The Weeknd's Trilogy is very arguably the most groundbreaking body of music released throughout the 2010s, if not ever released. The 30-song compilation is widely regarded as some of the best work of all time, and being that there are so many songs to choose from, it's only right that things get narrowed down to the top five (though it's all opinionative, of course). This was as hard as it gets.
Very Honorable Mentions - The Party & The After Party, House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls
The Party & The After Party was my favorite song ever written for years. Younger me wanted nothing less than to make it his personality, as the first time I'd heard the second part, specifically the "you" parts, I was puzzled about life. That night, I remember it was thunderstorming, and as the rain pounded on the windows of the house I was sleeping in, I was glad to be up, just because I was thinking about the song. I was truly in love with this song, and no other song could have touched it, not even by Abel. When the younger generation of TikTok decided to take the first half of this one about a little over a year ago, I tried to just deny it at first. Though they mostly only took the first half, this was a shocker and a heartbreaker to any real Weeknd fan. The fact that there's 12-year-old iPad kids that know this music makes me question the sanity of this earth, and I'll just say the same for House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls, because this was always my second favorite song of all time. I could write another paragraph about this one, but I'll just say that everyone's first time hearing Glass Table Girls should be documented. Oh well. I'll exclude these two from the top five, as true fans of Tesfaye mourn these occurrences, but the truth is, most TikTok trends blow over, so we truly can only hope and pray.
5. Outside
I've already made this clear in a previous article, but the transition from Montreal into Outside into XO / The Host is some of the darkest, perspective-changing music ever put out. I love each of those songs to death, but Outside is a typical example of Abel Tesfaye channeling both his love and feelings of emptiness into a track where he doesn't even talk about himself feeling empty, but you can just tell by the tone of the music. That's his most masterful skill, and this song channels it to absolute perfection.
4. High for This
This chilling opening track is often compared to Phil Collins' In the Air Tonight. From the beginning of the song, the confusing sounds give listeners the message that this won't be similar to anything they've heard.
3. Gone
This 8-minute piece is meant to serve as a breather after the ride we get taken on with The Zone, The Birds Pt. 1, and The Birds Pt. 2 on Thursday. Though it isn't the last song on the album, this song is like a final high to the middle of the ride that Thursday takes you on. Gone sounds unlike anything else on Trilogy, and I don't think Tesfaye could replicate it again. The sounds on this one feel otherworldly, easily his best job of incorporating as many sounds as possible. My favorite part of this song is Tesfaye's response to negative claims/opinions about him, as he claims, "Why don't you f*ck what you heard, baby."
2. The Zone ft. Drake
This song is so good that the song before it on Thursday, with full respect to it, is literally just meant to get you ready for The Zone. It's said that this one was created on Abel's first night in the studio with Trilogy producer Illangelo. It was late at night, and they had done a few songs when Abel got the idea to call up Drake, as they'd never met in person before. An entire mixtape revolves around this song; it is literally the climax of a whole body of work. The Weeknd's voice serves as the instrumental, and after he spits for 5 minutes, you get a minute of silence to think about what you just heard, and then Drake delivers probably his best verse ever. Then, you get another minute of silence to think about what you just heard. The story goes that someone's phone went off towards the end of the initial recording, which annoyed them at first, but once Abel heard it back, he rocked with it. This explains the chilling piano sound in the back that ends the song.
1. Loft Music
This song is Trilogy in one song. The first half delivers one of the best verses of all time, as Tesfaye raps over a sample of Beach House's Gila in what is likely the best usage of sampling in music history. The first half is upbeat, as Tesfaye seems excited about the night ahead of him: he's got his loft secured, he's got some women coming over, and he's got his guys, who he'll never put anything over, as he'll die protecting him and his crew. The second part doesn't have many words in it, except sounds that scream pain and confusion.
Of course, everything is subject to opinion These are just my favorites, and it's most important to appreciate the music for what it is.
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