagree on your star boy opinion the change was very welcome to me and true under rated Abel bangers such as Party monster and more
