With Beauty Behind the Madness, The Weeknd has created a masterpiece. Going in a different direction from his previous two albums, 2013’s Kiss Land and 2012’s Trilogy, The Weeknd has created an album reaching different ranges with every song, in sound and topics.

Right from the start The Weeknd begins with a banger: Real Life. It’s a solid use of electric guitar, R&B, and messages about overcoming the bad choices we’ve made in life. From there, the album only gets better.

The whole message of the album is like any other one from The Weekend, his struggles in life and relationships. Although, this album takes you on a journey starting with The Weeknd coming into fame. This lasts for the first three songs, then the rest of the album is about his rushed into, headed for disaster relationship. The album goes deep into his feelings for this girl, which are most prevalent in Acquainted, In the Night and Angel. The Weeknd is madly in love with this girl, but both parties have had problems in the past, but are willing to make it work. Now, unlike other albums, the mood is a little lighter throughout the album. That’s because the relationship seemed to go well at first, but gets ugly by the end.

The sound he makes in each song is unique and create some memorable beats. The two best examples are Earned it and Dark Times. Earned it was originally on the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack, but he put it in this album, for good reason. He creates a sense of a fifties crooner song by Sinatra, but infuses his alternative R&B flair for a rich song about the feeling of love. Dark Times goes in the opposite direction, talking about the rough times in the relationship. The song features Ed Sheeran, whose voice goes very well with the Weekend’s for the chorus. The song itself could easily be a dark R&B song like The Weeknd has made before, but he changes it up and adds in a blues rock sound, very reminiscent of The Black Keys. For those wanting songs that sound like The Weeknd’s old songs, have no fear. He definitely made tracks that go back to his roots in 2011 of dark, emotional R&B. The best songs for traditional Weeknd fans are Prisoner (which features Lana Del Rey), Losers, and As You Are.

The one complaint I have for the album is some of the outros. They tend to be 20 seconds of overdrawn beats with some mumbling thrown in. I like the idea of fading out, but it’s not executed well in every song.

Overall, the album is a diverse, experimental mix of sounds, but always sticking to The Weeknd’s traditional messages of love and relationships. The album is a whole experience in The Weeknd’s life that you can ride on, and what a ride it is.

Rating: A

Top 5 songs to listen to:

Can’t Feel my Face

The Hills

Real Life

In the Night

Angel