Kiss Land was met with generally positive reviews. At
Metacritic, which assigns a
normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an
average score of 65, based on 31 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". In a review from
Clash, Grant Brydon noted that "Rather than upgrading to studio album status by hiring an all-star cast of contributors,
Kiss Land sticks to the familiar formula of 10 tracks, as per the mixtapes, with a single guest appearance from previous collaborator Drake. Tesfaye hasn't turned to gimmicks for
Kiss Land. Instead, he's managed to transcend his previous efforts via the scaling up the sonics and simply maintaining the quality of this excellent record". In a more critical review, Anupa Mistry of
Spin saying that "
Kiss Land plays like a more considered, better-mastered continuation of
Echoes of Silence, not anything dramatically different. And in that way, the dude from Toronto who created a shift is saying that he'll shift again only when he's ready". Ian Cohen of
Pitchfork said, "
Kiss Land is technically the Weeknd's fourth album in two and a half years, and without the ear-turning innovation of the earlier work, all you can muster in reaction to its worldview, the same one that's been delivered repeatedly without variation, is, "Maybe it's you, man". Which in a way, vindicates it:
Kiss Land sounds every bit as isolated and singular as Tesfaye feels". Corey Beasley of
PopMatters said, "It's easy to catch the way
Kiss Land attempts to turn
Trilogys afterparty ennui into a big screen, on-the-road, b-movie melodrama (something like
Only God Forgives, with even less of a plot). Still, the punches seem half-pulled, and the production glides by without much of an impact". Mike Madden of
Consequence said, "Apart from its mild lyrical slips,
Kiss Land doesn't really have any cosmetic issues, just relative shortcomings when you consider the singular thrills his 2011 output offered. The 23-year-old Tesfaye will almost certainly make a bigger, better record soon. For now,
Kiss Land works fine as one of the year's most fearless pop releases". Julia LeConte of
Now said, "
Kiss Land is proof for the unconvinced: the Weeknd is a star whether he wants to be or not. And his voice. Oh, that delicious falsetto. Even seven-and-a-half minutes isn't long enough". Stephen Carlick of
Exclaim! said, "The latest effort from the Weeknd is a mixed bag, but it can't be said that Abel Tesfaye is resting on his laurels. While many criticized his second two mixtapes,
Thursday and
Echoes of Silence, for being subpar reiterations of what he did so perfectly on
House of Balloons,
Kiss Land is anything but a retread".
Accolades Nick Catucci of
Entertainment Weekly named it the fifth best album of 2013 saying, "a nearly hour-long head trip in which sexual obsession, betrayal, addiction, and big-ticket trust issues tangle like limbs under silk sheets. It's Tesfaye's delicate falsetto — and dark, distinctly '80s guitar and synth sounds — that envelops you everywhere else. It's a weirdly exhilarating experience, with the bonus effect of torpedoing the make-believe encouraged by cheery online dating profiles". In a 2023 feature revisiting the album, Adrianne Reece of
Elite Daily described
Kiss Land as "more timeless than his mainstream contemporaries
Starboy and
Beauty Behind the Madness." Reece also said, "The Weeknd produced a gnawing horror movie of an album that's both fascinating and eerie. That looming drawl glides in the album's sound design, which toy with menacing drum patterns and minor synths to create this space of unease. That discomfort is necessary, as it perfectly represents The Weeknd's state of mind while touring in a new atmosphere." == Commercial performance ==