After a year of waiting, fans of Post Malone, whose real name is Austin Post, rejoiced at the recent release of his new album, “Hollywood’s Bleeding.” But does it live up to the hype? 

Post has become a top-selling artist in just a mere three years. “Hollywood’s Bleeding” is his third album and it has sold 489,000 equivalent album units from its release on Friday, Sept. 6 through Thursday, Sept. 12 in the U.S. This is the second-biggest first-week sales of any album in 2019. 

True Post Maloners will agree that, yes, his new album is good and includes good tracks, but “Beerbongs & Bentleys” is much better. The album released in April of 2018 is Post’s best album. It debuted with 461,000 equivalent album units and it was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2018 Grammys.

Though both albums reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, “Beerbongs & Bentleys” still reigns superior. So far, “Hollywood’s Bleeding” has one single – the sixth track, “Circles.” “Beerbongs & Bentleys” was supported by five singles: “Rockstar,” “Candy Paint,” “Psycho,” “Ball for Me” and “Better Now.” 

According to the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, “Beerbongs & Bentleys” broke the record for the most simultaneous top 20 entries with nine songs in the top 20 of the Hot 100. “Hollywood’s Bleeding” has been out for less than a month, so it is unreasonable to compare achievements, but the album doesn’t seem to have the potential to fulfill expectations set by his previous album.  

In “Hollywood’s Bleeding,” Post included a lot of feature tracks. This includes artists like: DaBaby, Future, Halsey, Ozzy Osbourne, Meek Mill, Lil Baby, Travis Scott, SZA and Young Thug. This attracts a wider audience of listeners and it is representative of the music he created. In “Beerbongs & Bentleys,” the album had an overall tone of upbeat, dance-type music. Even the album cover radiates a warm feeling rather than the dark album cover on “Hollywood’s Bleeding.” 

The overall energy of Post’s new album is dark and that is why his fans prefer his 2018 album. It came out at a time of warmth and the music matched. Now, the world is experiencing a lot of hardship and struggles and “Hollywood’s Bleeding” encapsulates that.