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Stars of CCTV
 
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Stars of CCTV [IMPORT]

Hard-Fi
4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews) | More about this product
List Price: $14.98
Price: $14.98 + $1.01 sourcing fee & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
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Frequently Bought Together

Stars of CCTV + Once Upon a Time In the West + An End Has a Start
Price For All Three: $42.97

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  • This item: Stars of CCTV ~ Hard-Fi

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  • Once Upon a Time In the West ~ Hard-Fi

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  • An End Has a Start ~ Editors

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Product Details

  • Audio CD (January 13, 2008)
  • Original Release Date: March 14, 2006
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Format: Import
  • Label: Atlantic UK
  • ASIN: B0009OU2M8
  • Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #14,912 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

    Popular in this category: (What's this?)

    #94 in  Music > Pop > Britpop

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Listen to Samples

To hear a song sample, click on "Listen" by that sample. Visit our audio help page for more information.
 
1. Cash Machine
2. Middle Eastern Holiday
3. Tied Up Too Tight
4. Gotta Reason
5. Hard to Beat
6. Unnecessary Trouble
7. Move on Now
8. Better Do Better
9. Feltham Is Singing Out
10. Living for the Weekend
11. Stars of CCTV

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.

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Customer Reviews

30 Reviews
5 star:
 (21)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (30 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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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)   
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?
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars New Stars On The Horizon, March 22, 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.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars for Stars of CCTV, March 30, 2006
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.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Stars Of CCTV
I felt like I had to buy this album after I'd picked up a Hard Fi "In Operation" t-shirt at the local Hot Topic for $9 a few nights after I enjoyed their performance of "Hard To... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mark Twain

4.0 out of 5 stars a good listen- potential for greatness
This was another blind purchase, a used disc at Soundgarden in Syracuse. I dug the cover art and the few seconds i had time to check out on the cd player were interesting enough... Read more
Published on May 4, 2007 by resident_out_of_touch

5.0 out of 5 stars hard-fi is hard to beat =]
i love the band hard-fi!! they're from the UK, and most of the music i listen to is from the UK because they have such great music!! Read more
Published on April 14, 2007 by Jenny

5.0 out of 5 stars these guys blow away the arctic monkeys
this is a very good cd, that lives up to the hype, unlike the over rated wankers called the arctic monkeys. Read more
Published on April 9, 2007 by John S Rebstock

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a classic, but cool all the same
Okay, this has come in for some slating in the reviews, but there's really some decent stuff here - Middle Eastern Holiday, Cash Machine, Living for the Weekend, Unnecessary... Read more
Published on August 8, 2006 by Tommy rocks

5.0 out of 5 stars Screw the weekend, I'm living for Hard-fi.
I first heard the Hard-fi single "Hard to Beat" on the local alt rock station somewhere in the territory of 2-3 a.m. Read more
Published on July 10, 2006 by Laura M. Cardwell

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb
I heard a couple of Hard-Fi's songs while listening to the alternative station on Napster. What a find. Read more
Published on June 26, 2006 by Michael Henson

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW!
What can I possibly say about HARD-Fi that can possibly describe just how great they are? They've got the greatest catchy songs I've ever heard! They are awesome. Read more
Published on June 15, 2006 by Susan Thurmond

5.0 out of 5 stars A Surprisingly Terrific Debut
I found Hard-Fi's debut CD by accident, while surfing the net for some new tunes, so I had no preconceptions when I listened to it. What a pleasant surprise! Read more
Published on June 13, 2006 by tennismike

5.0 out of 5 stars Greatest Composers Since Schumann
The chains of pandeatonic clusters in "Hard to Beat" and the Aeolian cadence of "Cash Machine" place this album in the company of such great works as Gustav Mahler's Song of the... Read more
Published on May 29, 2006 by Captain Cook

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Stars of CCTV
92% buy the item featured on this page:
Stars of CCTV 4.5 out of 5 stars (30)
$15.99
Once Upon a Time In the West
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