Reception
NME reviewer John Harris wrote that Star "finds Tanya Donelly venting the pop sensibilities that were occasionally allowed to surface during her time with Throwing Muses", praising it as "a rare thing; a pop album that's streaked with themes that are usually the preserve of art-rock bores." Q's Mark Cooper raved that Donelly shows a "newfound confidence" and demonstrates "her ability to blend pop drive with the Muses' moody atmospherics and labelmates like the Cocteau Twins." In Melody Maker, Jim Irvin found that as a whole, the album shows "a depth and variety only hinted at" by its singles, which he felt sounded more effective "when heard in proximity to the darker material." Kevin Ransom of Rolling Stone said that Donelly's "free-verse lyrics and metaphorical overreach" suggested the influence of Bob Dylan, which Ransom welcomed as "a very good sign" at a time "when too many alternative-rock bands worship at the Church of Perpetual Grunge and Dissonance". Los Angeles Times journalist Chris Tinkham commented that Donelly "deliver[s] her haunted blues and surreal rock with assurance and adventure."
Stephanie Zacharek was more reserved in her praise in Entertainment Weekly, complimenting the music on Star while finding Donelly's lyrics awkward at times. Orlando Sentinel critic Parry Gettelman, however, wrote that Donelly often "lapses into that current bane of college rock, the baby-girl voice, sounding like a cross between Julianna Hatfield [sic] and Marilyn Monroe."
In 1994, Star was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album, while Belly were nominated for Best New Artist. The band won Best Modern Rock Act at the Boston Music Awards, with Star winning the Debut Album of the Year award. In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that the album "remains an enchanting debut" and marked the point where Donelly's songwriting, which "began to blossom" on Throwing Muses' The Real Ramona (1991), "reaches fruition." Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani praised its "marriage of mainstream sensibilities and alt-rock aesthetic", which he found "makes Star transcend the grunge-rock label and, years later, continue to shine so brightly." In Mojo, Martin Aston highlighted the album's "classic pop tropes", which he noted would not have befitted the "anxious energy" of Throwing Muses, and which allowed Star to achieve "alt-rock crossover" success. Tim Peacock of Record Collector wrote that Star "is still Belly's most necessary platter" and endures as "a fetching concoction of dreamy, folk-tinged alt. rock ... long on concise, hooky songs".
