''Trilogy'' is the

major label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and t ...

debut of and first

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

by Canadian singer-songwriter

the Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...

. It was released on November 13, 2012, through XO and

Republic Records Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...

. It is composed of remixed and remastered versions of the songs contained in his 2011 mixtapes '' House of Balloons'', ''

Thursday Thursday is the day of the week between Wednesday and Friday. According to the ISO 8601 international standard, it is the fourth day of the week. In countries which adopt the "Sunday-first" convention, it is the fifth day of the week. Name Th ...

'' and ''

Echoes of Silence ''Echoes of Silence'' is the third mixtape by the Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd, released on December 21, 2011, by XO. Like his debut mixtape '' House of Balloons'' and his second mixtape ''Thursday'', the Weeknd collaborated with musi ...

'', and three previously unreleased songs, " Twenty Eight", "Valerie", and "Till Dawn (Here Comes the Sun)" were included as bonus tracks. ''Trilogy'' received generally positive reviews from critics, who reinforced the previous acclaim of the mixtapes, although some found it indulgent. It was promoted with three singles and the Weeknd's concert tour during September to November 2012. The album charted at number five in Canada and number four in the United States.

Background

In 2011, the Weeknd released a series of mixtapes—'' House of Balloons'', ''

'' and ''

''—and garnered both critical acclaim and a growing fan base. The mixtapes were principally recorded with producers

Doc McKinney Martin "Doc" McKinney (born August 27, 1971) is a Canadian Americans, Canadian-American record producer and songwriter. He was formerly one half of the duo (now solo act) Esthero. McKinney is widely credited with developing The Weeknd's sound as ...

and

Illangelo Carlo Montagnese (born July 29, 1987), known professionally as Illangelo, is a Canadian record producer, songwriter and mixing engineer who came to attention as long-time collaborator of The Weeknd. Having executive produced his 2011 mixtapes c ...

, at Dream House and Site Sound Studios in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

; additional sessions took place at Sterling Road Studios. The Weeknd released the mixtapes online as free digital downloads. In September 2012, the Weeknd signed with

in a joint venture with his own imprint label XO. The mixtapes were subsequently

remaster A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether Mastering (audio), audiophonic, Cinematography, cinematic, or Videography, videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The term ...

ed and compiled for ''Trilogy'', along with three previously unreleased songs, " Twenty Eight", "Valerie", and "Till Dawn (Here Comes the Sun)", which were recorded at Liberty Studios in Toronto. The three songs were included as bonus tracks at the end of each of the compilation's discs. To re-release the mixtapes' music for retail, the Weeknd had to obtain clearance from the recording artists he had originally

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: * Sample (graphics), an intersection of a color channel and a pixel * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of something * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample ...

for certain songs, including

Beach House Beach House is an American indie music, indie band formed in Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore in 2004 by current members Victoria Legrand (vocals, keyboards) and Alex Scally (guitar, keyboard, backing vocals, drum programming). Their work is char ...

's "Master of None" for "The Party & The After Party" and

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees ( ) were a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. Post-punk pioneers, they were widely influential, both over their contemporaries and later ...

's "

Happy House "Happy House" is a song written by Siouxsie Sioux and Steven Severin and recorded by their band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released as a single in March 1980 by record label Polydor, then later included on the band's third album, ''Kaleid ...

" on " House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls"; the sample of

Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton ( ; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer, actress, dancer, and model. Known as the " Princess of R&B" and "Queen of Urban Pop", she is credited with helping to redefine contemporary R&B, p ...

's " Rock the Boat" on "What You Need" was excluded from ''Trilogy''. On November 13, 2022, the Weeknd announced that he is considering removing ''Trilogy'' from streaming services due to both the original samples finally being cleared and him not being a fan of the updated mixes, telling fans to instead listen to the three mixtapes individually.

Promotion

The Weeknd toured in support of ''Trilogy'' during September to November 2012. He previewed the album at a listening party in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on October 24. It was his first major media event.

Singles

The album's

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

"Wicked Games" was released on October 22, 2012. with the video for its remastered version released four days prior, on October 18, 2012. The song charted at number 43 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

, it reached number 53 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 13 on the US

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

. The second single, " Twenty Eight" was released on November 13. Its music video was released on February 13, 2013, directed by

Nabil Elderkin Nabil Elderkin (born February 11, 1982) is an American-born Australian film and music video director and photographer, who is of Iranian and American descent. He is mononymously credited as Nabil in his videos. Elderkin has directed videos for ...

. " The Zone" was released as the album's third and final single three days later, its video shot in January 2012, and released on November 13, 2012.

Other songs

A video accompanying the track "

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

" was released on October 3, 2012, to promote the album's release. The Weeknd posted an open letter to his fans on his website, where he explained the meaning of the video.

Critical reception

''Trilogy'' was met with generally positive reviews. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 79, based on 19 reviews. Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 8.1 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus. John Calvert of ''

Fact A fact is a truth, true data, datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance. Standard reference works are often used to Fact-checking, check facts. Science, Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement by ...

'' dubbed it "an r'n'b album with few equals in terms of narrational ambition". Oliver Keens of '' Time Out'' wrote that the Weeknd "communicates" his character "so engagingly on ''Trilogy''" and found him "riveting when he juxtaposes debauchery with a delivery that finds him numb and on the verge of tears". Killian Fox of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' felt that the mixtapes' "production sounded great to start with" and that the "new material is unexceptional", but ultimately stated, "if you didn't pick up the mixtapes when they were going free, and can handle 160 minutes of beautifully crafted nihilism, this is an essential buy". Although he found the new songs "arbitrary in terms of sequencing", ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

''s Ian Cohen cited the compilation as "some of the best music of the young decade; judging by its already pervasive influence, it's safe to say ''Trilogy'' (or at least ''House of Balloons'') will be one of those records that will be viewed as a turning point when we look at the 2010s as a whole". In a mixed review,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's Andy Kellman felt that, despite moments when he is "distinctively gripping", the Weeknd lacks "restraint, as he is prone to repetitious whining that is more young boy than young

Keith Sweat Keith Sweat (born July 22, 1961) is an American singer, producer and songwriter. An early figure in the new jack swing musical movement, he is known for his collection of hits including "I Want Her," "Make It Last Forever (song), Make It Last For ...

". Kellman wrote that "now that he's with a label, he'll hopefully get some kind of filter that enables him to fulfill the promise heard in these 160 minutes of one-dimensional, occasionally exhilarating overindulgence ... His potential is as obvious as his lyrics are toxic". Kevin Ritchie of ''

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Na ...

'' found the music "impressive", but found the "lyrical ambivalence" to be "a bit one-note" by the album's second hour. Although he found its "excess oppressive" when listened to in its entirety, '' Drowned in Sound''s Robert Leedlum deemed ''Trilogy'' to be "untouchable" as a "comprehensive document of a specific moment in time". Paul MacInnes of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' wrote that its three discs "offer a rough trajectory of party, after-party and hangover, through which an assertive voice gives way to one that sounds more troubled", and concluded, "''Trilogy'' does remove some of the Weeknd's mystique – lyrical formulae become apparent, and examples of engaging melody recede as the collection advances. Whatever its limits, however, ''Trilogy'' remains a striking piece of work".

Commercial performance

''Trilogy'' charted at number five on the

Canadian Albums Chart The ''Billboard'' Canadian Albums is the official record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given ...

. In the United States, it debuted at number four on the ''Billboard'' 200, with first-week sales of 86,000 copies. By August 2015, the release has sold 558,000 copies in the United States. On March 18, 2019, ''Trilogy'' was certified

triple platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA). On June 10, 2022, the album was certified triple platinum by

Music Canada Music Canada is a non-profit Industry trade group, trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 in Toronto to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It also offers benefits to s ...

Track listing

Sample credits * "House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls" contains elements of "

", written by Susan Ballion, Peter Clarke,

John McGeoch John Alexander McGeoch (25 August 1955 – 4 March 2004) was a Scottish musician and songwriter. He is best known as the guitarist of the rock bands Magazine (1977–1980) and Siouxsie and the Banshees (1980–1982). He has been described as o ...

and

Steven Severin Steven John Bailey (born 25 September 1955) known professionally as Steven Severin, is an English songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer. He was the bassist of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees which he co-founded in 1976. ...

; and a sample of "Happy House", as performed by

. * "The Party & the After Party" contains elements of "Master of None", written by Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally; and a sample of "Master of None", as performed by

. * "Loft Music" contains elements of "Gila", written by Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally; and a sample of "Gila", as performed by Beach House. * "The Knowing" contains elements of "Cherry Coloured Funk", written by

Elizabeth Fraser Elizabeth Davidson Fraser (born 29 August 1963) is a Scottish singer. She was the vocalist for the band Cocteau Twins, who achieved success in the UK from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. Their studio albums '' Victorialand'' (1986) and '' H ...

Robin Guthrie Robin Andrew Guthrie (born 4 January 1962) is a Scottish musician, songwriter, composer, record producer and audio engineer, best known as the co-founder of the post punk alternative rock band Cocteau Twins. During his career Guthrie has ...

and

Simon Raymonde Simon Philip Raymonde (born 3 April 1962) is an English musician and record producer. He is the son of the late arranger and composer Ivor Raymonde. He is best known as the bass guitarist and keyboard player with the Scottish band Cocteau Twins ...

; and a sample of "Cherry Coloured Funk", as performed by

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins were a Scottish rock music, rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth on the Firth of Forth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981. In 19 ...

. * "Life of the Party" contains elements of "Drugs in My Body", written by

Björn Berglund Björn Berglund (16 October 1904 – 3 August 1968) was a Swedish stage and film and television actor. Biography Björn Nils Johan Gustaf Berglund was born in Jörn, Västerbotten County. He began his career in cinema in the 1939 Edvin Adolphso ...

, Pontus Berghe, Anthony Grier and

Vini Reilly Vincent Gerard "Vini" Reilly (born 4 August 1953) is an English musician and leader of the post-punk group the Durutti Column. He was known for his distinctively clean, fluid guitar style, which stood out from his punk-era contemporaries in its ...

. * "The Birds, Pt. 2" contains elements of "Sandpaper Kisses", written by Nicholas Bird, Steve Crittall, Alex McGowan and

Martina Topley-Bird Martina Gillian Topley-Bird (''née'' Topley; born 7 May 1975) is an English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who first gained fame as the featured female vocalist on trip hop pioneer Tricky (musician), Tricky's debut album, ''Maxi ...

. * "Montreal" contains elements of " Laisse tomber les filles", written by

France Gall Isabelle Geneviève Marie Anne Gall (9 October 1947 – 7 January 2018), known professionally as France Gall, was a French ''yé-yé'' singer. In 1965, at the age of 17, she won the Eurovision Song Contest 1965, tenth edition of the Eurov ...

. * "Outside" contains elements of "Go Outside", written by Madeline Follin and Ryan Mattos. * "Initiation" contains elements of "Patience", written by Georgia Anne Muldrow; and a sample of "Patience", as performed by Georgia Anne Muldrow.

Personnel

Credits for ''Trilogy'' adapted from liner notes. * Matthew Acton – assistant engineer, engineer * Hyghly Alleyne – executive producer * Rainer Millar Blanchaer – musician, producer * William Brock – guitar * Noel Cadastre – assistant engineer * Clams Casino – musician, producer *

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

– featured artist * Dream Machine – producer * Drop – artwork, design, executive producer * DropXLife – musician, producer * Adrian Eccleston – guitar * Adrien Gough – musician * Patrick Greenaway – guitar *

Juicy J Jordan Michael Houston III (born April 5, 1975), known professionally as Juicy J, is an American rapper and record producer. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, he is a founding member of the Southern hip-hop group Three 6 Mafia, established ...

– featured artist, vocals * Shin Kamiyama – assistant engineer *

– engineer, executive producer, instrumentation, musician, producer * Carlo "Illangelo" Montagnese – engineer, executive producer, instrumentation, mixing, musician, producer * Jeremy Rose – engineer, musician, producer * Mark Santangelo – mastering * Noah "40" Shebib – engineer * Ben Swantek – design * La Mar Taylor – executive producer, photography * Henry Walter – engineer, musician * The Weeknd – executive producer, musician, primary artist, producer * Jake Wilson – executive producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* * {{Authority control The Weeknd albums 2012 compilation albums 2012 debut albums Trip hop albums by Canadian artists Albums produced by the Weeknd Albums produced by Illangelo Albums produced by Cirkut Albums produced by Clams Casino (musician) Republic Records compilation albums Juno Award for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year recordings XO (record label) compilation albums