8. Losers featuring Labrinth (Beauty Behind the Madness 2015)
Probably the most different The Weeknd track as it is the most upbeat one, and has a unique piano-based instrumental. Abel’s voice starts off quietly without the usual grittiness but raises up fast and the beat continues the amping up. The producer trio of Labrinth, Illagelo, and The Weeknd really showed some true modern magic by making a highly complex, diverse track without it losing momentum or catchiness.
7. The Hills (Beauty Behind the Madness 2015)
The most popular The Weeknd song based on Youtube views, although Starboy will probably surpass it quickly, and it would be rated higher if we didn’t think that the most of the credit for it success should go to the producer duo of Mano and Illangelo. The Weeknd delivers topics we’re used to from him and shows the finesse of his voice, but the sick beat and deep drops carried the track to its status.
6. Die for You (Starboy 2016)
While Starboy, the album, wasn’t received as well by The Weeknd’s old fans, this track is the brightest spot on it even though it’s a topical step from the old, ruthless, reckless Abel. Due to the bouncing beat and the addictive hook, we’re surprised how this wasn’t chosen as one of the main singles as it has that hit potential. It would surely have hundreds of millions of hits on YouTube if The Weeknd didn’t enforce the ban on posting his new songs there outside 5. Prisoner featuring Lana Del Rey (Beauty Behind the Madness 2015)
5. Prisoner featuring Lana Del Rey (Beauty Behind the Madness 2015)
Patience for the first 30 seconds of what seems like a regular, uninspired R&B track pays off in with huge dividends as the Canadian singer keeps raising the tone and the feel of the song methodically. As a cherry on another dark, deep track is the feature of Lana Del Rey, arguably the only female singer who can rival The Weeknd on his court. Yet it’s Abel’s real emotions coming from basic song sounds that make this one of his better tracks.
4. In the Night (Beauty Behind the Madness 2015)
The song that hides the secret of why The Weeknd became arguably the biggest working singer and the winner of two Grammies and eight Billboard Music Awards. It’s the complexity of tonality and tempo, while other singers usually have two speeds through each and every track, Abel does several in a verse. In the Night is the track that embodies the lush lifestyle of the rich and famous, and that’s probably why it goes so well with Victoria’s Secret show.
3. Wicked Games (Trilogy 2012)
The breakout hit of the Canadian singer, it really set the tone for his next two albums, and still, if you had to explain to an oblivious friend what The Weeknd’s music is all about Wicked Games is the best choice. The lyrics are gritty and as real as they come, while his voice has the main role in this track, and it seems like the song could easily work as an acapella.
2. Can’t Feel My Face (Beauty Behind the Madness 2015)
Even though The Hills has more YouTube views, Can’t Feel My Face is the biggest hit of The Weeknd’s very young career. Rolling Stone ranked this jam as the best song of 2015, and the comparisons to Michael Jackson came flowing in from all sides, deservedly so. The Weeknd accomplished the seemingly impossible with this track, as he showed that you can make a hit pop track without making guys disown it for being too girly, soft or generic.
1. Angel (Beauty Behind the Madness 2015)
Last track of The Weeknd’s best album grips you pretty hard from the first second with sacred-sounding vocals that appear throughout the track. At the same time the whole beginning sounds like a start to a classic rock love anthem, the track transitions into a personal, but powerful and vulnerable ballad, a theme song for an epic love story only possible in films. When the track starts winding down, Maty Noyes barges in with a beautifully elegant, raspy voice and the choir singing ends the perhaps, unexpectedly perfect experience that is listening to Beauty Behind the Madness.
This list doesn’t mean that the tracks who didn’t make the list aren’t good, these ones are just the cream of a ridiculously good crop.
Did we skip some of your favorite The Weeknd songs?
