Before The Weeknd got world wide fame, he put out 3 mixtapes which caught the attention of Drake and the underground R&B world. The first of these 10 song mixtapes is House of Balloons.

          The mixtape starts with track one High For This which starts with The Weeknd slowly singing and picking the pace up of the song before the bass drop that comes. When I first heard the bass drop it blew me away and it made me pretty convinced this mixtape would be very impressive. The second track What You Need goes from what was a high energy first song to a slow and soothing track with The Weeknd’s vocals showing themselves most. This song showed me right away The Weeknd was very versatile as the change in vibes was made right away in the mixtape. Then track three presents House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls which in my opinion is the best track on the mixtape and easily one of my favorite tracks of all time. The song goes from high energy and upbeat to a sudden beat switch around halfway through the track which brings a dark mood with The Weeknd rapping over the beat effortlessly for the next 3 minutes. Track four is The Morning and the name really represents the track almost perfectly as it feels like a song you would hear after waking up in the morning. The track also represents the day after the party in the House of Balloons which was what track 3 was about. The hook of this song is mesmerizing and had me hooked for months which is one of the best qualities of this track. 

          Track five is Wicked Games the most popular track statistically on the mixtape and one of the best. This song has another dark vibe to it but the hook is just as incredible as “The Morning’s” which as I stated had me hooked for months. Track six is The Party & the After Party which is a calmer track that uses a sample from Beach House’s Master of None. In my opinion the sample is the best part of the track as it really adds a nice extra element to it. The second section of the song is where The Weeknd slows the track down signifying the after party part of the song,  and uses his voice as the instrumental in some sections of this part. Then track seven is Coming Down which is probably my least favorite track on the mixtape but with no discredit to it as it’s still a fantastic song. The song is about The Weeknd only loving women whenever he is coming down or in other words sobering up. This toxic theme as I found out continued throughout the rest of the mixtapes and ended up being the main theme to my findings. Track eight Loft Music includes another sample from Beach House from the track Gila which again was my favorite part of the track as it really added more to the song I felt like. Like The Party and the After Party  the second half of the song slowed down with this having a more ambient atmosphere which gets you lost in the song.  Track nine the original outro “The Knowing” is a very emotional song where The Weeknd talks about how he knows everything that his ex-girlfriend has done hence the name “The Knowing.” The song is really good and again shows the diversity of The Weeknd being a lot different than the other tracks. The tenth and final track “Twenty Eight”is considered a bonus track as it was added in the re-release of the three mixtapes called “Trilogy.” Although it isn’t a personal favorite of mine on the album it’s still a really good song that ends the mixtape off really well and I’m glad it was added.

             “House of Balloons” is one of my favorite pieces of music I’ve ever gotten the chance to listen to. The fact that this mixtape was the first he ever released is utterly mind blowing as it’s a mixtape that is timeless and is what would take some artists either their entire careers to replicate or for most of them it would be beyond their capabilities. I rate this album a 10/10 as every track is an experience that will take you away, not to mention the music is some of the best you’ll ever hear. 

 Before The Weeknd got worldwide fame, he put out three mixtapes that caught the attention of Drake and the underground R&B world. The first of these ten-song mixtapes is House of Balloons.

          The mixtape starts with track one, High For This, which begins with The Weeknd slowly singing and picking the pace up of the song before the bass drop that comes. When I first heard the bass drop, it blew me away, and it made me pretty convinced this mixtape would be very impressive. The second track, What You Need, goes from a high-energy first song to a slow and soothing track with The Weeknd’s vocals showing itself most. This song led me right away. The Weeknd was very versatile as the change in vibes was made right out in the mixtape. Then track three presents House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls, which in my opinion, is the best track on the mixtape and easily one of my favorite tracks of all time. The song goes from high energy and upbeat to a sudden beat switch around halfway through the track, which brings a dark mood with The Weeknd rapping over the beat effortlessly for the next 3 minutes. Track four is The Morning, and the name represents the track almost perfectly as it feels like a song you would hear after waking up in the morning. The track also means the day after the party in the House of Balloons which was what track 3 was about. The hook of this song is mesmerizing and has had me hooked for months which is one of the best qualities of this track. 

          Track five is Wicked Games, the most popular track statistically on the mixtape and one of the best. This song has another dark vibe to it, but the hook is just as incredible as “The Morning’s,” which, as I stated, had me hooked for months. Track six is The Party & the After Party, a calmer track that uses a sample from Beach House’s Master of None. In my opinion, the sample is the best part of the track as it adds a nice extra element to it. The second section of the song is where The Weeknd slows the track down, signifying the after-party part of the song, and uses his voice as the instrument in some sections of this part. Then track seven is Coming Down, which is probably my least favorite track on the mixtape but with no discredit to it as it’s still a fantastic song. The song is about The Weeknd, only loving women whenever he is coming down or, in other words, sobering up. As I found out, this toxic theme continued throughout the rest of the mixtapes and ended up being the central theme to my findings. Track eight Loft Music includes another sample from Beach House from the track Gila, which was my favorite part of the track as it added more to the song I felt like. Like The Party and the After Party, the second half of the song slowed down with this having a more ambient atmosphere which gets you lost in the song. Track nine, the original outro “The Knowing,” is a very emotional song where The Weeknd talks about how he knows everything his ex-girlfriend has done hence the name “The Knowing.” The piece is perfect and again shows the diversity of The Weeknd is a lot different than the other tracks. The tenth and final track, “Twenty Eight,” is considered a bonus track as it was added in the re-release of the three mixtapes called “Trilogy.” Although it isn’t a personal favorite on the album, it’s still a perfect song that ends the mixtape well, and I’m glad it was added.

“House of Balloons” is one of my favorite pieces of music I’ve ever gotten the chance to listen to. The fact that this mixtape was the first he ever released is utterly mind-blowing as it’s a timeless mixtape that would take some artists either their entire careers to replicate, or for most of them, it would be beyond their capabilities. I rate this album a 10/10 as every track is an experience that will take you away, not to mention the music is some of the best you’ll ever hear.