Customer Reviews

All the Plans

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

 

 

Starsailor are back on form on "All the plans", their fourth CD. The UK quartet peaked commercially with their sophomore disc "Silence is easy" which featured production from the legendary Phil Spector on a pair of tracks, as well as classics like "Four to the floor", "Fidelity", and "Shark food". However, they seem determined to regain back some of that glory with this release which brims over with melody, jangly guitars, and forlorn lyrics of loves won and lost.

It all sounds so familiar, yet still manages to be diverse and charming. The bouncy Country-ish "The Thames" features nice harmonies (and reminds me a wee bit of their countrymen The Coral), while the title track is a laid back Rock ballad awash in dreamy harmonies.

The incredibly catchy "Stars and stripes" takes a dig at imperialist America ("The stars and stripes/ won't keep you warm at night/ Won't keep those evil empires from your door"). "Hurts too much" is an incredibly beautiful and forlorn sounding ballad with lead vocalist James Walsh giving a heartfelt delivery. Opening the disc on an upbeat note is the chiming "Tell me it's not over" which sounds like it fell off of a Coldplay album. "Change my mind" is a Blues-ey song, "Listen up" is a choppy hand-clap driven affair, while closing track is the haunting acoustic ballad "Safe at home" (with some gentle percussion building in towards the final minute).

The deluxe edition of the disc features acoustic versions of 6 of the albums tracks (I actually prefer the more stripped versions of "The Thames" and "Stars and stripes" - the latter my favourite track in both its incarnations) as well as a bonus track, the Folky acoustic ballad "Merry go round".

Nothing ground breaking, but charming just the same.

What I love about this album is the essence of new acoustic rock combined with their past accomplishments of more striking lyrics. Every great group likes to mix it up a bit and these guys do it better than most. Please Starsailor, come to Canada and soon, Hamilton, Ontario would be great but our friends down the highway in Toronto will do.

Fantastic group, we love them, they deserve to be on the stage with U2, Coldplay, Elbow, Interpol etc. but in a their own, unique acoustic way. We love it here in Canada!

I have all Starsailor's previous CDs and eagerly looked forward to this newest entry. Although not as good as their innovative first album (they seem to be playing it safe), Walsh's songwriting and vocal skills are still far superior to many of today's more popular bands.

Terrific cd, very surprised, Starsailor continues to grow with each c/d. With fantastic,instrumentation, melody wistful vocals , and excellant lyrics. This band is top notch. It is a pity that they do not get to the states much, and that they can not extend some of the songs a little bit longer. This is a far more solid effort then the latest Doves album I was looking forward to, tighter and a very good c/d start to finish. I have been listening to them for years and they just keep getting better ....

When the acoustic teaser of a new album was offered earlier this year as a free download for the pre-order of All the plans I was delighted to hear that Starsailor had gone back to their roots. They, along with Travis and Coldplay, were the most promising of the bunch of bands that were born under the Radiohead shadow in the beginning of the decade. Travis went political and soon lost their warm appeal and the cheerful hope their lyrics suggested, while Coldplay grew to be the impossibly big act many love and hate in equal numbers.

Starsailor's story could be summarized as one of frustration: from the start they had all the odds on their side with a frontman gifted with a beautiful voice and a knack for writing songs at the same level of Jeff Buckley (find the relation with the brother and their name), the stripped-down sound that an increasing audience yearned for in the midst of electronic saturation, and the ambition to soar as the next big thing. It was that ambition that saw them crash against the wall with their second record, ironically produced in part by Phil Spector, which already showed signs of weakness. On the outside, their third record, was a desperate attempt to sound as a more commercial Rufus Wainwright. It also failed to reignite their disappearing flame.
It was no surprise that after a couple of years in the studio they announced their first public appearances as acoustic performances, most of them with just Walsh singing solo.

All the plans is not a groundbreaking record nor does it redeem Starsailor for past faults. It is a solid collection of tracks that picks up the sound from that lukewarm period between their debut and second album, when they experimented with electric guitars and elaborate string arrangements.
First single Tell me it's not over does a very good job in opening the album on an upbeat note. Boy in waiting is the only track that gives us a taste of Love is here, while Hurts too much, a beautiful ballad that was introduced during the live shows at the beginning of the year has lost some of its power with the inclusion of unnecessary instruments. This seems to be the recurrent problem with this band: they don't seem to grasp when they've got a jewel in their hands. The diamond in raw is there, one cannot deny that they can write a great tune without recurring to adorned language but the production is what lacks the magic. Just take any one track from the bonus disc with acoustic versions of the same songs and you will know exactly what I mean.

In the tradition of singer-songwriters (a term as obsolete as alternative rock) James Walsh could still be in the process for self-discovery, a quality that has irrefutably spawned unforgettable masterpieces, but the obvious need for acceptance is often confused with the direction he takes for music. If he ever takes a couple of steps back to listen to what he has done in the past and maybe learn some tips from his idols he will most certainly overcome the curse that has clouded them for years now. Closing track Safe at home ends the record with a particularly self explanatory line: But there's still a cloud hangs over my head / can't block it out so I'm going to bed. We hope not for the sake of all of us who still wait for the real Starsailor to come back.

I received the CD in a timely manner. Outwardly, the product was in good shape. Unfortunately, the song titles were recognized as those of a different album by the same band - probably a mistake in CD production. However, the distributor should know their product.