ALBUM REVIEW: The Weeknd – ‘Beauty Behind The Madness’

From his trilogy of mixtapes to chart-topping collaborations, Abel Tesfaye has come a long way. For an artist whose dark retelling of R&B is severely limited to a lot of sex, love, drugs and then some more sex, the nihilistic sound of
Beauty Behind The Madness is hard to ignore. What does he have to offer now? The same hypnotic, pained vocals only amplified and made more pop/radio friendly to make him a chart topper in his own right.

The album begins with Real Life: dramatic guitars riffing for 20 seconds before his sex-filled voice starts the song, the percussion punctuating the verse every now and then to accommodate the vocal runs he executes with no obvious hard work. On Losers, The Weeknd and Labrinth work. The collaboration is not as smooth as the only other one that works amongst others on the album. The shift in the vocal quality – from the smooth runs by the Weeknd to the jarring ones by Labrinth – is hard to process, but one you can live with. His vocals are supported by a funky jazz background and piano runs, but the Labrinth works a little too hard and it shows. That funky swinging jazz band that ends the songs is the only thing about the track that takes away from the darkness.

Kanye West’s hand is seen on Tell Your Friends. From the references to sex, drugs and money, the Weeknd digs into his past and dalliances to spin a track about his sexual prowess. He’s constantly telling us that he is not worth a lifetime of loving but is ok with just a night. On the next track, a personal favorite actually, Often delves into darker versions of his oft visited themes, i.e., sex, drugs filled orgies, and more sex. His references to cocaine and drugs are not camouflaged with impressive lyrics, rather their direct mention, directing the listener to the smooth relief his voice brings without having to distract or demand attention when not necessary.

What follows next is another story. The Hills is a continuation of the same drug laced, sexed up, lonely saga of how loving The Weeknd is hard on both the woman and himself. This I’m-hard-to-love shtick works well especially when he’s the one wooing a woman he wants on Acquainted. He still warns her that loving him is hard (as if) and dangerous, even bringing his momma in, when she wants him to find someone real, but Acquainted is the kinda track that matches its verses, chorus and outro in a puzzle like format making it an outstanding track.

The disco-esque feel on Can’t Feel My Face takes away from its dark themes, but could do with a little help from Bruno Mars if it were released as a remix. This track cuts through the R&B swirling on the album and shows the ease with which Abel can distance himself from the dark end of the genre’s spectrum and still retain his warped philosophy on life with the words.

Rock revisits the album on Shameless as Abel sings about shamelessly loving someone through everything. Finally, he cares. The album, as biographical as it gets, finally comes to the part where Abel is finally in love and Earned It finds its placing on the track list. I imagine this song will probably be used as a baby making aid, but damn its that good. It’s reworked a little, but man oh man, it’s a track that works its magic through and through. Evidence to the fact that The Weeknd is sex on two feet.

Michael Jackson’s funky 80’s sound is revisited on In The Night. The pop laced tribute to the late King Of Pop isn’t mistakable. From the vocal delivery to the production, Abel transcends time and it almost feels like those early mornings in the 80s when you’d dance to MJ’s experimental R&B tunes, except that I hadn’t heard him until the 90s. I imagine if MJ were to be alive, he’d want to jump on a remix of this track right away. As You Are employs the same falsetto vocals Abel owns and works to the hilt making for one outstanding track. The second collaboration finds an unlikely pair: Ed Sheeran with his effortless voice and his sweet face singing about dark times and The Weeknd complementing Ed’s classy act with violent and foul lyrics, but literally talking about rather dark times I guess. As much as I’d like to believe that this pairing works, it doesn’t. It’s difficult to hear Ed sing about dark times if he has any that is. His vocals are par excellence, but misplaced and almost unnecessary. I wished they’d replace it with his remake of Beyonce’s Drunk In Love. I’m still bummed it didn’t make the final cut and secretly wish it is a part of a deluxe version if ever there is going to be one.

Of the three collaborations on the album, the most successful by far is the last one, Prisoner featuring Lana Del Rey. Abel’s saved the best for last as he teams up with the Queen of Pain and Sadcore on arguably the best collaboration between the unlikeliest vocal stars of the musical galaxy. Del Rey’s falsetto vocals add soul to the track while Abel’s reflective vocals talk about how they’re both prisoner to afflictions and love. He brings darkness and pain to the track, she sticks to her trademark shtick: Hollywood, burning desire and afflictions and the two of them work magic. You’ve got the standard monologue by Lana with her feline vocals proclaiming some truth like she always does, but man oh man, they sure hit the jackpot with this one. Both of them bring the soul on and this probably is the only track where you’re glad Abel hasn’t brought sex or drugs onboard. The album finishes with Angel, an ode to the woman he loves with his tainted soul. Maty Noyes is featured as said angel, and with her angelic voice echoes The Weeknd’s hope.

Very few albums come this well produced. If I were a music artist and envious of anyone’s work on the charts right now, The Weeknd is who’d I want to beat. Listen to pure magic for over an hour and get lost in the weird, underground, warped, sadistic and sometimes cruel yet beautiful world of The Weeknd’s personally flawed world. It is scarred and scary, but boy it brings you relief.