In the realm of music, 2016 has been blessed with a plethora of incredible albums to counteract the numerous deaths of incredible high-profile artists. The loss of icons like Prince, Phife Dawg and David Bowie has been eased by the artistry of Frank Ocean, Chance the Rapper and Beyoncé.

Closing out the prosperous year for music is The Weeknd who released his third studio album “Starboy” on Nov. 25.

The 18-track LP follows the Toronto-based singer’s critically acclaimed 2015 album of selfish sexual desires, adventures of debauchery and a romance with drugs “Beauty Behind the Madness.” The first noticeable difference in the two albums exists within their album covers, with “Beauty Behind the Madness” possessing a fractured black and white photo of Weeknd. “Starboy’s” cover is dipped in an appetizing color pallet to coincide with its colorful songs such as “Rockin’” and “Secrets.”

Despite the color nature of the songs, Weeknd’s lyrical content remains as dark as “Beauty Behind the Madness,” reassuring that he is still the same drug-infatuated, sex-crazed deviant listeners fell for throughout his career.

“I just won a new award for a kids show, talking ‘bout a face numbing off a bag of blow/I’m like g—— b—- I am not a Teen Choice, g——, b—-, I am not a bleach boy,” Weeknd sings on “Reminder.”

These dark messages are so expertly laced within the aforementioned colorful sounds; it is appropriate to consider this to be the madness behind the beauty.

“Starboy” is still as egocentric as its predecessor, but features an interesting personality shift for Weeknd as his madness is combatted by his newfound tolerance to the prospect of falling in love.

His beauty results in sensual, romance-inspired tracks such as “True Colors” where he adopts an R&B sound that would have fit right in the ‘90s or even “Love to Lay” where he uncharacteristically grows infatuated with casual sex. One of the more lovable tracks is nothing more than merely an interlude titled “Stargirl Interlude” which features Lana Del Rey, the song’s co-writer and one of Weeknd’s “closest friends in the industry.”

“I just want to see you shine ‘cause I know you are a stargirl,” he sings on the song.

Other features on the album include Future on “All I Know,” a captivating verse from Kendrick Lamar on the John Mayer-esque “Sidewalks” and two appearances from the ingenious duo Daft Punk. The French House Robots join Weeknd on the album’s synthesizer-driven futuristic title track and the uplifting, funky final track “I Feel It Coming” which feels heavily influenced by Toto’s hit single “Africa.”

All the beauty and madness that coexists on “Starboy” creates a sonically pleasing album, yet lacks much innovation in a time where R&B artists such as Frank Ocean, Vic Mensa and Del Rey continue to explore new sounds.

Weeknd manages to wonderfully embraces his inner-Prince or David Bowie, the latter of which inspired the album’s title, yet these were qualities that existed on “Beauty Behind the Madness.”

This does not take away from album’s resonance as there is still much brilliance to the madness and beauty of Weeknd’s artistry and character. “Starboy” is out of this world in spite of its lack of innovation, still cementing Weeknd as one of the premier sources for genius in music.