The Weeknd: Starboy ALBUM REVIEW

The Weeknd has been on an upward swing to stardom (pun not intended) ever since he dropped a reissue of his three mixtapes called Trilogy, which overshadowed (unsurprisingly) his major label debut, Kiss Land. Now, I'll be honest here, as I so often am, that I'm not that big of a Weeknd fan. In fact, Echoes Of Silence was the last full length project from him that I though was at least worth listening to in its entirety. Now that's not to say that singles from his last album, Beauty Behind The Madness weren't worthwhile, especially the likes of "Can't Feel My Face" and "Tell Your Friends". But that album as a whole was incredibly spotty and inconsistent, a trend that hasn't totally been squashed on his latest LP, Starboy, but one that has been alleviated a bit.

In fact, I'll go ahead and point out my main complaint with Starboy right off the bat; it has too much filler. Keep in mind, with 18 tracks here, there was bound to be some filler, but I think it is especially egregious here, because these filler tracks, such as "Party Monster", "Stargirl Interlude" and "All I Know" are roadblocks between what are in my opinion, some of The Weeknd's strongest material ever. If the tracklist had been trimmed down by around 5 or 6 songs, I honestly think this album would be a shoe-in for my top 10 albums.

But, lets not wallow in what could of been. Instead I will reinforce my point; tracks like "Starboy" and the Michael Jackson influenced "A Lonely Night" are excellent tracks that push The Weeknd's songs style in a new and exciting direction, while tracks like "Reminder" and "Sidewalks" play with instrumental styles that are familiar to The Weeknd, but he takes the opportunity to be a bit more personal, especially "Reminder", where for the first time, I feel like Abel is dealing with the subject of fame with some modicum of maturity.

Plus, I've gotta give it up to the likes of Daft Punk and Kendrick for elevating their respective tracks to excellence. This is the kind class in terms of features that previous Weeknd albums (and this one in some areas *cough* Future *cough*) have really lacked.

Would I recommend this LP, despite some serious filler and other issues? Why yes, I would. Like I said the tracks outside of the filler are excellent, and it is only because of those filler tracks that I'm not head over heels for Starboy. But all the same, this is an enjoyable LP for sure.

8.0/10