All of The Weeknd’s albums ranked: from 'Dawn FM' to 'Kiss Land'


Saeed Saeed
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The Weeknd sure did throw the gauntlet to his peers in 2022.

The Canadian singer (real name Abel Tesfaye) not only released the blockbuster new album Dawn FM, but also stated it’s part of a trilogy of releases.

The Weeknd’s ascension to pop music stratosphere has been relatively gradual. The five albums he's released in nine years shows a singer steadily finding his voice and confidence.

Here we take a look at all the releases and where they rank within a formidable body of work.

1. ‘Dawn FM’ (2022)

The Weeknd released one of the first albums of 2022 this month.

The dreamy and scintillating Dawn FM is not only a career-best, but also shows how big pop music albums can be bold, experimental and daring.

The Weeknd’s fifth album has him riding the cinematic and retro synth-pop sounds first explored in Starboy (2016) to its zenith.

While the production is impressive overall, it is the overarching lyrical narrative fans will really soak up.

Where predecessor After Hours had the singer applying the blowtorch to himself, and admitting to faults and hurts caused by his “King of Toxic Romance” status, Dawn FM is about the wisdom that came with that acceptance.

The album is as exuberant as it is melancholy, and proves The Weeknd continues to carry his heart on his sleeve while keeping his feet on the dance floor.

2. ‘After Hours’ (2020)

Released in March 2020, After Hours is regarded as the first great quarantine pop album of the Covid-19 era.

It’s a brooding collection of slinky downers talking about the doubts and insecurities one feels when alone.

However, it is detailed with the glitz of a disco ball and boasts the startling clarity of neon lights in a deserted street.

Highlights include the chart-busting Blinding Lights and Heartless, both of which are carried by intoxicating stuttering trap beats and ocean black waves of synths. Save Your Tears is also the kind of propulsive new wave pop The Killers would have, well, killed for.

The press hailed After Hours as The Weeknd’s best album, but little did we know he was already cooking up his masterpiece.

3. ‘Beauty Behind the Madness’ (2015)

Where previous albums and mixtapes had his vocals low and vague in the mix, resulting in that initial mysterious appeal, Beauty Behind the Madness is when The Weeknd announced himself to the world.

And what better way to do that than with some of pop music's best producers backing you?

Confidence permeates the album and reaches sizzling levels in the heaving club banger Can't Feel My Face and the silky RnB of Earned It.

With Beauty Behind the Madness, The Weeknd began taking his sound in a mainstream direction. It is a trajectory that came with great success, in addition to a dud album.

4. ‘Starboy’ (2016)

Yes, we loved the album's self-titled lead single, but other than the brilliant collaboration with Daft Punk, does anyone really remember anything from Starboy?

The album joins a long tradition of missteps coming when a former independent artist suddenly finds themselves in the big leagues.

After the commercial success of the slick Beauty Behind the Madness, The Weeknd was a bona fide pop star, but he didn't seem to know how to creatively harness that clout.

The confusion reigns all over Starboy, a brash and bloated offering saved by hit singles, including the admittedly lovely I Feel It Coming.

The project abounded with wasted collaborations, including Lana Del Rey in Stargirl Interlude and the vapid Sidewalks that could not be saved even by a strong verse from rapper Kendrick Lamar.

While Starboy didn’t send The Weeknd crashing to earth, it served as a warning that a course correction was needed.

The follow-up releases prove the message was received loud and clear.

5. ‘Kiss Land’ (2013)

This was an intriguing yet ultimately unsatisfying debut. The former is down to the lyrical subject matter that came to define The Weeknd's career.

While a singer moaning about fame often sounds trite, The Weeknd explores relatively fresh terrain such as gnawing alienation and constant dislocation felt from a life of non-stop touring.

The push and pull between The Weeknd's self-doubt and nihilistic desires are also first explored in the album's title track and The Town.

Bogging the release down, however, is some sluggish production. While Kiss Land does a solid job in conjuring up a brooding atmosphere, it lacks focus and pep, and certainly didn’t foreshadow the singer's stratospheric rise to come.

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Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale

Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni

Director: Amith Krishnan

Rating: 3.5/5

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed 

Suggested picnic spots

Abu Dhabi
Umm Al Emarat Park
Yas Gateway Park
Delma Park
Al Bateen beach
Saadiyaat beach
The Corniche
Zayed Sports City
 
Dubai
Kite Beach
Zabeel Park
Al Nahda Pond Park
Mushrif Park
Safa Park
Al Mamzar Beach Park
Al Qudrah Lakes 

Electoral College Victory

Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate. 

 

Popular Vote Tally

The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.

GAC GS8 Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh149,900

Huddersfield Town permanent signings:

  • Steve Mounie (striker): signed from Montpellier for £11 million
  • Tom Ince (winger): signed from Derby County for £7.7m
  • Aaron Mooy (midfielder): signed from Manchester City for £7.7m
  • Laurent Depoitre (striker): signed from Porto for £3.4m
  • Scott Malone (defender): signed from Fulham for £3.3m
  • Zanka (defender): signed from Copenhagen for £2.3m
  • Elias Kachunga (winger): signed for Ingolstadt for £1.1m
  • Danny WIlliams (midfielder): signed from Reading on a free transfer
From Zero

Artist: Linkin Park

Label: Warner Records

Number of tracks: 11

Rating: 4/5

Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

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Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
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Dust and sand storms compared

Sand storm

  • Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
  • Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
  • Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
  • Travel distance: Limited 
  • Source: Open desert areas with strong winds

Dust storm

  • Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
  • Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
  • Duration: Can linger for days
  • Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
  • Source: Can be carried from distant regions
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1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull

2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight

3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge

4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own

5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed

Packages which the US Secret Service said contained possible explosive devices were sent to:

  • Former first lady Hillary Clinton
  • Former US president Barack Obama
  • Philanthropist and businessman George Soros
  • Former CIA director John Brennan at CNN's New York bureau
  • Former Attorney General Eric Holder (delivered to former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz)
  • California Congresswoman Maxine Waters (two devices)
SANCTIONED
  • Kirill Shamalov, Russia's youngest billionaire and previously married to Putin's daughter Katarina
  • Petr Fradkov, head of recently sanctioned Promsvyazbank and son of former head of Russian Foreign Intelligence, the FSB. 
  • Denis Bortnikov, Deputy President of Russia's largest bank VTB. He is the son of Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB which was responsible for the poisoning of political activist Alexey Navalny in August 2020 with banned chemical agent novichok.  
  • Yury Slyusar, director of United Aircraft Corporation, a major aircraft manufacturer for the Russian military.
  • Elena Aleksandrovna Georgieva, chair of the board of Novikombank, a state-owned defence conglomerate.
How the bonus system works

The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.

The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.

There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).

All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.

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The Pope's itinerary

Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport


Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial


Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport

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Company profile

Date started: 2015

Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki

Based: Dubai

Sector: Online grocery delivery

Staff: 200

Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends

The specs

Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

Updated: January 16, 2022, 2:50 PM`