The Weeknd Retrospective/Ranking
Partying, desire, inner demons, and heaven all in one!
Preface
Howdy, everyone! So today’s post is going to be something a little bit different as I am actually going to be doing a retrospective on a music artist today instead of a film director, and what better way to start things off than to talk about Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd. This man has had an interesting life as back when he was a child since not only did he not have much of a parental figure aside from his grandmother (his father left him at a young age and his mother too many jobs to take care of him), but he became homeless after dropping out of high at the age of 17 and moved in with some friends (spending most of his life selling/doing drugs and other fiendish shenanigans). However, everything would change with the release of his 2011 mixtape, House Of Balloons! From there, he would rise up in fame and became one of the most celebrated R&B artists working today, and we are going to explore (and rank) all of his works in this post.
The only rules for this retrospective/ranking are the following:
I will not talk about any compilation albums. Therefore, the Trilogy compilation album and The Highlights will not count for this list
No projects that were made specifically for television/film will count on this list. Because of this, I will not include anything from The Idol on this list
Anyways, with all that out of the way, let’s get started!
10. Echoes Of Silence (2012)
I know there are quite a few people who love this mixtape, but it just doesn’t do much for me know matter how many times I listen to it. While the production on it is perfectly fine and there is an occasional good song here and there (though not to the same extent that House Of Balloons & Thursday did), it is one of the bland, forgettable, and boring entries in Abel’s catalog. Even though you can also say this about Thursday, Echoes Of Silence definitely feels like leftovers that were pulled out of House Of Balloons but with nowhere near the same replay value, thematic richness, and originality. It also contains Abel’s worst song to date in the form of Initiation, which almost feels like a complete parody of a Weeknd song to a point where I keep forgetting that it is actually real. The rest of the songs contain ones that I forgot about immediately (ex. Next, Outside, Same Old Song), but have occasional hits such as Montreal, XO/The Host, and his really good cover of Dirty Diana (the last one being a neat addiction given how influenced he was by Michael Jackson).
Essentially, Echoes Of Silence is a lesser version of The Weeknd’s previous two mixtapes that I find myself completely forgetting every time I finish listening to it because of how “in one ear and out the other” the majority of the material is in the long run.
Rating: C (5/10)
9. Thursday (2011)
This is a mixtape where my thoughts on it did not change much at all since my first time listening to it. I remembered it being OK when I first heard it and I still found it OK the second time around. It does cover a lot of familiar ground that was covered in House Of Balloons (particularly from a thematic standpoint), but there is still some sort of enjoyment to be had listening to this mixtape even if the overall quality of the songs is all over the place. In general, the mixtape is a constant roller coaster of mixed feelings that I have that range from being “wow this is genuinely awful” to “eh, it’s fine” to “man, this is downright incredible”.
Life Of The Party is still my least favorite song of this entire mixtape (also contains some of the worst mixing in ANY of Abel’s music) and is one of his worst to date, but the rest do not reach that level of terribleness despite having problems of their own. Listening to Rolling Stone, in particular, was underwhelming this time around because of how crucial it is to The Weeknd’s character (especially given his backstory as a person and how he moved on from there), but it just doesn’t have the power and significance it needed as a song to make it a standout on this mixtape. Speaking of standouts, my favorite song out of all of them has to be Heaven Or Las Vegas (a reference to the Cocteau Twins song of the same name), which I think is one of the most underrated songs he has ever put out and is an embodiment of everything that Rolling Stone should have had in terms of significance in the narrative while also being an all-around masterfully sung and produced song altogether. Overall, while Thursday is not a bad mixtape by any means, it definitely isn’t anything to write home about either. Just some perfectly fine (if rather inconsistent) work all things considered.
Rating: C+ (6/10)
8. Starboy (2016)
Of all the projects on this list, Starboy is the one that gives me the most whiplash in terms of my overall feelings on it. On the one hand, it has its shares of songs that I think are deeply underrated and were worth more attention than what they actually got. But on the other hand, it is an album that has aged worse than I remembered it being this time around and it does not reach the same level of thematic depth or interesting instrumental approach as a lot of his other works. It very much feels like he wanted to return back to his Trilogy roots when it came to the way the lyrics of the songs here are written, which leads to a ton of work on this album that feel too same-y from one another and coming off as pale imitations of said mixtapes (mostly from a lyrical standpoint).
Much like Thursday, the quality of the songs varies from left to right (although I guess I enjoy this one a tiny bit more). A lot of them are completely forgettable mush that have mediocre production (particularly Rockin’ and All I Know), but there are some highlights here that prevent the album from being a failure. Sidewalks and Die For You are some of the most popular songs here that I loved the most, with the former being an absolute jam to listen to while also providing us with informative lyrics tied into Abel’s rise to fame. There are also songs that I feel are highly underrated such as Love To Lay & A Lonely Night, both of which I feel have some of the most replay value and are way too groovy to not want to dance to when they are playing.
Bottom line, I wouldn’t say that I hate this album (or dislike it as a matter of fact), but it is definitely one of the most frustrating entries into The Weeknd’s catalog because of the constant rises & declines in quality found within the material, thus making for an experience that I found more disappointing than fulfilling.
Rating: C+ (6/10)
7. My Dear Melancholy (2018)
I’m not going to talk about this project for too long as it is one where I do not have as much to say about as I do with every other project in this retrospective. My Dear Melancholy is a short EP that serves one purpose: to express Abel’s sadness towards the breakup he went through with his former girlfriend, Selena Gomez. In terms of exploring these feelings throughout this EP, they are done so in a “good” manner. It is not breaking any new ground from a instrumental and lyrical standpoint or anything like that, but it plays its one note of melancholy in a solid enough manner to make it a worthwhile project to listen to. I do have to say though that I absolutely adore the first song of the EP, Call Out My Name. You really do get a great grasp on what the EP is like throughout this song and is where Abel is at his best in this project regarding how well he expresses the pain & sorrow he feels towards something as upsetting as a breakup. Aside from that though, this is a perfectly good, serviceable project that I don’t see myself returning to ever again, but it gets the job done in a reasonably short amount of time.
Rating: B (7/10)
6. House Of Balloons (2011)
Well now! If it isn’t the start of Abel’s entire career! House Of Balloons is the conception of what we would come to expect from The Weeknd’s early days. Embodying a bad boy persona that is known for antics surrounding partying, having sex with women, and an abundance of drug usage. As a result, this mixtape does feel a bit lightweight compared to what Abel would put out moving forward, but it still made for a fascinating exploration of the foundation that he would lay out for his character of The Weeknd. I remembered it being a solid if not too remarkable mixtape when I first heard it, but it has actually held up a bit better after listening to it again. Aside from What You Need (which I didn’t really care for), I pretty much like every other song that’s on here (even if I found Loft Music to be OK at best). The Morning & Wicked Games are definitely the highlights of the mixtape for me, capturing every ounce of The Weeknd’s essence as somebody consumed by their deepest desires while still being highly enjoyable songs to listen to (with Wicked Games even containing an underlying pathos to it that I feel is a bit overlooked). All in all, a really good start to what turned out to be a highly successful career for Abel as time went on.
Rating: B+ (8/10)
5. Beauty Behind The Madness (2015)
One of Abel’s most versatile projects to date as there are a ton of musical styles on display here that perfectly fit the mood of each song. Sure it is the usual r&b and pop that we are used to from him, but he provides numerous spins on the instrumentals in almost every song. Plus, the album
even includes a bit of chamber pop with the inclusion of Earned It, which was a song that he wrote for the soundtrack of the 2015 Fifty Shades Of Grey movie. On top of having a ton of variety in its instrumentals, Beauty Behind The Madness also showcases The Weeknd at some of his most vulnerable as we see a softer side of him that is buried underneath an exterior that loves to party and have fun. The best example of this is expressed in the final song of the album Angel, where Abel expresses a ton of sensitivity and emotion that makes for an emotionally satisfying conclusion to the album. Speaking of songs, some of the ones in the middle portion of the album are huge favorites of mine, but I would lean towards The Hills as my favorite one here overall. I have loved it ever since I first heard it back in 2015 and its power as a catchy song with incredible lyrics, vocals, and instrumentals is still present ten years later. As for bad songs, there is only one that I didn’t care for that much and that was Dark Times. Ed Sheeran’s vocals do not fit with what the song is trying to go for whatsoever and having it be an Abel solo song would have made it much better.
Aside from that and one or two songs losing a bit of their magic the second time around, Beauty Behind The Madness is still a great album that feature quite a few songs that are semi-nostalgic for me because of them being a proper introduction to The Weeknd’s music (particularly The Hills, Can’t Feel My Face, & In The Night).
Rating: B+ (8.5/10)
4. Hurry Up Tomorrow (2025)
Hurry Up Tomorrow is an album that I see myself revisiting multiple times to give my most concrete thoughts on it due to being a lot to take in stylistically and narratively, but that’s what makes for a great piece of art. I’m sure that there will be multiple details & meanings that I will gain from repeat listens. As my opinion stands, however, Hurry Up Tomorrow is such a beautiful, entertaining, and perfect conclusion to an artist that has had one heck of a career ever since his breakthrough with House Of Balloons. Funny how I mention that mixtape because you can definitely tell in Hurry Up Tomorrow how much he has grown both as a music artist AND as a person. His inner demons & dark past are no longer haunting him anymore and he is ready to move on to the next stage in both his career and life, all of which are poetically expressed throughout this incredible album (even if we do get some mentions of said inner demons & other dark themes at points as well).
Much like After Hours & Dawn FM, there is not a single bad track to be found here and (as I mentioned earlier) there are a ton here that I am definitely planning on revisiting over & over again. For starters, it felt great to finally here the full versions of Take Me Back To LA & Hold Your Heart (titled The Abyss in this album) from 2020 and they definitely fit the story of this project spectacularly. As far as songs exclusive to this album goes, Wake Me Up & Open Hearts are some of my favorites, with the former being a terrific opener that captures the grand, majestically histrionic nature of the album incredibly well. However, my favorite song would have to be the titular song at the very end that serves as a bittersweet closure to a man’s journey through a tortured, cynical life that finishes on a note of peace & freedom. It really choked me up emotionally when I heard it and I’m pretty sure you guys will feel the same way too.
Other than the weird exclusion of a couple songs that were teased/released by Abel throughout the past few months (especially Runaway), Hurry Up Tomorrow is a powerhouse of an album and makes for a potent finale for The Weeknd’s character that will hit the feels of those who have been following him from the beginning.
Rating: A (9.5/10)
3. After Hours (2020)
Whereas Beauty Behind The Madness served as an introduction to The Weeknd, After Hours was the project that invigorated my love for him as a music artist. With this album, he breathes all new life into his style of music through the usage of 80s-inspired synthesizer compositions and beautifully vulnerable vocals & lyrics (as if Beauty Behind The Madness wasn’t already a great showcase of this quality of his music). Throughout the album, Abel is shown living through a hellscape in the form of Las Vegas where he is eaten up by his dark past (particularly in his relationships with Bella Hadid & Selena Gomez) and his inner demons that are getting the best of him. There are multiple instances in the album where we are exhibited with his vices consuming him while also trying to make things right again and changing his ways despite everything. It all makes for an album that is heartbreaking and complex while also having some of the best catalog of songs in his entire career.
There are so many phenomenal songs here that I could make an entire grocery list-long essay about every one of them, but my favorite one would definitely have to be Blinding Lights. This song will always have a special place in my heart due to it being the one that instantly made me become a fan of his music after I first listened to it back in 2019. Everything about the song is a complete masterclass in songwriting/lyrics, instrumentals, and vocals and stands tall as one of the top 3 best songs that he has ever worked on in his whole career. It’s hard to pinpoint other highlights in the album to the plethora that are present all throughout it, but Alone Again (the best opening to any Weeknd album in my opinion) and the titular After Hours would take the cake for me if I had to choose. I’m not even sure what else I can add that hasn’t been said about this album already. Aside from one song that I was a little bit underwhelmed by (Repeat After Me Interlude), this album is just a work of genius and is a definitive milestone in The Weeknd’s discography.
Rating: A (9.5/10)
2. Dawn FM (2022)
I have one confession to make when it comes to this album: even though I consider After Hours as his best album, Dawn FM is the one that I think has the most replay value out of all his projects (aside from Kiss Land). The amount of emotions that I feel every single time that I listen to this album is unbelievable from start to finish. Every ounce of this album does not have a single piece of fat to be found whatsoever. Every song in it is spectacular and many of the choices that Abel makes for this album are phenomenal and bring a different flavor than After Hours despite having some similarities in terms of how they handle the project’s subject matter matched with the use of upbeat, 80s-style dance music. Here, having 80s-themed disco music works as a brilliant foil to all the regret, nihilism, and desire for love that are expressed all throughout this album. It allows for the same emotional rollercoaster experience as After Hours while still feeling fresh & new the entire way through.
I could go on & on about how replay-able & wonderful the songs, but it would take up my entire life to do so. Therefore, just know that it is one of the most perfect albums of his career to the point where even the interludes are fantastic (special shoutouts to Phantom Regret by Jim & A Tale By Quincy). However, my highlight for this album would definitely have to be Sacrifice. The first time I heard this song, I felt like I was in heaven for three minutes straight. The Michael Jackson inspired beat & instrumentals (which remind me a bit of Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough), vocals, & lyrics are all on the same level of greatness as Blinding Lights, but with an infectiously groovy edge to it that is the perfect culmination of what the experience of listening to this album is like for me. And that is pretty much how I feel about Dawn FM as a whole: it is an absolute blast of an album to listen to that retains everything that made After Hours work from a thematic/storytelling standpoint while also containing its own identity, making for one of the most well-rounded projects in Abel’s entire discography!
Rating: A+ (10/10)
1. Kiss Land (2013)
Some of you may be surprised that I ranked this album as high as I did, but this is easily my favorite album from The Weeknd even to this day! This is an album where every single aspect of it works for me and has all that you can ask for in an album from good old Abel. His bleak approach to already dark themes is still there, but are all brought to life through the grandeur in the scope/scape of the production present throughout this album’s entire catalog. The bombastic, borderline cinematic quality of the instrumentals in each song gives me goosebumps every time and the same applies to Abel’s vocals, which are some of the best in that department of his entire career and even contain some of his most affecting moments of vulnerability out of all his albums (especially on the last song on here titled Tears In The Rain). Its deep dive into the concept of fame makes for some of Abel’s most thematically complex work ever and there is not a single bad song to be found here whatsoever. In fact, this is a rare instance in which I find the songs so good to a point where it is hard to pinpoint my exact favorite one. However if you were to point a gun to my head and make me choose, it would probably have to be Adaptation. Everything from the instrumentals, mixing, vocals, and lyrics all come together into making an unforgettable song that I revisit extremely often. In fact, this applies to this entire album: it is a work of genius that I think will the stand the test of time in the same way that Abel’s greatest works do and is my personal pick for my favorite Weeknd album of all time!
Rating: A+ (10/10)
Conclusion
And that is it! Those are all my thoughts on Abel’s works. I am extremely grateful for the legacy & impact that he has left on the music industry and for all the memories that he created for me in terms of his music. He is one of those artists whose music gives a ton of joy every time I listen to it and I am curious to see where his career goes after this now that he has brought an end to his character of The Weeknd (I’m also excited for the Hurry Up Tomorrow movie coming soon)!
That is it for today’s post! Hope you all enjoyed reading and please let me know what is your ranking of The Weeknd’s works in the comments section below! See you all next time!
what did you think of his Grammy performance?