Claims of revolutionism aside, it is very nice to hear Abel Tesfaye sing again.

Blinding Lights
Starboy
Call Out My Name
I Feel it Coming
In Your Eyes
House of Balloons
Can’t Feel My Face
After Hours

this is my guess of the SB setlist. Ik it’s probly already leaked or whatever, but I haven’t looked into that. Heartless and In Your Eyes are interchangeable, I’m hoping for In Your Eyes.

Album Rating: 4.0

the performance of House of Balloons was closer to a cover of Siouxsie and the Banshees' Happy House than anything. he sampled it in the original song, but here they just straight up sang it too

it was more of a transition than anything

Album Rating: 4.0

whatever you call it I love that he did it

it was neat!

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

It was cool but his mic volume needed to be louder. All those Abel's with wrapped up faces was a nice touch.



I feel he's better suited towards more intimate concerts than bombastic ones tbh

Album Rating: 2.5

there were several tracks on here that stuck out to me and i enjoyed particularly (mostly the bigger singles), but overall this really struck me as bland. not seeing the love for this one



btw, was 2020 just the year of 80s pop throwback or what?

we've been stuck in the 80s throwback phase for a very long time

Album Rating: 2.5

been feeling it this year in particular

or maybe bc i've been getting into pop a bit more lately

yeah i think it was probably more prevalent this past year on the mainstream level. seems like the 80s will never go out of style

Album Rating: 2.5

your avi has a bit of that v a p o r w a v e aesthetic goin on so ur probably right

the 80's will never die.

But this is like 15% 80's

Album Rating: 3.0

yeah, this just has 2 songs with that sound.

Album Rating: 4.0

more than 2

blinding lights, save your tears no doubt. what else?

in your eyes. the singles, I suppose.

Album Rating: 4.0

scared to live perhaps

Album Rating: 4.0

Faith

as for why people enjoy this, for me it’s the phat production.
This certainly isn’t too emotionally resonant (although still a tad more relatable than most other pop. that just isn’t really an emphasis) and I can point out several melodies that “don’t work” from a conventional pop perspective.
But I really love how densely packed the production on this is. I remember people criticizing this for “having too many chefs in the kitchen” but I disagree, I find each production choice blends into the next with ease, creating an ever changing soundscape that sounds fresh with consecutive listens. I’ll really be finding new synth lines and harmonic ideas I’m enamored with in each track every time I listen.

Album Rating: 3.0

nice avi nol bro