Stars of Cctv

Hard-Fi | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 14, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Atlantic
• ASIN: B000ECX0Z6
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #145,002 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The debut album from Middlesex’s Hard-Fi consciously sets out to update the sense of frustrated tension and suburban dread that powered second-wave ska acts like The Specials and The Beat back at the close of the ‘70s.

Don’t get it twisted, this isn’t ska-punk a la Brit troupers [Spunge] and Capdown: Hard-Fi play this music lean and moody, like The Streets on downers, or Massive Attack plugging in and tuning up. "Cash Machine" sees a swallowed debit card as the jump-off for vocalist Richard Archer to spin a tale of crushing poverty and unwanted pregnancy, spurred along by thrumming dub bass and the sad wheeze of a vibraphone. They do upbeat as well, as club anthem "Hard To Beat"--a heart-fluttering composite of Northern Soul elation and fist-pumping Rockers reggae--joyfully confirms. But it’s the emotional struggle, the ups and downs of life, that keeps Stars Of CCTV engaging throughout: see penultimate track "Living For The Weekend", a hedonistic blast filled with not a little of the passion that fuelled Oasis' Definitely Maybe, which succeeds chiefly because it’s all too aware of the bad times as well as the good. --Louis Pattison

Product Description

One of the most eagerly anticipated releases of the year, Stars Of the CCTV is the acclaimed debut album from new British sensation Hard-Fi. Praised by NME as 'the album of the year', Stars Of The CCTV hit #1 on the UK charts and is heading towards double platinum status. The band has just picked up a pair of prestigious BRIT Awards nominations, and has been tearing up U.S. venues from coast to coast with their killer live show. Warner. 2006.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An old cynic writes......., August 26, 2005

By 

Dr.D.Treharne (Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stars of Cctv (Audio CD)

It's been a very long time since someone recommended an album to me,I bought it and thought, "Wow, that's good!" and played it straight through two or three times. This is such an album from a band who recorded a bunch of their own self written tunes, and then had it picked up for release by a major label.There is much more to them than just front man Richard Archer, though he does have a charisma when you get to see them live. All the tracks have well thought out arrangements with subtle but sparse use of other instruments, some piano here, some brass on both "Unnecessary Trouble" and "Better do better" and some (believe it!) cornet on "Move on now". The songs reflect living in the outer London fringes in Mr. Blair's Britain (Staines, actually) with wry observations about life, relationships and not having much money. To have moved someone who nowadays listens mainly to jazz to install it in his CD changer as a fixture is astounding enough, but to then see them live at a venue near me ( The Eden Project) was enough to convince me to go and see them again this fall. They're in Japan in November, and threaten be in the US early next year. If you get the chance go and see and hear them, but as a start buy this and be in at the start of a word-of-mouth bigness. Oh yeah, and play it loud! Whatever next?

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New Stars On The Horizon, March 21, 2006

By 

The Wasp (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stars of Cctv (Audio CD)

Apart from being major rock stars, John Lennon, Madonna and Bono all had in common the loss of their mother in tragic circumstances at a young age - a factor that each saw as a driving force in their quest for fame. Hard-Fi frontman Richard Archer can also be added to this dubious list of celebrities, with the death of his mum in June having dampened the release of his band's debut album Stars Of CCTV. Nonetheless, family tragedy can do little to stop this fledgling band from taking off, with Stars Of CCTV hosting a number of hot tracks that will no doubt see them branded as the Kasabian of 2005. Falling somewhere between Stereo MC's and Stereophonics, Hard-Fi mix dance beats with rock bravado, almost as if the outfit was looking for a fight while strutting around a dank club. On opener Cash Machine there's a skank addict desperation to the lyrics, with Archer singing of his girlfriend's pregnancy test turning blue, skipping the train fare and running away from his fears with all the melodrama of a week with Pete Doherty. Unnecessary Trouble finds the punchy demeanour of Kasabian being fully realised, while the subdued piano of Move On Now is reminiscent of dispirited Richard Ashcroft after finding out the drugs don't work. While it's an acoustic twist away from frantic beats, the title track finale is perhaps the cleverest and most engaging tune on this preliminary collection, detailing the Big Brother society we now inhabit. His maternal loss may be currently weighing heavily upon his shoulders, but if Archer and his mates can keep it together, Hard-Fi have even better prospects than Bloc Party and The Futureheads.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars for Stars of CCTV, March 29, 2006

By 

robbo "robbo" (portland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stars of Cctv (Audio CD)

Stars of CCTV by Hard-Fi is an insanely catchy, extremely good first album. I know in this day and age we anoint the next Beatles on a weekly basis, but there's something about this band (OK, I know a lot of people will say this is sacrilege, especially since Hard-Fi is so derivative). I won't get analytical here... I'll just say, stick it in the cd player and turn up the volume. And, oh yeah, put on your dancing shoes. This is a DANCE BAND. But there's also a grit and gusto there that's real.

Buy it, promote it, love it, live it.