The Weeknd - Starboy
Recommended by Ki
I've heard a lot about this album, not just from Ki but from all around the internet. With that being said, many people seem to be divided on the album. There are a lot of Ki's out there that are loving this thing to death, but I've also seen quite a few people calling this album horrible. I have never really seen the hype behind The Weeknd, but I'm hoping for the sake of this album (especially since it's almost 70 minutes long) I can learn to like him.
Starboy: Kicking things off we have the lead single from the album which is produced by Daft Punk of all people. I'm not huge on The Weeknd's rather feeble voice on this track, but the production is brilliant. The more the song goes on the more infectious it gets. This is a pretty strong pop song and I hope the rest of the tracks and live up to this.
Party Monster: Trap influence production on this one with the heavy synths. I like the production a lot, it seems to draw from synth-pop just as much as it does trap and it makes for a nice crossing off the two. With that being said the lyrics are pretty cringe as I've never been one for cheesy sex talk (unless it's Kanye doing it, ya feel?) If you ignore The Weeknd though this is another solid track. The vocals get a bit more tolerable near the end.
False Alarm: I like the upbeat production, not so much the crooning vocals though. This sounds like something Kavinsky would have produced which is totally awesome, I like the catchy hook too. I still have an issue with The Weeknd's ***gy ass voice but I mean hey this is pretty tight regardless.
Reminder: Hmmmm, not bad. The production on this one isn't as impressive though. It's making me focus more on the Weeknd and what he's saying, and that doesn't really do the album justice.
Rockin': This is a beat straight from that new Rome Fortune record (which is a good thing, I loved the production on that.) This is pretty catchy, can't stop nodding my head. Unfortunately The Weeknd is still there doing his vocal thing which again, I'm not really into. If I'm being totally honest I think this would make a much better instrumental album. The hook is kind of fuego here though.
WE CAN JUST KEEP ROCKIIIIIIN'
Secrets: Another throwback on this track. Ode to 80s synth pop here and omg is it awesome. Easily the best song on the album so far, the lyrics don't bug me and the vocals work great with the music. Wow, I hope this is the direction the second half of the album is headed in.
True Colors: This sounds more like the production you would get on a
PR&B album, something in the line of a Frank Ocean. Yeah, no thanks. The Weeknd doesn't have sexy enough lyrics of a nice enough voice to make this work.
Stargirl Interlude: Oh hey, speaking of artists I've never really "gotten" it's Lana Del Rey. Well, I'm hoping that maybe she can excite me here. Yeah, not bad at all. Nice voice, nice production. I don't know why she's straining her voice so hard during the chorus though, seems awfully strange. Decent interlude.
Sidewalks: Seems like some more traditional hip-hop production on this track, but with some serious Spanish flair. The auto-tune doesn't work all that well though. Oh ****, it's KDot. This verse is kind of... disappointing to say the least.
Six Feet Under: Another trap influenced track here. 808s, rattling hi-hats, y'all know the drill. Not making much of an impression on me, unfortunately.
Love To Lay: We're back to that classic synth sound and I love it. The Weeknd needs to release an album a la Emotion and I would probably come around to him. He does quite well with these old school synth tracks. Yeah this is pretty great, not quite Secrets but still a top track.
A Lonely Night: This one has a little bit of that throwback again, but it isn't done quite as well as it was on Secrets and Love To Lay. Not bad though. This reminds me of the one Weeknd song I actually really like (which is coincidentally produced by Kavinsky.)
Attention: The hook on this song reminds me a lot of Hotline Bling. I guess that's a positive though because it's pretty catchy. This is a decent cut.
Ordinary Life: God, I hate those high pitched noises he made at the start of this track, yikes.
"Like David Carradine, I'mma die when I ***."
...
...
No.
Nothing Without: This is by the books typical Weeknd track. Not a lot to say about it really, lots of emphasis on the hook of the track but it doesn't stick all that well.
All I Know: This is quite a bit better. I like the sparkly synths in the background and the heavy bass. I'm also a Future junkie so whenever he's in a track I'll be all for it. Future had the best feature on the album so how ya like that? Good ****.
Die For You: I like the laid back production on this song and the way it builds into the chorus is quite nice. This is another track that I enjoy strictly for the instrumental.
I Feel It Coming: More of that good old school synth vibe on the closing track. I like this and I think it was certainly a strong way to end the album, which is well needed considering this thing was overly long as far as I'm concerned. Definitely boosted by the fact that Daft Punk produced another gem here.
Final Verdict: So there's a lot to be said about this album. I can understand why there are people like Ki that absolutely love this album, and I can also understand why some aren't into it at all. Personally, I find myself directly in the middle unable to jump to either side. I thought this thing was overly long, contained some horrible lyrics at time, and continuously showcased how mediocre The Weeknd's voice can be. With that being said, I also feel like this album had some stellar tracks, a load of great producers and incredibly produced tracks, and even a few moments were, for the first time ever while listening to the Weeknd, I didn't mind his voice or his lyrics. In it's entirety this album does so much right and so much wrong that I can't help but hold it right at that midway 50% line, but that's enough to give it the pass.
Pass