Song of Times

Starcastle | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 13, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: PROGROCK RECORDS
• ASIN: B000MM1DZM
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,178 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Glad They're Back - They Deliver!, May 3, 2007

By 

Peter Anderson (Levittown, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Song of Times (Audio CD)

In the 1970's Starcastle created progressive rock which had a rich, warm, ornate, multilayered sound. They avoided dissonance and kept the sound very positive. To me, their music communicated joy and a love of life. Their style featured a warm and melodious synth sound coupled with killer bass playing and dual (or even triple) guitars. Their album "Fountains of Light" was my favorite, in my opinion perfectly balancing all the instruments with layers of vocal harmonies into a unified whole. Well, I'm happy to say this new album (released thirty years after "Fountains of Light") lives up to the legacy! It contains the elements that made their sound unique, and expands and updates that sound! I am very happy with this new release and feel they have succeeded in creating a reunion album which shines brightly rather than merely being a pale reflection of former glory, as is so often the case with reunion albums.

I also had the good fortune of seeing Starcastle in concert recently at a progressive rock festival in Pennsylvania (RoSFest), and posted short videos I took of them on YouTube. The band was great, playing most of this new album as well as tons of the classic material from their first three albums. I assure you this new album, "Song of Times", is well worth getting.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The last, and possibly their best......, October 1, 2007

By 

Barry P. Saranchuk (Moosic, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Song of Times (Audio CD)

I can't believe the reviews here cutting this album down. This along with Fountains of Light could be the best album that this band has ever made!

The vocals are fine,and the harmonies shine too. The songs are well written and show a maturing over their early writing(too bad Gary Strater passed on before the album's release). But over all this ranks as a classic of our time in "classic era" sounding prog releases ,as far as I am concerned.

The production shows all the band's strengths....hot keyboard playing and bass sounds are nice and to the fore....tasty guitar licks too. But for fans of classic era Yes,this band delivers what Yes hasn't in years....a purely Progressive dish for your enjoyment.

It also stands as a great testament to Gary Strader.....I don't know how Starcastle would ever follow-up this success(sadly) since the writing force behind this is now gone. A fine album that should be heard by all classic prog fans.

Congratulations to Al Lewis too for a fine performance. Where's the next ALASKA album?? Hmmmm...?

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars starcastle returns shining, May 22, 2007

By 

M. P. Kelly (New York) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Song of Times (Audio CD)

All of the comparisons that have been made between Starcastle, Yes and various prog-rock bands of their era are valid, but can be deceiving. The playing on this, their first new recording in 30 years, is still above the boards. They still have the tendency to be lyrically ambigous and cosmic, but the melodies work beautifully with the words. The original band is here, although not on every track. All For The Thunder is the track that features the original band with the rest of the disc acting as a collective group playing around the late bassist Gary Strater. All in all, a solid return.