The Weeknd built Starboy around a simple idea: he wanted to sound like his old records, and he wanted to make them bigger. That tension defines the whole album. It is a record about fame, excess, and the cost of both, dressed in glossy synth-pop production that leans hard on the same hooks he has been using since his mixtape days. Whether that counts as growth depends on what you were hoping for.
Opening With Starboy
The title track sets the tone. “Starboy” runs 3:50 and opens with a slow build before the beat drops, a clear statement of intent. “Party Monster” follows at 4:09 and picks up the pace, a club-ready track that shows off his vocal range without pushing too far into new ground. “False Alarm” and “Reminder” close the first stretch, with “Reminder” earning particular attention for its self-aware lyric — “It just seems like niggas trying to sound like my old shit” — which reads as either a confession or a joke depending on your patience.
“Rockin'” and “Secrets” keep the tempo high, both running over four minutes and leaning on the same kind of melodic repetition that defined his earlier work. “True Colors” is the shortest track here at 3:26 and one of the best moments, a leaner, more direct song that cuts through the gloss. “Stargirl Interlude” at 1:51 is a breather, a quiet pause before the back half starts again.
Sidewalks Through I Feel It Coming
“Stargirl Interlude” leads into “Sidewalks,” a 3:51 track that slows things down and adds some texture. “Six Feet Under” and “Love to Lay” follow, both solid but unremarkable, the kind of songs that fill out an album without demanding much attention. “A Lonely Night” and “Attention” pick up the energy again, though neither breaks new ground. “Ordinary Life” and “Nothing Without You” are the weaker links, competent but forgettable, the kind of tracks that exist mostly to pad the runtime.
“All I Know” runs 5:21, the longest track on the record, and it shows some ambition — a longer arc, a fuller arrangement — but it does not land. “Die for You” and “I Feel It Coming” close the album on a stronger note, the latter a radio-ready single that actually earns its place as the final statement. Both tracks are built for repeat play, even if they do not rewrite the rules.
The Verdict
Starboy is not a bad album. It is a deliberately conservative one, a record that knows exactly what it wants to be and delivers it without much fuss. The best tracks — “True Colors,” “Sidewalks,” “I Feel It Coming” — stand apart precisely because they break the pattern the rest of the record is built on. The middle stretch drags, with “Ordinary Life” and “Nothing Without You” doing little more than filling space.
Pitchfork called the record a “watered-down retread” of the same old tropes, and Rolling Stone called it “clichés wrapped in prettier packaging.” Both assessments are fair, even if they miss the moments where the Weeknd actually reaches for something new. The self-aware lyric on “Reminder” suggests he knows exactly what he is doing, which makes the record’s failures feel more deliberate than accidental.
This is a record about being a star, and it plays like a man who has already made peace with the price. That is a theme, not a revelation. It is fine, not essential.
Key Facts
– Artist: The Weeknd
– Album: Starboy
– Release type: Album
– Tracks: 18
– Total running time: 68 minutes
– Metacritic score: 67/100
- Starboy3:50
- Party Monster4:09
- False Alarm3:40
- Reminder3:38
- Rockin’3:52
- Secrets4:25
- True Colors3:26
- Stargirl Interlude1:51
- Sidewalks3:51
- Six Feet Under3:57
- Love to Lay3:43
- A Lonely Night3:40
- Attention3:17
- Ordinary Life3:41
- Nothing Without You3:18
- All I Know5:21
- Die for You4:20
- I Feel It Coming4:29
