What's up everyone? This is the Chart Critic returning for my third Billboard Breakdown on theodysseyonline. Last week, I covered Metallica's Hardwired... to Self-Destruct, and I also discussed my Top 20 songs of the week, as well as who I thought was the biggest snub of the 2017 Grammy Nominations (seriously, though, no Alessia Cara?). This week, we're going big, as we'll be looking at the latest from The Weeknd, what Billboard ranked as their #1 album of 2016, and my new Top 20 songs of the week. Let's get started with All About Albums.

All About Albums: The Weeknd's Starboy

I'll be honest, I could not tell for the longest time if I really liked this album or not. I have really enjoyed The Weeknd in the past, but after initial listens, this 18-song project left me feeling undecided as to how I felt about it. So, I did what any good music critic would do (or maybe it's just me), and I listened to it again and again. After the fifth listen of the album, I realized that if I got on here and claimed that this album wasn't good, I would be lying to myself and to you all. I wouldn't say the album is great, but I will absolutely say that it is good. Before I get into it more, if you like this project or The Weeknd in general, check out his other studio albums Kiss Land and Beauty Behind the Madness, or even his compilation album of mixtapes titled Trilogy.

To me, any album that exceeds 12-14 songs is putting itself at a great risk of damaging its reputation. It's simple, the more songs you have on the album, the more of a chance that there are some songs that are below average or out of place on the project. The thing about Starboy that keeps it from being great to me is that it slightly misses in a few spots, particularly in the first half of the album. While the first three songs, "Starboy," "Party Monster," and "False Alarm" are potentially my three favorites on the album, and while "Reminder" slows things down yet keeps the momentum going from the first three, songs like "Rockin'," "Secrets," and "Stargirl Interlude" just did not do it for me. I thought "Stargirl Interlude" had a lot of potential with Lana Del Ray as a feature, but the middle portion of it makes me feel like the potential was wasted. I even felt that "Sidewalks," which is a song that I like and features Kendrick Lamar, didn't quite reach its potential because of the auto-tune involved. I felt that if The Weeknd is telling a story of going from humble beginnings to fame and fortune, than his hook would have been better off sounding more authentic. I can't forget about "True Colors," though, as that was from the first half and one of my favorite tracks on the album.

The second half of the album is better than the first half in my opinion, and it has to do with an exceptional string of songs from track #10 to track #15. In particular, "Love To Lay," "Ordinary Life," and "Nothing Without You" are songs that I really enjoyed, and they helped to convince me that this album was in fact a good album. Track #16, "All I Know," kind of put the brakes on things for me (Future is featured, and I'm not a fan of his), but "Die For You" and "I Feel It Coming" finish this album incredibly strong in my opinion. "Die For You" is so good in my opinion that I would almost argue that it should have finished the album over "I Feel It Coming," but that is just nit-picking. In the end, even though Starboy really puts itself out there with 18 songs, there is a lot of good-to-great songs on the album, and even the few bad ones aren't terrible or out of place. The Weeknd crafted an exceptional album that showed off his vocal range, his work ethic (no song feels forced or lacking in effort), and his storytelling ability (note the maturing of The Weeknd from "Rockin'" to "Die For You").

What I would like to do with each album that I review is to name one song that I would choose if I had to try and convince someone to give the artist and album involved a listen. Essentially, I am picking my favorite track, but also the one I think defines the artist and the album the best. For Starboy, there are a lot of songs that I really enjoyed, but if I had to pick just one, it would be "False Alarm." Not only does that track have an epic music video to go along with it, but I feel like it's The Weeknd doing what he does best, which is mixing interesting lyrics with a sound that is unlike anyone else's that you'll hear on the charts.

Top Tracks: My Favorite Songs of the Week

What I would like to do with the Top Tracks portion of the Billboard Breakdown is to present my favorite songs from the week's Hot 100 Chart. In order to do this, I make sure that I have listened to each song on the chart, and then I break it all down in a way where I can find my Top 20 songs. I like to do this with the Hot 100 because it keeps me listening to all genres of music, and what and who is currently popular within them. So, without further adieu, here are my favorite songs (in no particular order) from the week of December 17th, 2016:

#1 - "False Alarm" (The Weeknd)
Like I just said, a great example of how The Weeknd sets himself apart from other chart-topping artists
#2 - "Bad Things" (Machine Gun Kelly x Camila Cabello)
Quickly becoming one of my favorite Hot 100 songs of the year, so I'm glad to see it climbing the charts
#3 - "i hate u, i love u" (gnash ft. olivia o'brien)
Another interesting and smooth-sounding collaboration that has climbed the charts this year
#4 - "Love Me Now" (John Legend)
Loved this song on first listen, love it now (pun intended)
#5 - "Closer" (The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey)
I don't know why, but I'm STILL not ready to let go of this song
#6 - "Die For You" (The Weeknd)
When you hear the beginning of Starboy, you don't expect a song like this to appear at the end, but it does, and it's fantastic
#7 - "Scars To Your Beautiful" (Alessia Cara)
It's nice to see songs like this succeeding, especially on the radio charts
#8 - "Party Monster" (The Weeknd)
I'm not usually one for songs with lyrics like "I've been poppin', just took three in a row," but plain and simple, this song is a jam
#9 - "Wanna Be That Song" (Brett Eldredge)
Some country songs just give off vibes that I can't feel in any other genre, and this is certainly one of them
#10 - "This Town" (Niall Horan)
Even if Niall is already going on a "semi-hiatus," this song makes me look forward to his complete return to making music
#11 - "Ride" (twenty one pilots)
This song's peak in popularity may be in the past, but it has so many layers, and I hear something new nearly each time I listen to it
#12 - "Song For Another Time" (Old Dominion)
Creative lyrics and a catchy hook make for one of the best songs on the Country charts right now
#13 - "Mercy" (Shawn Mendes)
Mendes' powerful vocals keep this song in my Top 20 once again
#14 - "What They Want" (Russ)
After hearing this song and learning some more about Russ in interviews and such, I'm slowly becoming a fan of his
#15 - "Capsize (Frenship & Emily Warren)
Honestly, as long as this song is on the charts, it will likely be in my Top 20
#16 - "Water Under The Bridge" (Adele)
A great track from Adele's Grammy-nominated 25 album, which has produced a great list of singles
#17 - "Nothing Without You" (The Weeknd)
"The one I couldn't stand to be with was myself" is one of my favorite lyrics from the Starboy album as a whole
#18 - "Say You Won't Let Go" (James Arthur)
The lyrics aren't generic love song lyrics, and while I was skeptical of them at first, that actually makes this song better in my opinion
#19 - "A Guy With A Girl" (Blake Shelton)
Blake just won The Voice with Sundance Head, but I'm sure being on my Top 20 is more important to him
#20 - "Love To Lay" (The Weeknd)
With this song, The Weeknd now takes up 5 spots in my Top 20, which says just how awesome some of the songs on his album were.

Rant: Billboard's #1 Album of 2016

The rant section of these Billboard Breakdown's is where I take a recent news story in music and give my reaction in the form of once sentence. By keeping it to one sentence, I challenge myself to get my viewpoint across quickly. This week, we're talking about Billboard.com's choice as the best album of 2016.

"Billboard chose Beyonce's Lemonade as their top album of 2016, and don't get me wrong, I think Beyonce is incredibly talented, but I just don't think Lemonade deserves the crazy amount of praise that it gets, and I would dare to say that it has become overrated."

That's all the Chart Critic has for this week! Check back next time to see a new album review, a new Top 20 song list, and another quick rant. Happy holidays!