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Beauty Behind the Madness

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Untitled

Beauty Behind the Madness is the second studio album by Canadian recording artist The Weeknd, released on August 28, 2015 by XO and Republic Records.[4] The album features guest appearances and production from Labrinth, Ed Sheeran, Kanye West and Lana Del Rey. Two singles and one promotional single have been released from the album: "Often" was released on July 31, 2014 as the promotional track, "The Hills" and "Can't Feel My Face" were released as singles on May 27, 2015 and June 8, 2015, respectively. "Earned It", a single from Fifty Shades of Grey: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, is also included on the album.

Background

On September 10, 2013, The Weeknd released his debut album Kiss Land.[5] It was promoted by the singles; "Kiss Land", "Belong to the World", "Live For" featuring Drake, and the Weeknd's The Fall tour beginning during September 2013.[6][7] Kiss Land received generally positive reviews from music critics.[8] Kiss Land debuted at number 2 on the US Billboard 200, selling 96,000 copies, just two thousand copies short of Keith Urban's Fuse, which took the number one spot on the week.[9]

In 2013, in an interview with MTV, following the release of his debut studio album, The Weeknd spoke of his compilation album, Trilogy, as the first chapter of his life and [Kiss Land] as the second chapter. He described his first two releases, saying:

"Trilogy was more of a claustrophobic body of work, before it was released I hadn't left my city for 21 years, and I had never been on a plane, not once. I spent my entire life in one setting, that's probably why pieces of the album feel like one long track, because that's what my life felt like. It felt like one long song. Kiss Land is the story after Trilogy; it's pretty much the second chapter of my life. The narrative takes place after my first flight; it’s very foreign, very Asian-inspired. When people ask me 'Why Japan?' I simply tell them it's the furthest I've ever been from home. It really is a different planet."[10]

Since his debut album, The Weeknd has appeared on numerous soundtracks, including the soundtrack to The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, contributing "Devil May Cry" and featuring on "Elastic Heart" by Sia, released as the second single from the soundtrack[11][12] and the song "Love Me Harder" was released as a duet between The Weeknd and Ariana Grande, and became a commercial success.[13]

On June 26, 2014, The Weeknd announced he will be headlining the King of the Fall tour, essentially a mini-tour across America in September and October 2014. ScHoolboy Q and Jhené Aiko were confirmed as support acts.[14] The announcement came on the day, after The Weeknd released his new song, "Often" on SoundCloud leading to speculation the tour will unveil more new material from him.[15] On December 23, 2014, he released "Earned It", the song was released as a single from the 2015's film Fifty Shades of Grey. The song has peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and it continued through his success.

On July 5, 2015, Ed Sheeran revealed on Beats 1, he had worked with The Weeknd on his forthcoming album. Sheeran also said; Kanye West would feature in a collaboration on the album.[16] On July 9, 2015, The Weeknd announced his second studio album would be titled Beauty Behind the Madness, and shared the album artwork on twitter.[17]

Singles

The lead single off of the album, "The Hills" was released on May 27, 2015. The song entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 20 for the chart dated June 13, 2015; it was the week's highest debut.[18] Its debut was overwhelmingly powered by first-week digital download sales of 109,000 copies and 5.2 million domestic streams, aided by the simultaneous premiere of its music video on the single's release date.[19] The following week, the single declined by one position but earned the largest gain in streams on the chart.[20] As of September 2015, "The Hills" has sold 1,012,633 copies in the country and has reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.[21]

The album's second single "Can't Feel My Face" was released on June 8, 2015 following a performance of the song by The Weeknd at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference on the same day.[22] The song debuted at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100. It produced first-week digital sales of 93,000 units and garnered additionally 4.2 million US streams and 38 million airplay audiences.[23] In its third week on the chart, the song reached number six on the Hot 100, making it his third top 10 hit, and his second solo top 10 hit. Five weeks later, it reached the top spot on the Hot 100, becoming The Weeknd's first number-one hit on the chart.[24] It debuted at number 27 in Australia on June 20[25] before climbing to number 2 in July. As of September 2015, Can't Feel My Face has sold 1,288,942 copies in the country.[26]

Release and promotion

On July 31, 2014, "Often" was released as a promotional single.[27][28] The song reached number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 69 on the Canadian Hot 100.

On July 4, 2015, The Weeknd headlined FVDED in the Park in Surrey, BC, Canada. On July 9, The Weeknd continued to promote the album by headlining summer music festivals, including Lollapalooza in Chicago, the Hard Summer Music Festival in Pomona, CA, the Summer Set Music and Camping Festival in Somerset, WI, Philadelphia's Made in America Festival, Austin City Limits in Austin, and Seattle's Bumbershoot Festival.[29]

This followed the leak of three songs from the album in May of 2015: "In the Night", "Can't Feel My Face", and a working version of "Acquainted" referred to as "Girls Born in the 90s" that was heavily reworked before release.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic76/100[30]
Review scores
SourceRating
Entertainment WeeklyB[31]
HipHopDX[32]
The Observer[33]
Spin7/10[34]

Upon release, Beauty Behind the Madness received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a generally favorable score of 76, based on 17 reviews.[30]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Real Life"
  • The Weeknd
  • Quenneville
  • Moccio
3:43
2."Losers" (featuring Labrinth)
4:41
3."Tell Your Friends"
5:34
4."Often"
  • The Weeknd
  • Billions
  • Quenneville[a]
4:09
5."The Hills"
  • Tesfaye
  • Montagnese
  • Emmanuel Nickerson
  • Balshe
  • Mano
  • Illangelo
4:02
6."Acquainted"
  • Tesfaye
  • Quenneville
  • Schofield
  • Montagnese
  • Diehl
  • Tesfaye
  • Illangelo
  • Billions
  • Quenneville
  • Dannyboystyles
5:48
7."Can't Feel My Face"
  • Martin
  • Payami
3:33
8."Shameless"
  • Tesfaye
  • Svensson
  • Kotecha
  • Payami
  • Balshe
  • Martin
  • Payami
  • Svensson
  • The Weeknd[a]
4:13
9."Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey)"
  • Tesfaye
  • Moccio
  • Quenneville
  • Balshe
  • Moccio
  • Quenneville
4:37
10."In the Night"
  • Tesfaye
  • Balshe
  • Payami
  • Kotecha
  • Svensson
  • Martin
  • Martin
  • Payami
  • The Weeknd[a]
3:55
11."As You Are"
  • Tesfaye
  • Balshe
  • Schofield
  • Quenneville
  • Montagnese
  • The Weeknd
  • Illangelo
  • Quenneville
5:40
12."Dark Times" (featuring Ed Sheeran)
  • Tesfaye
  • Quenneville
  • Ed Sheeran
Illangelo4:20
13."Prisoner" (featuring Lana Del Rey)
  • Illangelo
  • The Weeknd[a]
4:34
14."Angel"
  • Tesfaye
  • Moccio
  • Schofield
  • Diehl
  • The Weeknd
  • Moccio
6:17
Total length:65:24
Notes
  • ^[a] signifies a co-producer
  • ^[b] signifies an additional producer

"Tell Your Friends" samples "Can't Stop" by Theophilus London ft. Kanye West

Release history

Region Date Format Label
Worldwide August 28, 2015

References

  1. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/27/arts/music/review-the-weeknd-makes-a-bid-for-pop-outreach-on-a-new-album.html?_r=0
  2. ^ http://hiphopdx.com/reviews/id.2517/title.the-weeknd-beauty-behind-the-madness
  3. ^ http://www.complex.com/music/2015/08/the-weeknd-beauty-behind-the-madness-review
  4. ^ Beauchemin, Molly (July 9, 2015). "The Weekend Announces New Album Beauty Behind the Madness". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  5. ^ Williott, Carl (July 22, 2013). "The Weeknd Unveils 'Kiss Land' Release Date & Cover Artwork". Idolator. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
  6. ^ "The Weeknd's 'Kiss Land' Arrives on August 27th, "Belong To The World" Snippet". ThisGoesIn. July 13, 2013. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
  7. ^ "Amazon.com: Live For [feat. Drake] [Clean]: The Weeknd: MP3 Downloads". Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  8. ^ "Kiss Land Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  9. ^ "Keith Urban Edges the Weeknd for No. 1 Debut on Billboard 200". Billboard. December 1, 2012. Retrieved September 19, 2013.
  10. ^ "The Weeknd Speaks: How Kiss Land Tells The Story Of His 'Second Chapter'". mtv.com. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  11. ^ Hakimian, Rob (November 19, 2013). "Album Review: Various Artists – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Soundtrack". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  12. ^ "Elastic Heart (From "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" Soundtrack) [feat. The Weeknd, Diplo]: Sia". Amazon.com. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  13. ^ "Ariana Grande and The Weeknd Team Up In 'Love Me Harder' Video". Rap-Up. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  14. ^ "The Weeknd touring w/ Schoolboy Q & Jhene Aiko, playing Barclays Center (dates); SBQ played Central Park". Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  15. ^ "Ida Maria Gets Exclamatory". Music News, Reviews, and Gossip on Idolator.com.
  16. ^ "The Weeknd's new album will reportedly feature Kanye West collaboration". nme.com. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  17. ^ "The Weeknd Announces 'Beauty Behind The Madness' Album". billboard.com. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  18. ^ "The Hot 100: The Week of June 13, 2015". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved June 13, 2015.
  19. ^ Mendizabal, Amaya (June 4, 2015). "The Weeknd's 'The Hills' Makes Top 10 Debut on Hot R&B Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved June 13, 2015.
  20. ^ "The Hot 100: The Week of June 20, 2015". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved June 13, 2015.
  21. ^ http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.35281/title.hip-hop-single-sales-the-weeknd-silento-fetty-wap-2
  22. ^ Kreps, Daniel (June 8, 2015). "Hear the Weeknd's Funky New Song 'Can't Feel My Face'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  23. ^ "Hot 100 Chart Moves: The Weeknd Debuts With 'Can't Feel My Face'". Billboard. June 19, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  24. ^ "OMI's 'Cheerleader' Tops Hot 100, The Weeknd Closes In". Billboard. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  25. ^ "ARIA Australian Top 50 Singles Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. June 22, 2015. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
  26. ^ http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.35281/title.hip-hop-single-sales-the-weeknd-silento-fetty-wap-2
  27. ^ "Often – Single by The Weeknd". iTunes Store. United States: Apple. Archived from the original on August 3, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |work= at position 1 (help)
  28. ^ "The Weeknd 'Often'". Republic Records. Archived from the original on August 3, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  29. ^ "The Weeknd's new album is coming Aug. 28". usatoday.com. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  30. ^ a b "Reviews for Beauty Behind the Madness on Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
  31. ^ Anderson, Kyle (August 28, 2015). "Beauty Behind the Madness by The Weeknd: EW review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  32. ^ Dowling, Marcus (August 26, 2015). "The Weeknd – Beauty Behind The Madness". HipHopDX. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  33. ^ Empire, Kitty (August 30, 2015). "The Weeknd: Beauty Behind the Madness review – a dark seduction of the mainstream". The Observer. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  34. ^ Brown, Harley (August 28, 2015). "Review: All Hail the King of P*ssy-Pop on the Weeknd's 'Beauty Behind the Madness'". Spin. Retrieved August 31, 2015.


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