The Weeknd - Beauty Behind the Madness

The Weeknd
Beauty Behind the Madness
2015

Fathers lock up your daughters, The Weeknd is back in town. Since his 2013 release of Kiss Land it has been a slow burn that has transformed into a raging inferno that is now The Weeknd. At once point in June He had the top three songs on Billboard's charts for R&B, so obviously He is doing something right. The fact that He sounds a lot like his idol Michael Jackson certainly doesn't hurt but more than that it is The Weeknd's limitless creativity that connects with people. He is willing to go anywhere and say anything, which is crystal clear on "Tell Your Friends". Drug use, sex and flexing it is all wrapped up on that track and many of the others. What really connects with people on this record besides the overt sexuality, is how honest The Weeknd is. On "The Hills" we hear him opening up about his habits (I don't think The Weeknd would ever call them demons) and his search for a one night stand, and where most people would raise the misogyny flag for some reason they don't do that with Him. This album does differ from the other Alt-R&B big release this year from Miguel in that it doesn't go into the psychedelic realm, but it also has the potential for more massive hits.

This record is large scale, both in it's radio potential and in it's scale. The Weeknd is trying to explore every part of modern day R&B. "Can't Feel My Face" is a totally different song from "Real Life" and the album is actually better for it. What is clear on Beauty Behind the Madness is that The Weeknd is 100% unwilling to sacrifice artistic integrity for radio airplay. He could have phones this in and dialed himself back and still made millions, but instead he upped the ante and pushed the grimy further out and the album is better for it. He songs will be remixed into infinity but you will not find a single EDM track on this record. If there is anything to complain about here the themes do tend to get a bit old after 13 tracks, but the songs are all so different musically that you hardly notice that The Weeknd has sung about sex and drugs for the 13th time. But Alt-R&B seems like it's here to stay and for good reason, it's pretty damn good. As long as this trend keeps up be prepared to hear a lot more from the Weeknd.

9 out of 10