Review of the week #2- Beauty Behind the Madness

[coldkillaaaaaaaa]

Since I've got nothing to do, and have listened to Beauty Behind the Madness quite thoroughly, I'm just going to review now, of course I'll do another one on Friday, but enough explaining kets delve into this RnB with some hip-hop thrown into it as well.

The Weeknd, Canadian based RnB singer has been accelerating to stardom back in 2011 with his three nine track mixtapes which were celebrated but didn't quite propel him to that superstar status. In 2013 he dropped Kiss Land which was met with critical acclaim and praise, then new singles were dropped with Weeknd saying he was dropping a new album and here it is.

Beauty Behind the Madness boasts off his artistic vision with explosive singles, introspective songs with somber melancholy, among other things. The most notable thing about this album is the concept and theme behind it which is extraordinary and actually stems from the album name. Here you have this character who is indifferent, uses women and lives a very hectic life of partying and drug abuse, not only living it but openly stating on record that he loves it and will never change. However, as soon as his music kicks in, you hear passion, emotion, contemplation and even sometimes regret.The way he accomplishes this so well is that he is extremely introspective and self aware, and because of this it sort of creates a duality in personalities which he displays with excellent execution.

On songs like no shame, and as you are, he visualizes this perfectly, with lines like "As I look into your eyes it pains me to say that im honestly nothing without you" turning this well known cliché into something of his own to make the listeners see his struggle with not wanting to love but succumbing to it anyway. Then on a song like no Shame, he's basically talking to this girl that's the female equivalent of himself who has a lot of problems, with weeknd saying "I'll always stay with you cuz I have no shame" once again using a cliche to paint a picture of his dual nature.

On production, there's everything from orchestral violins, to jazz horns, to hip hop instrumentals that not only form cohesively into this album, and fits the theme of the album, but also lend to really well written songs and progression. On Losers there's this piano that's highly reminiscent of kanyes homecoming, to darker stuff thats reminiscent of MBDTF. Not only that, but The Weeknd sounds like Michael Jackson reincarnated, which strongly come through on tracks like in the Night, Cant Feel my face, and the opening track where booming drums hit home with moving lyrics turning it into a very moving song. with such vocal finesse and technicality while using it to form his own individual sound from everything to soaring vocals, to somber ones, he uses the entire palette of vocal inflections on this album wonderfully.

Some songs however are extremely forgettable especially on a track like Go Tell your friends where he's doing a sing songey rap over a very basic instrumental, talking about generic stuff such as fucking bitches, his drug abuse and everything. While it does lend to the theme it comes off as forgettable in my opinion. Then there's "often which again sees him talking about some of his sexual exploitations and such over some atmospheric beat which was really good, although the song primarily failed to catch my attention, albeit the chorus was extremely ear catching, which is the case with a lot of these hooks. This shows through especially on the opening cut and losers with lines "Mama said I'm destructive, one day it'll ruin me, cuz every girl that loved me I just push them away" and "What can you show me that my heart don't know already, we make our own sense and you're qualified to me".

The probably my favorite song on the entire album In the night we see him belting out emotional and moving lyrics with such raw passion over a very ambient, smooth instrumental that's very reminiscent of Michael Jackson, which culminates into a booming chorus with him singing lines "In the night she hears them calling, in the night she dances to the lethal blade".

A few problems The Weeknd does have, shows up from time to time which mostly has to do with his subject matter and substance, which can result into some very throwaway tracks. Sometimes he even puts out cringing lyrics with stuff like "I fucked two bitches before I saw you" and another line where he just belts out "Whos gonna fuck you like me" which of course are cohesive to the theme and song but it's just done so awkwardly.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this album which was well put together, and extremely riveting with a few criticisms that are very minor. I definitely have my eye on The Weeknd and his further projects to see how he blossoms as an artist.

This album, in my opinion, warrants a very high 8 or a 9 out of 10, it was explosive, cohesive, catchy, and executed perfectly.

Suggest any other albums you may want me to review on Friday, and of course constructive criticism is always appreciated.

[TigressLion]

Maybe he should focus on education instead of music. He mispelled one of the easiest words out there; weekend. I can't even figure out how to pronounce it? Just mush the knd together? That's horrible sounding. Unfortunately, I've never heard his music. He may be wonderful, but a person who most definitely spelled weekend wrong, won't get my listen.