So Thirsty: Thursday’s 10-year Anniversary

You’ll want to be high for this one, too.

This story originally appeared on Medium.com.

Time and the distance that it creates between moments in our lives can reshape our perspective and understanding of those moments, for better or worse. Ten years after its release, leading up to its anniversary, I queued up Thursday for a birthday listening. Only a few months after his introduction to the world, The Weeknd hit us with the second act of his trilogy. Part one, House of Balloons, had an edge to it that was so different from his R&B contemporaries. It was captivating even if his persona on record is a pill-popping, line-snorting Lothario.

In a previous Medium story that I wrote about House of Balloons, I called it “an invitation to the carnival of drugs and sex going down in the house down the block,” and listening to that mixtape still feels like riding the wave of a drug-fueled night with a lover (so I’ve been told because I’m too square for that type of nonsense). Thursday manages to take the party to a darker place than its predecessor. Give credit to the team of Tesfaye, Doc McKinney, and Illangelo for creating a mood the builds off the vibe of House of Balloons. They made a sequel true to the original, but, like many sequels, they couldn’t capture the same magic as the original. Thursday is good, but what’s goodness compared to greatness?

Where the trio falls short on Thursday is not writing enough catchy, melodic hooks. The highs are tremendous, like the title track “Thursday”, and the Toronto powerhouse duet with Drake, “The Zone,” but moments like those don’t happen often enough. House of Balloons is top heavy with those highs, and they hit you in succession. “Lonely Star,” the opener on Thursday, is still a banger, and “Heaven or Las Vegas” effectively closes the curtain on the festivities. There’s just a prolonged lull once you get passed “The Zone” that makes this mixtape drag.

The Weeknd established himself as a fearless, experimental artist on House of Balloons, and he doubled down on the lecherous party guy persona for Thursday, but this project ultimately lives in the shadow of a better version of itself. We know that this doesn’t matter in the long run because The Weeknd, Doc McKinney, and Illangelo all go on to create bigger hits, like “Starboy,” “Crew Love,” and “Blinding Lights” respectively, but it did leave me jonesing for that House of Balloons vibe.

Standout Tracks:

“Thursday”

A song (allegedly) about an open relationship The Weeknd had with a former lover that can be easily be misinterpreted as an anthem for the unofficial start to the weekend.

“The Zone”

The hook is hypnotizing, and Drake spits a gem about “reluctantly” having sex with who we can only assume is a beautiful young lady.

“Heaven or Las Vegas”

The prototypical ballad of the Lothario.