Stars [Import, Original recording remastered]

Janis Ian | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 27, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: Festival Records
• ASIN: B0002UXMHQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #279,696 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Review

The title/first track, "Stars", is a starkly honest, lyrically beautiful expression of Janis' feeling that she has fallen from the success of her teenage debut. (Some say this album marked the beginning of her comeback.) It is not unusual for artists to write about their experiences as an artist, but rarely is this done in such a direct, literal, self-effacing and poetic way. The quiet, expressive acoustic guitar on this track underscores that this is a deeply personal song. The rest of the album is more upbeat, sometimes heavily orchestrated, moving through folksy and jazzy styles. Page Nine, as optimistic as Stars is sad, looks forward to living with a new love. This is the honest, heartfelt work of a great talent. --Scott N. Stone, Amazon customer

After a three-year (1971-1974) hiatus, singer/songwriter Janis Ian (guitar/vocals) reinvented her craft on the groundbreaking Stars (1974) long-player. Her penchant for hauntingly beautiful melodies and incisive lyrics remains at the center of Ian's craft as she weaves an array of uniquely expressive observations with timeless poignancy. She has publicly acknowledged that the introspective title track that opens the album was inspired by Don McLean's "Vincent." Ian's reflections are almost naked in their intimacy as she looks within the psyche of celebrity and draws comparisons between the respective astral and physical bodies that "Stars" inhabit, albeit briefly in either case. The song's sparse acoustic guitar self-accompaniment is somewhat an anomaly as the remainder of the album incorporates various backing combos. The cosy and laid-back "Page Nine" demonstrates a jazzier side to Ian's arrangements and features some inviting contributions from percussion legend and studio heavyweight George Devens (vibraphone), who had been performing in Ian's studio coterie since her second release, For All the Seasons of Your Mind (1967). "The Man You Are in Me" is instrumentally highlighted by Richard Davis (bass), who impels the rhythm and provides Ian with a sonic backdrop beguiling the listener into its practically hypnotic melody. There is also a fair share of folk-infused material, ranging from the easygoing and heartfelt peon "Thankyous" to the decidedly more political and strident "Dance with Me" which deals fairly directly with the Vietnam experience. Perhaps the best-known cut on Stars also obliquely references the war and is considered the disc's crown jewel. "Jessie" is a riveting love song that is as beautiful as it is soul-wrenchingly poignant. The delicate understated score only adds to the composition's empathy. "Applause" fittingly concludes the effort in a Broadway-esque fashion with a grandiose production reminiscent of something out of Cabaret or A Chorus Line. The understated and comparatively reticent middle section is dramatically bookended with an otherwise embellished and knowingly campy arrangement. Stars set the stage for Ian to further develop her mature and meditative themes utilizing a wide variety of musical styles a hallmark that separated her from her weepy and otherwise introspective peers. --All Music Guide (AMG)

"Before there was Jewel, there was Janis Ian." --Rolling Stone Magazine

Product Description

Aussie reissue of the singer/songwriter's classic 1974 album. Ten tracks. Festival. 1993. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The album before "Between The Lines", March 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Stars (Audio CD)

I went out and bought this album when I was just 14. After listening to the inimitable "Between The Lines," I had to have it. I played it for ten years straight, and still do on occasion. "Stars" is Janis' comeback album (the '70s comeback, that is)-the first of several CBS albums that she recorded with a remarkable band she no longer plays with and with stunning production by Brooks Arthur (who also produced "Between the Lines"). "Page Nine" is one of my all-time favorite Janis Ian tunes. It's a love song like no other-simple, stirring, universal for men or women, straight or gay, young or old. It's a song that stays with you for life. Janis occasionally performs it live these days on guitar, but here she does it on piano. Who knew Janis Ian wrote "Jesse"-the song Roberta Flack made famous? I prefer Janis' rendition. She sings with more vulnerability, less bravura than Roberta, though I love Roberta's voice. Other standouts include the elusive "The Man You Are in Me," the epic guitar-vocal "Stars" (which Cher and others saw fit to record), "Thankyous" (a song dedicated to the love of one's family-something few artists ever sing about), the haunting war lullabye "Dance With Me," which juxtaposes images of a dead soldier in a locked coffin with dulcet piano notes that, inexplicably, turn jazzy, before fading into sad arpeggios, and of course, "Applause," the fun-house mirror image of "Stars." Richly scored for nearly 40 brass, string, keyboard, percussion and other instruments, this musical pasticcio also features a jazzy piano solo (by Janis) and was (reportedly) her first foray into orchestration on this scale. In all, "Stars" is a ticket to some of this artist's best early songwriting. It's clear from the material why this acclaimed writer/performer still has a vital career today and remains among my personal all-time favorites.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartfelt, March 3, 2005

By 

Scott N. Stone (Washington,, DC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stars (Audio CD)

The title/first track, "Stars", is a starkly honest, lyrically beautiful expression of Janis' feeling that she has fallen from the success of her teenage debut. (Some say this album marked the beginning of her comeback.) It is not unusual for artists to write about their experiences as an artist, but rarely is this done in such a direct, literal, self-effacing and poetic way. The quiet, expressive acoustic guitar on this track underscores that this is a deeply personal song. The rest of the album is more upbeat, sometimes heavily orchestrated, moving through folksy and jazzy styles. Page Nine, as optimistic as Stars is sad, looks forward to living with a new love. This is the honest, heartfelt work of a great talent.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lost classic for sure., January 22, 2007

By 

K. Perez "get off my johnson" (Miami Beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stars (Audio CD)

My brother said it best: "I heard the first song and I never wanted to play music ever again, then I heard the rest of the album and I couldn't imagine doing anything else."

This album is ridiculously well crafted, thoughtful songs and arrangements, a beautiful singin voice, and crystal clear sound quality while still maintaining the warmth of all the best records ever. After hearing it I was upset I had never heard it before then. That's only happened to me a handful of times. If you don't like this, you suck. Straight up. Don't talk to me.