Beauty Behind the Madness
Beauty Behind the Madness is the second studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd. It was released on August 28, 2015, through XO and Republic Records. It features guest appearances from Labrinth, Ed Sheeran and Lana Del Rey. The album was executive produced by the Weeknd, DaHeala and Illangelo, and includes production from Kanye West, Stephan Moccio, Ben Billions, DannyBoyStyles, Max Martin, and Ali Payami, among others.
Beauty Behind the Madness
August 28, 2015
- Abel's Crib
- Bota (Toronto)
- Conway
- MXM (Los Angeles)
- Daheala & Co.
- Jungle City (New York City)
- The Lab
- Maison de Musique (Santa Monica)
- Mobile
- No Name (California)
- Wolf Cousins (Stockholm)
65:06
Five singles were released from Beauty Behind the Madness, including two US Billboard Hot 100 number-ones: "The Hills" and "Can't Feel My Face". The album also includes the Academy Award-nominated track "Earned It", which served as the lead single from the soundtrack to Fifty Shades of Grey. Beauty Behind the Madness received generally positive reviews from critics and debuted at number one in several countries. It marked the Weeknd's first number-one album in the United States, earning 412,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. It was the tenth best-selling album of 2015, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, with 1.5 million copies sold worldwide. At the 58th Annual Grammy Awards in 2016, Beauty Behind the Madness won Best Urban Contemporary Album and was nominated for Album of the Year.
Composition[edit]
Beauty Behind the Madness has been described by critics as a noticeable shift from the Weeknd's alternative R&B background to a more mainstream pop-oriented sound; with some of his original elements remaining intact.[9][10]
In addition to its alt-R&B[11] and pop sonics,[12] Beauty Behind the Madness incorporates elements of disco,[13] funk,[14] soul,[15] art rock,[16] blues,[17] and trap.[18] Influences of Michael Jackson's Thriller (1982) and Bad (1987) are also present throughout the album.[19] Lyrical themes include romance, success, loneliness, self-loathing, and independence.[20]
Commercial performance[edit]
On August 31, 2015, Billboard estimated that Beauty Behind the Madness would sell approximately 300,000 copies during the first week of its release in the United States.[66] The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 412,000 album-equivalent units; it sold 326,000 copies in its first week, with the remainder of its unit total reflecting its streaming activity and track sales. It marked the Weeknd's first number-one album.[67] It remained atop the chart for the next two weeks and was the first album to spend three weeks at number one consecutively since Taylor Swift's 1989.[68][69] The album also remained in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 for a total of 21 consecutive weeks.[70] According to International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, Beauty Behind the Madness was the tenth best-selling album of 2015 worldwide.[71] As of August 2017, the album has earned 3.7 million equivalent album units in the United States, of which 1.23 million are in traditional album sales. The set has also generated 2.05 billion on-demand audio streams for its songs.[72] It was the most-streamed album of 2015, and the fifth most-streamed album of 2016 on Spotify.[73][74]
Notes
Sample credits