Customer Reviews

Airstreams & Satellites

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If, like me, you sometimes turn on the radio and wonder if there are any great songwriters anymore, any great vocalists anymore, or any great records anymore...

Then, you owe it to yourself to pick up Garrison Starr's "Airstreams & Satellites" on Vanguard. Garrison is the Real Deal and this CD has it all: wonderful songs with strong melodies, intelligent lyrics, tasteful arrangements, stellar vocal and instrumental performances, and crisp production.

Forget about the music industry's big annual awards shows (which are too often based on sales, popularity, or trends). THIS IS THE RECORD OF THE YEAR!

I first discovered G-Starr doing a solo acoustic set, opening for Melissa Etheridge. I picked up her last CD, "Songs from Take-off to Landing" and was quite impressed to hear that Garrison rocks! The disc was filled with incredible material, sweet, soulful, emotional singing, killer electric guitars, and powerful drums. It clearly demonstrated an emerging artist whom deserved instant stardom. Despite Garrison's young age, there was such a maturity, sensitivity, and depth to her songs that I couldn't imagine anything (even clueless radio programmers) holding her back. "Take-off" was THAT good. A career defining moment. How could she even top it?

Well guess what? She has! "Airstreams & Satellites" is even better!

G-Starr's music runs the gamut of styles: rock 'n roll, pop, Americana, country. The songs are personal and heartfelt. Often the wordplay is clever, even funny. There's an honesty to her work that is rare these days in our cynical, mass-produced, cookie-cutter society of consumers with short-attention spans.

"Airstreams & Satellites" is premium rock music for music lovers with an appreciation for GREAT songs, GREAT vocals, and GREAT instrumentation. Classic stuff. Rock of ages. The kind of record that gets listed on those "stranded on a island, which would you take?" polls.

Buy it. NOW!

"Airstreams & Satellites." Garrison Starr. Vanguard Records.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR!

(4 & 1/2 starrs) If there was any justice in the music biz - or if the record-buying public had any taste - this CD would be a hit. It's one of my favorite discs of 2004 so far. Ms Starr has got it all -- winning vocals that have both strength and vulnerability, solid backing musicians, really good songs, etc. Just about the entire album is good, but I especially like the songs "Wonderful Thing," "Hey Girl" and the title track. For a reference point only, Garrison's style falls roughly into the same category as that of two other equally fine singer-songwriters, Patty Griffin and Lucinda Williams. If you like their stuff, I bet you'll like this CD a lot too.

This is the first album I bought from this artist, and I didn't know much about her. I was blown away by this album it is so good. I would think "that song is great, there is no way the next song is going to be this good". And then the next song WAS as good, and sometimes better! She blends rock with country so smoothly that she is essentially neither, and both! I don't listen to country and I still loved it. She has a wonderful, honest voice and great lyrics. It isn't an album where you snooze through the verses waiting for the catchy chorus--from start to finish the songs are great. I cannot believe she isn't selling millions of this album--she should be on the radio all of the time!! I am definitely going to get more of her music.

I am new to Garrison Star. I have been hearing her "Sing" on various Americana stations and she held her own at the SXSW Women of Welk showcase against the incredibly rude or stupid Coyote Ugly dancers who decided the middle of her set was the perfect time to fire up the Jukebox (memo to concert promoters--a softcore strip club is not really the best venue for a fem-friendly showcase). However, what really sold me on her were the incredible harmony vocals she turned in on Mary Chapin Carpenters Between Here and Gone. And, her album does not disappoint.
The opening track "Gasoline" is an atmosphericly driving track about the frightening leap of faith in a relationship. "Sing" is an incredible song that manages the difficult task of being upbeat and inspiring without resorting to cliches or sap. This drifts easily into the musing "Hey Girl," which turns into the blistering rock of the summers best feel good song, the childhood infectious "Superhero." This gives way to the pretty, musing desperation of "Underneath the Wheel" which finds her asking "Where is the spark that always lights the way back home." And what's not to love about a song that opens with a tongue in cheek "I hate love, I really do" before going on to observe "But it's a wonderful thing, when it's happening." One of the catchiest songs on the cd is the howling "Like a Drug." Next comes the soft and pretty "Runner Up," which is followed by the blistering and accustatory "One Side." The album closes on a high note: The beautiful and poignant "Airstreams and Satellites, followed by a few moments of silence before she kicks into a really amazing hidden track (which makes me forget how much I hate hidden tracks as they have no liner notes, you can't skip to them and they haven't been a surprise since 1999) where the protagionist offers "She says mom/he is ment for me/but she turns me on/she turns me on" before inquiring "What is wrong, to be sorry for?/What is wrong?/Can you be sure, that God doesn't live here anymore?"
This is a wonderfully understated cd, a breath of fresh air in a world where many artists seem to mistake "screaming" and "passion." Instead of a raging inferino, Starr provides a simmering bed of coals that leap up into flames in unexpected places. (For example, the hidden track, basically a song about coming out to a mother, which not only speaks of God, but has a good relationship with that mother.) She definately fits into that group of artists loosely defined as "chick music," non-robo-Jewel, Sarah McLachlin, Emmylou Harris, Mary Chapin Carpenter. However, she has a distinctive voice, fresh writing style and just different enough instrumentals to win over the most aggressively Toby Keith listening boyfriend.

I picked up Garrison's previous CD at a live show last year and couldn't get over how good it was. I was thus thrilled to discover that she had a new album out, and rushed out to pick this one up. It didn't disappoint (unlike the latest CDs from some of my other favorite bands). The new crop of songs here is strong, maybe slightly closer to the pop end of the spectrum than "Songs...", but there's plenty of rock in this folk-rock still. Garrison's voice is really shown off here -- I'm so happy to hear a female singer/songwriter belt it out without any breathiness, warbles, or other vocal affectations. She's one of the best out there right now, and here's to hoping that she gets the attention she deserves.

It is beyond me why an artist as GREAT as Garrison Starr is not more known. I was lucky to see Garrison open for the Sundays ages ago (she was better than them!!!) :)~ I have followed Garrison since the beginning and she has only gotten better. I never thought she could beat "18 Over Me", but man was I wrong. This new CD is AWESOME!!! With women at the forefront of music right now, I think it is a GREAT disservice that this true talent is not a household name. Do yourself a favor....BUY this CD...you won't regret it!!! Avril who?? This is TRUE talent!!!!!!

Whew, Garrison why are you still not a Grammy Winner? I just don't understand. Maybe I'm crazy, but here we are with Garrison's third full length album, and the Magic still shines. Here are what i consider the strongest tracks on the album:

Gasoline..... a great , haunting opening track that I cannot get out of my head.

Sing.........the new anthem for hope and positivity in a negative world.

Wonderful Thing.....who won't be affected by the lyric, "I hate love, I really do, but there's something to be said for all the joy that came with you..." Amazing

Runner-Up........Leave it to Garrison Starr to re-invent the theme of Unrequited Love and a broken heart...we've all been through this

Like a Drug........My current favorite sing along, i just can't get it out of my head..."and i wish I could hold you.,.,...never mind my disease cause' your love is like a drug, and I don't wanna give it up!" ok now I have to play it as soon as i get out of work.

Airstreams & Satellites.....the final track (before the surprise hidden one) in which her voice truly lifts you off into outer space...Rarely has a modern vocalist been able to swoon me with her lilting soprano edges....

ok enough of my ranting, Get this cd NOW!!!

I was very lucky to have met GStarr on Monday March 16th the day Airstreams and Satellites hit the stores. What can I say but GREAT heart felt music. She is what the GOD given talent of music is all about. She even wrote a quick little song for me that day "Chocolate & peanutbutter are friends". She played Superhero and tears welled up though I didn't know why, until I bought the cd and listened to the words. She touched me in my soul and I will never forget her. Hope to see her soon one day. Until then the cds will play on and on.
Chef Bob
Birmingham, Alabama www.chefbob.com

I saw Garrrison a few weeks ago at an instore in Portland and she was awesome. Her new album rocks. So glad she redid "Superhero." That was always one of my favorite songs. Standouts include "Onesided," "Gasoline," and of course "Superhero." I have her first major album and that rocks, but she has matured so much.

From the moment I put this CD in and listed to "Gasoline", I was hooked on her voice. The clincher was when I listened to "Like A Drug"...you can't help but sing along to that one! Keep up the great work, GStarr! I look forward to your coming to Indy.