Estrella

Lycia | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 5, 1998)
• Original Release Date: May 5, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Projekt Records
• ASIN: B000006NJK
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #300,313 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A solid conclusion to Lycia's legacy, March 7, 2001

By 

Scott Sweet "Music Freak" (Colorado Springs, CO) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Estrella (Audio CD)

After this seventh album, Lycia closed shop. Somehow, they manage to blend the guitar haze of "Ionia," the dream-synth of "The Burning Circle and Then Dust," and the upbeat drum tracks of "Wake." The vocals are the same as always; Tara's the maiden, Mike is the ghost hovering nearby. Might as well go out strong.

"Estrella" continues Lycia's tradition of using sound to create a season. The opening track sets the scene: you're lying face-up in a grassy field at 7 pm. It's about 65 degrees. Slowly, you realize the atmosphere has peeled away, and you can see every single star. These songs get as close to a "summer" theme as anything in Lycia's past. After years of making music to beat the Arizona heat, it was time.

This is a soothing, hypnotic closing chapter for Lycia. After the autumn leaves have blown away and the snow has melted, "Estrella" invites the listener to look up and hear the stars dragging themselves across the sky.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LET ME SINK INTO THE SKY. . ., February 11, 2003

By 

Clarissa "MoonGoddess" (Ontario, California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Estrella (Audio CD)

Well the weather is cold and gloomy, the lights are dimmed, I have my moon candle burning with incense, it's pouring rain outside and Lycia has haunted my stereo, so what better time to write a review for it? ...

Everyone seems to be interpreting rather than explaining *Estrella* by Lycia so this is how I invision it... The lyrics, along with the icy soundscapes, bring to mind cold winter nights when the rain has all but fallen. Your standing outside, shivering beneath slick, barren trees as you take in and breathe out the crisp, fresh air. The darkened clouds begin to part in the sky now, which comes to reveal a beautiful, gaping sea of blinking eyes... Either that or I picture a glittery, silver moon with snowflakes dancing beneath the stars...

Lycia is just another band I've come to love that's signed to the darkwave-goth label 'Projekt' and this has only fueled my desire to delve further into their other works. I don't know what their other albums sound like but *Estrella* (which means star in Spanish) is very mellow with ambient synths and subtle drum/guitar programs by Mike Portfleet, who also contributes to some foreboding vocal touches. Tara is the leading lady however and her gorgeous layerings bleed into the background to compliment, rather than take away, from the music.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lycia does it again..., July 20, 1998

By 

Micah Newman (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Estrella (Audio CD)

After the departure of sideman instrumentalist David Galas, who contributed significantly to their previous two albums _Cold_ and _The Burning Circle And Then Dust_, Lycia are now just Mike and Tara. Tara has taken up some of the slack, although not in the same capacity; her swooning, blissful lyrics and vocals lead more than half of the songs, up from 3 on _Cold_ and just 2 on _Burning Circle_. They also demonstrate an increased stylistic range and clarity, as on the Dead Can Dance-ish "Tongues" and stark "El Diablo". Meanwhile, Mike returns with his bare, unique single-string guitar parts, thoughtful instrumentals ("Clouds In The Southern Sky", "Distant Fading Star"), and haunting, whispered vocals, as well as bringing back the simpler rhythmic forms of the earliest Lycia material. All in all, enrapturing and very satisfying, as only Lycia can be. Count yourself lucky, as I do, if you know and love them.