Holding the projected first and second spots on Billboard’s Top 100 Songs for the week of Sept. 26, The Weeknd released yet another chart-topping album, Beauty Behind the Madness, Aug. 28. The album topped Billboard 200, with the most sales of single songs and albums combined.

Adopting the stage name of The Weeknd, Canadian singer and songwriter Abel Tesfaye first debuted on the music scene with the release of several songs on Youtube. Beauty Behind the Madness is only his second album after Kiss Land. However, he also released various mixtapes, including House of Balloons, Thursday, Echoes of Silence, and Trilogy (which combined the previous three with some new additions).

Beauty Behind the Madness has a track list of 14 songs, five of which were released prior to the album’s release. The album also boasts a star-studded list of features, including Labrinth, Ed Sheeran, and Lana Del Ray. The album was produced by Tesfaye himself, among others, on XO’s label.

With a voice similar to that of Michael Jackson’s, dark and passionate lyrics, and R&B beats, Beauty Behind the Madness combines pop and soul into an incredible album. Overall, I would give this a four out of five stars for the extraordinary sound, intense lyrics, and dazzling list of features.

writer: Maddie Villeneuve