Don't get me wrong; I like The Weeknd. He has an amazing voice, a unique style, and some great songs. It's just that this album disappointing me. I told myself that I would buy a signed copy of this album if it lived up to it's expectations, but it just couldn't. It's actually eighteen songs long, if you include the interlude, which would be okay if most of the tracks were actually good, but Starboy could be cut in half, keeping the best songs, and it'd still be the same quality. Because of the length and unremarkable quality of about half the album, I'm not going track by track this time. Instead, I'll discuss the highlights of the album - and oh god, the highlights are great - and then briefly discuss the rest.
Highlights : Starboy, Party Monster, False Alarm, Stargirl Interlude, Sidewalks, A Lonely Night, Six Feet Under, All I Know, I Feel It Coming
The opening track, the lead single, and titular song "Starboy" is one of the best lead singles I've ever heard. "Starboy" is a mix between electropop and rap with those signature dark roots that Abel always brings to the table. Featuring Daft Punk, the first thing a listener notices is the absolutely captivating bassline. The lyrics are chock full of drugs and money, as The Weeknd proclaims the ending to his BBTM era. The whole songs reeks of cocky arrogance, as Abel claims that he's a "motherf*ckin Starboy" in the chorus, but these bragging rights are well earned; this song is just coming up on 300 millions plays on Spotify as I write this, and it deserves them. "Starboy" sets the precedent for the quality of music on this album, and that's both a good and bad thing; it's sad to see that for the most part, Abel can't live up to these lofty expectations he set for himself.
A couple tracks later comes "False Alarm", which is an amazing piece unlike anything that Abel has done before. It's a violent song, and it's almost dance-punk. The frantic, unique chorus and dark lyrics. It shows an unstable, damaged side of Abel that we don't really ever see. The production changes from dancy to violent in mere moments, and the long, middle-eastern inspired, instrumental outro to this track gives me chills. This song pushes boundaries, and it'd be amazing if more of this experimental vibe persisted for more tracks on Starboy. Sadly, this is a one of a kind.
"Sidewalks" is The Weeknd's take on crafting an urban rap track, and he does a rather good job. From the Jay-Z-esque intro, the grungy instrumental, and the theme of "starting from the bottom and working up", this song has all of the makings of a rap hit. His opening verse is strong, with powerful punchlines like "too many people think they made me / well, if they really made me, then replace me". Later, Kendrick comes in with one of his best verses this year. It's nice and long, and the second part of it is really legendary. I do love how he ties into the theme (and I use that word lightly) with the lines "She wanna hang with a Starboy / the sun and the moon and the stars, boy". Even though I don't like the parts where he says "say say say" (and I know why he does it, but still), I can respect this track.
"Six Feet Under" is a refreshing return to mixtape-era The Weeknd. It's a trap rap track with an uncredited feature from Future, and they honestly work really well together. I'm not a fan of Future, but he's really fitting on Starboy. The verses tell the story of a girl working hard in all of the wrong ways and the chorus is dark and heavy. Metro Boomin' did an amazing job in this production, as well. With that all being done, that's not all that The Weeknd and Future have for us. Future returns later, credited this time, on the Cashmere Cat produced "All I Know". It sound like "Low Life" from earlier this year, but so much better. This track starts slow, and gradually builds up speed and intensity, before exploding into the long and powerful, growling Future verse; one of his best in a LONG time. It reminds me of exactly why Future is popular in the first place; sometimes he surprises me with some amazing drill bars.
"Reminder" is a pretty nice track, with some great lyrics, particularly the memorable first prechorus: "I just won a new award for a kid's show / talkin bout a face hummin' off a bag of blow / I'm like, godd*mn b*tch, I am not a teen choice." The tone of this song is nonchalant and light, and I love the "bah bah" he does during the chorus. This song is just uncharacteristically happy for Abel, and I can appreciate it. Following it is "Rockin", a dancey but ultimately unoriginal track. I can totally see this song becoming a radio hit. The album as a whole ends with "I Feel It Coming", the second Daft Punk collab; Abel is again really happy on this track. It has that classic MJ feel, and it's quite enjoyable.
And... besides two tracks I'm leaving for the end, that's about all of the notable, non-interchangeable material on Starboy. A huge chunk of this album is just basic filler tunes; these songs are all made better thanks to Abel's voice, of course, but for the most part they're formulaic and interchangeable. This consists of "Secrets", "True Colors", "Love To Lay", "A Lonely Night", "Attention", "Ordinary Life", "Nothing Without You", and "Die For You". These tracks are for the most part R&B, and in between the horrible hooks on "Nothing Without You" and "Attention", the lame lyrics on "True Colors", and the strange and hypersweet way that he says "My love" and "My friend" in the verses on "Secrets" and "Love To Lay", respectively, most of these song are just trying too hard and don't fit with the theme of cocky arrogance that Abel gave to us on "Starboy". "Ordinary Life", an overly explicit track, is trying far too hard to be "The Hills" pt. 2. Out of all of the tracks I listed, I think that "A Lonely Night" is the best; it has a really nice, lofty chorus, with those great retro vibes that The Weeknd is so proficient at.
Finally, the highest points of the album that are at the same time the lowest points for me. "Party Monster" and "Stargirl Interlude". "Party Monster" is a dark song with some trap influences about Abel's lavish lifestyle. This track has really heavy production, and it really has two distinct sides; the side where he embraces this lifstyle, and the other side, where he says "I'm good, I'm good, I'm great", as if trying to convince himself. These doubts come to a climax in the bridge, where the uncredited Lana Del Rey acts as Abel's conscience, singing of how paranoid he is. Her voice is so dreamy that the viewers actually believe that she's telling the truth. As her and Abel take turns, eventually the song breaks down into a distorted, more upbeat version of the hook, reinforcing even further that there's something fundamentally wrong, and the song ends as she tells Abel that he's paranoid for the last time. "Stargirl Interlude" is another track with Lana Del Rey, with her signature west-coast production for this instrumental. She talks about how she wants to be with the "Starboy", as she reaches notes that no one knew that she could manage. The song fades out, as Abel sings :"I just want to see you shine, because I know you are a Stargirl." This song is far too short, of course, but then again, it's an interlude.
The thing about those two tracks that I hate is how it makes me realize how great Starboy could be if it had any sort of thematic direction, like Trilogy did. If the album was based around that cocky arrogance from the opening track, undermined by the doubts that his conscience sings to him, played by Lana Del Rey, I think that this could be the album of the year for me. Instead, we have this unorganized mess of songs that is just completely full of filler. Honestly, this album could be cut in half and it'd be the same. The highs of this album are really high, but the majority is just a forgettable blob.
Final Verdict:
66/100
Favorite Tracks: Party Monster, Stargirl Interlude, Starboy, False Alarm, Six Feet Under
Least Favorite Tracks: True Colors, Secrets, Ordinary Life
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