Kiss Land Review

In this article, Peter analyzes The Weeknd's album Kiss Land on its tenth anniversary.

The Weeknd’s Magnum Opus: Kiss Land

By: Peter Easterwood

The Weeknd, commonly known by his legal name, Abel Tesfaye, is a worldwide singing sensation. He focuses on creating his music in the Pop or R&B genre. Tesfaye’s prominent rise to stardom was from his Michael Jackson-inspired song, “Can’t Feel My Face,” reaching number one on the Billboard’s Hot 100. Before the mainstream success, The Weeknd released three mixtapes sporadically on YouTube. The mixtape titles were House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence. Later, these mixtapes would be meshed together to create The Weeknd’s first compilation album: Trilogy. Little did he know that the release of these mixtapes would change the R&B landscape forever.

Throughout his Trilogy, The Weeknd based his music on darker themes, going from drug abuse to emotional abuse to being a straight-up womanizer. It was the opposite of what the R&B landscape was running off of for years, with many looking at Usher as the prominent artist who ran “sweet, lovey-dovey R&B.” While correlating Hard Rock to R&B seems like a difficult task, The Weeknd on Aug. 8th, 2021 tweeted, “DEFTONES HUGE INSPO DURING TRILOGY #MomentoMori,” openly revealing one of his many inspirations for his dark, nevertheless beautiful musical era of the early 2010s.

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The trilogy received rave reviews, with many believing that these mixtapes would change the landscape for modern R&B. On Album of the Year (AOTY for short), House of Balloons was given a 79/100 from 18 collected Critic Scores and 85/100 from 3,329 Users Scores, Thursday was given a 76/100 from 18 Critic Scores and 75/100 from 1,732 User’s Scores, and Echoes of Silence received a 79/100 from 18 Critic’s Scores and a 81/100 from 1,824 User’s Scores. Less than a year after dropping these mixtapes, he finally revealed his face in the music video for “The Knowing”; from there on, he went on tour. While on tour, The Weeknd worked on his first studio album, and the hype couldn’t be higher for the release of what would be named Kiss Land.

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On Sept. 10, 2013, The Weeknd released Kiss Land. It debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 and sold 95,000 copies in the first week. Creating an album while on tour would not usually cross musicians' minds, but The Weeknd did it. The base of Kiss Land was supposed to be the continuation of the Trilogy. In an interview with MTV, The Weeknd explains Kiss Land’s story: "Kiss Land is the story after Trilogy; it's pretty much the second chapter of my life." He carries on with why it is in Japan: "The narrative takes place after my first flight; it's very foreign, very Asian-inspired. When people ask me, 'Why Japan?' I simply tell them it's the furthest I've ever been from home. It really is a different planet." While The Weeknd says Kiss Land is the second chapter, it has its own sound, using more background harmonies and an electric guitar that appears here and there. What about the songs in the album? Are they any good?

Yes, they are. The album has ten tracks, spanning 55 minutes and 39 seconds. In the opening track, “Professional”, The Weeknd relates his musical career/lifestyle to one of a stripper’s lifestyle. While he is famous at home in Canada, while in Japan, he feels like a nobody singing, “So you're somebody now. But what's a somebody in a nobody town” (lyrics from Genius, a website that has the lyrics for many songs). The next track, “The Town,” tells the story of The Weeknd trying to convince this unnamed lover that he is better than her current man. “The Town” perfectly leads into the third song, “Adaptation.” The Weeknd sings about how he lost his old love due to his absence on the road and possible unloyalty while on the road, so he lives his life with different women each day. A constant drum bass at the end is scattered throughout, transitioning seamlessly into the electric guitar on “Love in the Sky.” The song shows the meeting between an unnamed girl and The Weeknd, although The Weeknd remembers her from the past. The Weeknd on this three-song period has each end in a transition into the next. “Adaptation” ends with a drum bass into an electric guitar solo, opening up the track “Love in the Sky.” While “Love in the Sky” ends with thunder and rain to open up the song “Belong to the World.” At this point, the listeners are halfway through the album and, from here on out, The Weeknd turns into the “villain.”

The sixth track on the album, “Live For”, features the underground rapper Drake. The song tells the life that both The Weeknd and Drake live now that they are rich and famous. “Wanderlust” is unanimously the happiest-sounding song on Kiss Land. While the track brings on a disco dance vibe, the message is again about a night with another woman, but she and him know it is the only night they will be together. Arguably the darkest song The Weeknd has written and sang, “Kiss Land,” the title track, defines the dark, eerie atmosphere he tried to build. There are two parts, with a beat switch before introducing the third verse/second part. The first part of the song talks about his interaction with a supposed fan but lets her know that this one night will be different than the others in the future, the one night where she can “take in the atmosphere.” The Weeknd sings, “For what it's worth, I hope you enjoy the show. 'Cause if you're back here only takin' pictures You gon' have to take your a** home.” In the second half, he raps instead of sings about his daily routine on the road: partying, drugs, meeting women, etc. Even though he sees this life as routine, his health is affected by this lifestyle; he talks about meeting with a doctor who asks him to stop this lifestyle and hands him prescriptions to balance out his addiction, but he does not care. He raps, “My doctor told me to stop. And he gave me somethin' to pop. And I mix it up with some Adderall's. And I wait to get to the top. And I mix it up with some alcohol and I pour it up in a shot. I don't care about you, why you worried 'bout me?”

Image from: Wikimedia Commons

After this chaotic party, The Weeknd finally cools down from his high and travels back to Canada to meet his girlfriend (to whom he was not very loyal) in the ninth track, “Pretty.” Sadly, she matched this sentiment since she cheated on him with another man but, weirdly enough, The Weeknd expected this to happen. He believes that if she ever leaves him for this man she has cheated on him with, she will never feel as pretty as he made her feel. While “Pretty” is the climax, the finale, “Tears in the Rain,” is The Weeknd’s come down to his lowest point. He realizes that his wild lifestyle has ended up wrecking his love life with the lady who has given him so much. At this point, he feels the loneliest he has ever felt, understanding that no one will fill the void. The Weeknd tries to act like nothing hurts, believing it will numb the pain. He sings in his falsetto, “Cause no one will love you like her. It's pointless. Like tears in the rain. So now that she's gone. Embrace all that comes. And die with a smile.”

Overall, Kiss Land encapsulates the darkness of his trilogy but adds a flare with different, brighter instrumentals mixed in. Even though the album was released a little over ten years ago, it feels as fresh and clean as his latest albums. The cleanliness breathed new air into the muddy, foggy sound each of the three mixtapes dwelled on. Kiss Land is an exquisite listen that opened the door for The Weeknd to experiment more with his sound, leading into his breakout album Beauty Behind the Madness. Kiss Land received a measly 63/100 from 29 Critic Reviews and a 73/100 from 1,914 User Reviews on AOTY. As a listener, Kiss Land is an exquisite listen, earning a 9.1/10.

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