Customer Reviews

Starfish

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Church had been mainstays of college radio (i.e., "alternative rock", without the marketing/P.R.) for years leading up to this thoroughly accessible (but no less brilliant) neuvo-psychedelic classic that scores from opening track to closing echo in a whirwind of dreamy, breathy vocals and effects-laden guitars chiming away like some ethereal clock ticking away to enlightenment.

ANYONE over the age of 35 should be familiar with the band's signature track "Under The Milky Way", one of the tracks from 1988 which pretty much set the table for the rise of college radio as mainstream "alternative rock" in the early '90's ("Head Like A Hole" from Nine Inch Nails and "Mountain Song" by Jane's Addiction being two others); it is a simple song given a lush arrangement and production values that fly under the radar...until you try to play the song yourself and realize that your effort, note-perfect thought it may be, sounds nothing like the Church's album version. Any band would be thankful to be associated by default with such a beautiful song.

And though it may be the most recognizable track and the one most likely to be remembered by casual fans, the strength of this album is that there are no throwaway tracks to be found (with the possible exception of "Spark", perhaps not incoincidentally one of the tracks bassist/main lyricist/vocalist Steve Kilbey does NOT sing lead vocal). "Destination", The opening track sets the mood perfectly, a single guitar followed by bass and drums, each seeming to attempt more restrain than the other follow, leading to a crescendo that takes you instead back to the beginning as Kilbey begins the first verse. "Under The Milky Way" is a perfect successor track. "Blood Money" is a bit of a let-down in the three spot; it seems to be two (at least) partial songs combined to form one with decidely mixed results.

"Lost", however, is an absolute joy to listen to. It's a total stoner vibe (I still remember the Rolling Stone write-up where Kilbey said "It might help to take a lot of acid to better understand my lyrics") that you just can't help laying back and closing your eyes to as you drift off to...somewhere. "North, South, East and West" brings you back, splash-of-cool-water-in-the-face style with a fantastic guitar riff that announces the most up-tempo and aggressive song on the album. Fantastic guitar work by both Marty Willson-Piper and Peter Koppes.

Track 6, the afore-mentioned "Spark" would lead off Side 2 of this album on LP or cassette, weakly in my opinion. Its attitude is out-of-place on this album, and I almost never listen to it. "Antenna" is a different story, though. A finer waltz beat in pop music hasn't been heard since the days of the Doors. "Reptile", the second single/video, is another up-tempo song with an almost schizophrenic distinction between verse and chorus. Steve Kilbey's bass slithers between the guitars of Koppes and Willson-Piper as the defining instrument of the song.

Peter Koppes turns the lead vocal on the longing "New Season", jingle-jangly Byrds-like guitars a-plenty and "Hotel Womb" closes the album on an upbeat note, praising the endless succession of sanctuaries found on the road, the hotel rooms where it IS possible for travelling musicians to avoid more trouble than they can get into.

It could be said that the Church never released an album as cohesive as "Starfish" again, though the musicianship from this album remains a constant. This is the most accessible effort the Church would ever produce, and anyone who appreciates good songwriting, artful arrangement, and general psychedelia will find a regular rotation slot for this CD. It is absolutely one of the finest albums of the 1980's and produced so sufficiently free of the gimmicks of that era that it still sounds relevant today. Not an easy trick for most of that decade's better releases.

"Starfish" one of The Church's best and biggest selling albums receives the deluxe treatment on this reissue import. The sound is louder and here than the previous edition. I haven't compared this head to head on my computer to see if the dynamic range is crushed to create this effect but it sure sounds good to my average ears. The big reason to get this, though, is the second disc of EP/single b-sides that didn't make the album. Many of these tracks appeared on "A Quick Smoke at Spots" but not all of them. Also, ther remastered sound on the second disc of those tracks is much better--crisper sounding--than "Spot's" which sounded rather flat and dull by comparison. YOu get the good with the bad though as the sound is loud with little dynamic range so just be aware of that. Certainly this is a five star album for the content and the bonus disc but the mastering is another matter...

We also get the trio of acoustic tracks that the band released on their CD single "Under the Milky Way" (which was selling for a princely sum on Ebay). All three acoustic tracks are worthwhile for fans to have. These aren't stripped down versions but new recordings of the same songs that were done around the same time. While some of these tracks did appear on the band's acoustic album (and on Steve Kilbey's acoustic album as well), these are terrific takes for fans to have. There are also some unusual songs here that I haven't heard before and can assume that they were never released.

Track listing for second disc:
1. Texas Moon (from "Spot's")
2. Perfect Child (From Spots)
3. We Both know Why We're Here (from Spots)
4. Frozen and Distant (From Spots)
6. Nose Dive (from Spots)
7. Afterlife (from Spots)
8. Under the Milky Way (acoustic)(CD Single)
9, Antenna (Acoustic)(CD single)
10. Spark (Acoustic)(CD Single)
11. Warm Spell
12. Musk (EP b-side)

If you have "Spots" then you may not feel the need to get this or if you're an avid collector of the band you probably have most of these songs on other discs. For those of us who couldn't afford to buy everything at the time this is a nice summation of many of the b-sides/Spots songs that were released. The rest of the Spots songs are on the second disc of "Gold Afternoon Fix" (which also has some unique material as well).The booklet has additional photos from the recording sessions but I am disappointed that we don't get song lyrics.

"Starfish" became The Church's biggest selling album. Breaking through to the top 50 (it peaked at #41), Arista had hopes they would be the new U2 but The Church are a bit too idiosyncratic to fit into the narrow confines of a mainstream band. Nevertheless, "Starfish" is a terrific album with nice production by Waddy Wachtel and Greg Lanyani. The duo cleaned up the band's sound a bit producing a crisp, clean sounding recording that appealed to radio particularly with the first two singles "Under the Milky Way" and "Reptile" charting in the United States as singles (their biggest selling ones to date). The Church aren't just a one hit wonder however, they've consistently made compelling albums AFTER this album. When they reformed as a quartet with Tim Powles as their drummer and engineer), they produced a startling array of rich, terrific albums.

The Church - 'Starfish'

Prior to this album, Australian rockers The Church, were known mainly for floppy hair, jangly guitars and a repertoire of cute sixties-revivalist songs. If they weren't always comfortable with this image, at least it set them apart from their antipodean peers - INXS, Midnight Oil, Men-At-Work and all those other worthy toilers who've come to define the Australian rock sound.

With this album, though, The Church began to challenge people's expectations. Where previously they'd always sounded as buttoned up as their paisley shirts - their songs all marching strict tempo to Richard Ploog's fussy 4/4 hi-hats - the 'Starfish' album added fresh new dynamics to their sound. It was like they lost their collective musical virginity.

Certainly I never expected anything like 'North, South, East and West', a gloriously sensuous rocker which starts with a rousing great riff and drives through each spacey grooving verse towards the glorious re-affirmation of the chorus. Written about LA, where the album was recorded, this is simply one of the best evocations of a city I've ever heard. You can almost see the traffic cops, hear the sirens, smell the pollution. Kilbey's voice is icily sensuous as his lyrics both celebrate and denigrate the ultimate city - horrified and yet strangely exhilarated by its size, its variety, its multiple manifestations.

If this is the first really rocking Church album, it's also the first album where Kilbey's singing really comes to the fore. He always had the voice; a rich yet strangely undernourished-sounding rasp seasoned with both melancholy and contempt in its smooth delivery. It's not an especially expressive voice, nor particularly original, drawing from a long line of demure, petulant and predominantly English, drawlers such as Donovan, Steve Harley and, perhaps most of all, Pete Perrett, the brilliant, but wasted genius who fronted the late lamented Only Ones.

The difference, certainly on this album, is that Kilbey never even tries to commit any real feeling to his vocal performance. He gets away with it because his lyrics and the beautifully expressive guitar playing of Marty Willson-Piper and Peter Koppes supply all the emotion the album needs. And it works. Boy, how it works. Because, make no mistake, out of everything this band has done whether solo or together, this album remains, for me, their single, definitive statement. If you like your songs beautifully crafted with gorgeous melodies and evocative lyrics; if you like punchy production and exciting guitar work; if the power and passion of rock and roll still reaches you, then you'll love this album. 'Starfish' is a minor classic and deserved to be much more.

For The Church the stars and planets must have been especially aligned for this album to be made. Never before or since have The Church enjoyed some widespread appeal. Starfish was the first record The Church had recorded outside of their native Australia. This was the first time they had recorded in a studio different from the one they had made their first five albums. Reading band accounts of making of Starfish makes one wonder why they didn't call the record "L.A. Sucks".

The Church hated Los Angeles and barely endured their two-month stay. During that time the city experienced two major earthquakes and numerous tremors. The band members suffered serious bouts of homesickness and dislocation in a lonely town at once both ugly and magnetic. They had lost their recording contract with EMI and had just completed negotiating and signing with Arista. Waddy Wachtel and Greg Ladanyi were assigned to produce the band-two individual mostly known for their association with the Southern California sound of the Eagles, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt and Stevie Nicks. An antithesis to what the Church stood for and a recipe for friction for all sides. Wachtel had the band rehearse these ten songs over and over-picking them apart and building them back together again ad finitum. Ladanvi on the other hand was apt to be off at the golf course after barely getting the songs on tape in one take.

The first thing that hits you about this record is how much of a "guitar album" it is. Starfish is awash in several different guitar styles and carefully thought out patterns and lines. The result is a lean, cutting and harder edged sound that paradoxically produces a gentle feel. On "Hotel Womb", the song begins with a set of dark wandering notes which suddenly switch to a series of childlike chords and strumming as an organ plays a short set of descending notes. The drums kick in as the vocalist begins to sing to a growling guitar march that evolves into a dueling solo match which ends like a clap in a thunderstorm. The song rides out on a fast and grand soaring wailfest fading into eternity. This all combines to the effect of strength, beauty, and sublimity in a short five minutes forty seconds. All this for one song. Such detailed musicianship is evident throughout the whole record.

Lyrically The Church are as obscure as ever. It is difficult to say exactly what most of the songs are about. But the listener is caught by seemingly random conjured images that come at you in an incomprehensible emotional crossfire. "Under The Milky Way" may seem like a romantic, dreamy song; but Steve Kilbey says its really about a hash bar in Amsterdam. Some listeners, however, thought it was a conversation between an ancient Egyptian priest and a supplicant as they stood on the roof of a temple in the dead of night. Others thought with the mention of "Memphis" the song was actually a monologue spoken by Elvis as he drove the streets by night.

All this combines into a heady brew of psychedelic mysticism and drama. The songs form a journey of danger and disturbing revelations with glimpses of other worlds. Hints of buried bodies in strange cities, revenge, blackmail and homesickness abound. Wedding rings for strange women, dancing with the primitives in dark watery forests and seeing building "swaying like trees" express a love for life that is heartfelt but is in no way sentimental. Just when you think you understand comes an image or a lyrics which sets you back and makes you wonder if you understand at all.

This is a wonderful CD. The Church would go on to recede into obscurity while making more superb records; but they never found an equal to Starfish. While made in the 1980's it is not an "eighties" record with an "eighties" sound. I can scarcely think of another record like it at all. It is among the best of the best. Sometimes the best gifts come from far away. Sometimes the sweetest sounds are those you can barely hear.

I have owned this album (first on cassette, then CD) since 1988. I was recently asked to choose my top 5 can't-live-without recordings and this one was a no-brainer. I've played this album thousands of times and have never tired of it. In addition, I have given this CD as a gift to at least a half-dozen friends and family members that got "hooked" on it when riding in my car. The Church are consumate musicians and Starfish is brilliant, far deeper than the two songs (Under the Milky Way and Reptile) that received radio play in the 80's. You will never regret purchasing this album, but will probably someday regret it if you don't.

One of the most underrated bands of all time, the Church created a vast catalog of music, spanning 18 years, that was largely ignored. Starfish would provide the Church with their long deserved commercial breakthrough, based on the success of the still glorious "Under the Milky Way."

Opening with the airy and mysterious "Destination," the Church create a feeling of distance and nostalgia. Those themes remain present on the remainder of the record, giving Starfish a consistent feel. Kilbey's opaque poetry, the undercurrent of dejection and the interplay of guitars, the Church's signature sound, are all at hand. Rather than meet the public half way, the Church demanded that the public go to them. This is one of those rare breakthrough albums that doesn't change the artist's sound to sell records, the Church did what they have always done best.

Although the Church's star (no pun intended :) would fade fast following this album, they never failed to touch on unique and emotional themes. These themes are universal, everyone has felt the longing of "North, South, East and West," the anticipation of "Spark" and the wistfulness of "Hotel Womb" (arguably one of the best songs Kilbey has ever written). Starfish was created by a band at the top of their game, and its certainly one of my favorite albums of all time.

Though probably always my favorite Church album, I was disappointed with the flat sound on the original disc. This remastered version finally brings out a deeper, fuller sound. And once again, it is just a masterful album wherein each song ebbs and flows in one perfect motion.
I am glad that they've decided to make these 2 disc releases so that the original album is as it was. The bonus disc is interesting enough. Most Church fans already know Texas Moon, nothing else really matches that level but still a welcome listen for fans.

As of this writing, The Church have released 13 studio albums of original material, the majority of them ranging from very good to excellent, each containing a number of terrific songs (a number of which would have been commercially viable on American FM radio). Nevertheless, they only had one top forty hit in the U.S., namely the ethereal "Under the Milky Way," one of the few rock songs to include bagpipes. I generally find that fans of a semi-obscure band like The Church can be quite possessive, and simply don't like to share their band with the general public. This is why, I believe, that Church fans often unfairly malign this song, which I believe to be one of the four superb tracks on "Starfish."

The Church also had a minor hit with "Reptile" which has one of the most compelling repetitive guitar phrases I've ever heard, and, with "Shadow Cabinet," is probably their best dance song. Who can resist those lyrics where Kilbey sings "I see you slither away with your skin and your tail/ You flicker your tongue and your rattling scales/ Like a real reptile?" I would hate to meet the woman Steve wrote this about!

There are two other great songs on the album, which I believe are related: "North, South, East and West," which I understand is Kilbey's condemnation of L.A. (but is certainly about an unpleasant experience in a large city); contrasted with the somewhat similar, but more mellow "Hotel Womb," in which the author escapes from that city. The use of the word "womb" instead of "room" is quite brilliant and conjures up a place of protection where the rest of the world is shut out.

Of course, the other songs on the album, though not in the same class as the aforementioned, are all eminently listenable. "Spark" is probably Willson-Piper's best song, and "A New Season" makes one wonder why Peter Koppes didn't contribute more.

"Starfish" is probably The Church's most accessible album, and the one I would first recommend to someone who was interested in learning about the band. The interplay of the guitars of Willson-Piper and Koppes stands out as usual. I agree with most of the reviewers in that, overall, "Starfish" is one of the band's best albums.

This album certainly rates as one of my all time favorites (actually, the string of "Starfish", "Gold Afternoon Fix" and "Priest=Aura" is the best trilogy of releases since the Beatles). The thing that I love about this band is that they have an immediately recognizable sound, and yet capture a unique feel and style in each album release (a la Led Zeppelin).

Note: I would qualify "this band" as Steven Kilbey, Marty Willson-Piper and Peter Koppes. When Koppes left the band after "Priest=Aura", things were no longer the same (I understand that they are now reunited).

Every song on this album is a gem and the songs beautifully blend together a gamut of moods. From hypnotic ("Destination" and "Under The Milky Way") to cutting ("Spark" and "Reptile") I find myself getting absorbed, almost lost (in a delightful way), in every track.

I can't believe that this recording is over 10 years old, but it will always be timeless for me. I would definitely put this one in the "Masterpiece" category! Give it several serious listens and you will find yourself immersed in something that transcends "music".

I may be the only reviewer who saw the Church live onstage in their heydey (no pun intended) and this album captures the melodic Church, but Peter Koppes on guitar live is like nothing I've ever seen since. I met Steven Kilbey too - talked about his Fender guitar, rare combination of inspiring singer and a nice guy. This album definitely worth a try and you may be absorbed (like me) once it's on. "Blood Money" was a key song in Miami Vice episode "Heart of Night" about Lt. Castillo's exwife being kidnapped and definitely made that show memorable.

I thought I was listening to the Church when I heard Coldplay's "A Rush of Blood to the Head" album. Especially "In My Place" and "God Put a Smile upon Your Face" -so another generation has been influenced by the Church. good.