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Starfish

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fandorin	Re: !	#41	[-]
Posts: 5900 (02/19/2007 10:53) Faith Healer Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Remove this ad agree with Bo. This was my second introduction into The Church in 1991, and I've been following them since. So Heyday was a paisley dream in 12 string quicksilver, and this... SK referred to this as LA cokeheads confronted with Oz hippies. I couldnt care less. The result was maybe the crispiest, most cohesive album of their career and another proof they never made the same album twice. It's darker, more desperate than the 1001 nights of Heyday, and you can clearly hear the strains...but the result is still a polished diamond, from the wonderful poem about the bucketful of starfish to the nice grainy photos of Caroline Greyshock (what a name!) If Remindlessness was a vague concept album about the glitches and traps of memory, Starfish was a concept album about the cohesion of dreams, the preciousness of memory, the worth of all things we dreamed up and survived. 1. Destination one of the many great things about Starfish is the evocation of the Travel theme. from somewhere to somewhere, with eyesy full of wonder about what's there in between. I hesitate playing single tunes from Starfish as it's so cohesive....i mean..Marillion's "Misplaced Childhood" is a shattered vase in comparison. I adore SKs lyrics for the space of imagination they leave for you. "In the space between our houses some bones have been discovered" - crime scene, horror movie - these words take you away! 2. UTMW 3. Blood Money Mind the clean guitars. The opposite of murkiness. Cuts like a scalpel. 4. Lost Slight similarity to Pink Floyd's "Learning to fly", hm? Just that PF were a bloated shoggoth already, and this is glistening, biting, sharp, clever....everything you want your partner to be. Solo out-gilmours Gilmour, the ending is one of the greatest examples of PK/MWP interlock. LIke the churchbells in a belltower. Great Churchy Feature - 2 very different solos in one song (1) On "Ripple", they'll do it again. 5. NSEW This is so perfect I don't have words. Jens & me played the song a week ago on 2 guitars, and even recreating it is absolutely exciting. 6. Spark Restrained thunder and crystal clear noise. A busker's tune, but sounding huge in the context. 7. Antenna My secret favourite. 6/8 measure. How i love that Rickenbacker, bit of chorus, slight distortion....yeah! The swirling, dancing, spiralling rhythm of that wonderful song. THe minor/major shifts outshine Schubert, one of the best guitar solos to be found on Church records. A moment of total utter perfection. Never understand why this is not a big live favourite. 8. Reptile it sounds somehow..."obvious"... but it's great in its minimalism. How the single notes and bends come together...Great textures again. 9. A New Season I can blather on and on and on....most of you know it's my fav Church song. PM me if you need to know more. 10. Hotel Womb. A New Season was the prelude, HW is the main part. Volcano! Thunder! Rainforest girl in a black water swirl, somewhere down Amazon river. The mother of the storm has to roam the sky, searching for her child. Some of my favourite lines ever written anywhere. Crashy chaotic solo, soft explosion and soothing caress...distortion and a promise...barbarian and elaborate....a whole world crammed into 5 minutes. ...because strange is what we need Fandorinfotos
Boriah	Re: STARFISH	#42	[-]
Space Saviour Posts: 1391 (02/20/2007 05:02) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	One of the most beautiful reviews Ive ever read!
neverness	starfeesh	#43	[-]
Pantechnicon Posts: 100 (02/20/2007 17:39) Maven Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	1. Destination - I still dont know what this song is about but I still say the lyrics are incredible. This is the church as we love them. the deep voice. the brooding, the subtle yet brilliant guitars. I remember getting stoned in my car with a buddy at the age of 17, and we were playing this cd. Half way through the song he looks at me and says "dude, theyre jamming, BUT IN A DIFFERENT WAY!!!" To this day (17 years later) I have still never heard it put so well. 2. UTMW - Im a little tired of this one but its still one of the best things they ever did, hit or no hit. 3. Blood Money - I liked this one when the record came out but it might be the only song on the album (except spark) that isnt in my regular rotation. It just doesnt do it for me anymore. Its very 80's. 4. Lost - beautiful song. One of my faves. Guitar solo is amazing. The chicks always love this one too. 5. nsew- another guitar masterpiece. This song is a little 80's too but who cares, its very slick. 6. spark - I havent heard this song in 10 years. 7. Antenna - kind of in the same ballpark as reptile. A good song for guys who dont really care for their girlfriend at the moment. We've all had experiences with females like this. 8. Reptile- just one of the best rock songs of all time. 9. A new season- beautiful and by far Koppes best. 10. Hotel womb - simply the greatest track the church had done up to that point. It has everything. No need explaining, everyone here knows what I mean. Its kind of strange, I dont play this album much as the songs really do seem a tad dated (just a tad) and Its not my favorite church album. Yet, I do think it is their most consistent album. It flows better than any other record they ever put out before or after. TBC flows nicely and so does the sedated AENT, but its hard to find an album by ANY band that is this easy to listen too. Its a very catchy album, which isnt the norm for these guys. Its crystal clean and ends too quickly. Just a very pleasant listen, then and now.
Kanji11	Starfish	#44	[-]
Glow Worm Posts: 83 (04/05/2007 10:41) Maven Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Starfish. First off, what a great cd. I don't like to compare Church cds because to me, they are all so different and they are all masterpieces in their own way. That said, I think Starfish stands as one of their best pieces of work. Its tight, grabbing (Destination just pulls you into the record, great opening track), and has a great flow to it. The only songs that I occasionally skip on it are Lost and Antenna (and thats if I'm not in the mood to listen to them) which is rare for me. It may be one of their more "pop" like records, but that does not hinder it at all. Songs like Bloody Money, Under the Milky Way, North, South, East, and West, Spark, Reptile, and Hotel Womb are favourites for me. To me this album stands out and that might be because prior to buying this cd I owned no cds put out in the 80's and was not very familiar with the music from then. The sound was diffferent. The production was different, and this cd opened up to me an entirely different spectrum of music for me which is why, to me, it will always be one of my favourites.
mstorer	A Memorable Introduction	#45	[-]
Posts: 1 (04/13/2007 21:48) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I distinctly remember my introduction to The Church. While watching Miami Vice (a show that I rarely, if ever watched) a song played in the background. I mentioned to my oldest brother that the song was pretty cool. With that he left the room and returned a moment later with the LP Starfish. He said the song was on the album so we went to his room and he placed it on the record player. After one mesmerizing listen, I copied it to a cassette and lived with it playing through my Walkman for months. That song was Under The Milky Way. At that time, the synthetic sounds of Tiffany, Skid Row, and Tone Loc filled the airways...and for a boy barely into his first year as a teenager, who thought it could get any better? But Starfish opened the door to a whole new nature of music...one that allowed a soon to be angst ridden teen to a be tranported to a world whose landscape was textured, beautiful, ethereal. Too young or dumb at the time to appreciate the cohesive structure of the album or what the hell Steve Kilbey was trying to say, Starfish struck a chord that still resonates in me today. Nearly twenty years later and a shelf devoted to Church CD's, Starfish is like the old friend that knows your life story...partly due to the fact that played as the soundtrack to it. Enough rambling.... Just a couple of notes to add to the discussion: I don't think that Starfish would come close to its near perfection with out the underappreciated drumming of Richard Ploog. Blood Money, NSEW, Antenna, Reptile, A New Season (my all time favorite Church offering), and Hotel Womb wouldn't have the impact without the subtle breaks and changes that Richard Ploog provided. In many respects, his drumming added as much ambience as the guitars of Kopes and Wilson-Piper. While I do feel that Tim Powles contribution to "brighter" songs like Unified Field or Easy is where he shines, I don't think he's been as successful at adding the nuances that Ploog brought to the table on more traditional Church offerings. (or perhaps this is just because I was horrified at the percussion on After Everything) The combination of A New Season and Hotel Womb is one of the best pairings in the Church catalogue. Without these two gems, the second half of the album would have faltered. Instead, we are presented with two inspiring and evocative dreamscapes that paint a ray of light on an album that is an otherwise darker canvas.
damaged	starfish	#46	[-]
Transient Posts: 6 (05/11/2007 08:30) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hi there. A new Church fan posting, recently I decided to take a risk and blindly purchase my first Church album (being Starfish), and subsequently stumbled across this messageboard. I also managed to pick up Priest = Aura yesterday - which I should be giving a thorough listen in the next few weeks. Strangely I hadn't actually been made aware of the band through Under The Milky Way which seems to be the standard entry point , instead I came across them when they were recommended in the liner notes of a Brian Jonestown Massacre record. Anyway...Starfish. By the time I reached the lyrics "Draconian winter unforetold..." on first listen I already knew I was dealing with something special. Turns out the rest of the album is just as magical as that moment. My favourite track so far is Blood Money. I'm not sure what the songs are really about as yet but they sure as hell sound good. I'll elaborate more on this once I've had more time to digest the record. By the way this is a really interesting messageboard, it's nice to see a band forum where music (shock horror) is properly discussed. adios
fandorin	Re: A Memorable Introduction	#47	[-]
Posts: 5900 (05/11/2007 08:38) Faith Healer Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	> instead I came across them when they were > recommended in the liner notes of a > Brian Jonestown Massacre record. Welcome! I think is the coolest way to be recruited in the 00es. Great you gave a listen. I, vice versa, was introduced to BJM when I came across Steve Kilbey's blog. Yeah, we're quite serious about music here, but only occasionally snobbish/nerdy. We can also be serious about ze var, norwegian food, whisky and beard styles. Starfish is a great sounding record (and we've written volumes about what it is about, i think the general opinion is a bundle of more or less blurred impressions about the theme of travel, reaching and leaving. And listen to Priest=Aura in the dark, on incredibly high volume. You'll love it! Welcome! Stefan ...because strange is what we need Fandorinfotos
boyde2000	STARFISH	#48	[-]
Pantechnicon Posts: 179 (06/17/2007 10:47) Glow Worm Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Starfish was the fourth album I bought by the Church, followed by Preist=Aura. MATS (great!) was first, HOB was second which I think is their worst, GAF was third which is one of my favs, and then... came STARFISH! pretty average, a little above thanx to "UTMW" and "N, S, E, and W"
Untoward	Starfish	#49	[-]
Pantechnicon Posts: 115 (08/16/2008 11:21) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Remove this ad Where to begin... I think most of us lost our church "virginity" to Starfish. I usually reference church songs by pre-Starfish or post-Starfish terms. This is an album (along with Talk Talk's The Colour of Spring) that I hit "play"on when the air is just warm enough but still has the crispness of early spring. Slide the windows open, let the sunshine in. "Destination"- Probably my all-time fav album opener by the boys. Almost equaled on a few occasions, but never surpassed. Certainly evokes dusty desert caravans in my mind, out among the open spaces. The west, someplace else.... "UTMW"- Still rocks even after hearing it so many times on the radio and in the CD player. Obligatory opener for the new church fan. Particularly good for getting that girlfriend/wife of yours to listen, or more.... College radio rocker extraordinaire, my entry to the guys, making me raid my dad's CD collection for it. "Blood Money"- SK's first really "nasty" song that said the church were more than just jangly pop songwriters. Love RP's drums in this. IMO not quite successful as UTMW's following track, but still has such an unusual sound for the era. Love to hear an acoustic arrangement ala "EMD/EMS." "Lost"- Makes me feel like a young teen again, grasping for the girls I had crushes on, but never went any further. SK's fantastically obscure and evocative lyrics, among the best he had in the 80s. Love MWP's and PK's guitars on this. "Everyone in Persia feels that way too." Lovely exit. "NSEW"- Great guitars opening. Great drum opening. Great SK bass kicking in. Perfect 80s song, without the cheesy production. Fits the same themes as "Destination," away from home, away from all we love, out in the strange desert wilderness (of LA!). Fantastic comparison to SK's delivery of it on "EMS." "Spark"- MWP's rock out with your c*** out! Great singing, wish I could have heard it live, I'd be singing along with him! Perfect for picking you up in the middle of the CD (or blasting you off for Side 2). No filler, no fat, just MWP, RP's drums and the boys blowing out your speakers. "Antenna"- SK's laundry list of "bad girlfriend songs" has to include this. Otherwise, this song rocks, the guitars, the mandolin, the drums and percussion, SK's arch lyrics. Perfect "afterglow" for "Spark." "Reptile"- The guitar work on this is so "evil" I smile with glee, even when the subject matter isn't particularly nice. SK must've been in a bad spot with the female-folk during this period.... RP's drums and percussion another highlight, again "Starfish" has gotta be the best of his drumming with the church. Not one to play when the GF/wife is around. If one can focus on the music instead of the lyrics, a delight to play air guitar (or drums) to. "A New Season"- THE song that made me love this album. An absolute fav of mine, was ecstatic when heard it live in '06. PK's lyrics and voice, the guitar solos, RP's drums, the fantasy imagery in my head, I just love to belt this out with Peter when I hear it. Makes me think of spring year round, even when it's in the middle of a wintry doldrum. Perfect Act I album closer with... "Hotel Womb"- THE second song that made me love this album. A PERFECT coda to "Starfish," probably the best closer of a church album. Along with "ANS," "HW"'s imagery is just marvelous. I see the song as SK's singing it, a movie in my head playing along. Psychadelic guitar swirls during the solos, the drums, an orgasmic release leading up to the final verse. There's no such thing as perfection, but these final two tracks are the next best to it for the 80s church era. The boys' fading exit as the album ends is almost like the credits rolling as the movie ends. All together, the most cohesive church album IMO until FY. Should be put in a vault somewhere deep in the Earth in case of global catastrophe so the survivors can have something to jam to! Despite the abundance of "Starfish" in most bargain cutout bins (along with Squeeze's 45s and Under Singles collection) this is one of the top 80s albums, essential for all rock fans to have. Now if I could only convince the church to perform it live ala Pink Floyd with "DSOTM" in 1994, or at least do an acoustic "Starfish" album (what's Spanish for starfish?) I could die happy. Until the new album appears, of course. The church must have truly been in league with the muses; how else could something twenty years old still sound so good?
fandorin		#50	[-]
Posts: 5900 (08/18/2008 10:08) Faith Healer Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	great review Un...i totally agree with you about A New Season..and the way PK and SK are sharing vocals...and it's already part of the sunset, part of the coda...the greatest ever...or...wait...ULTC's last three songs form another perfect coda... ...because strange is what we need The Fandorin Foto Files
Kanji11		#51	[-]
Glow Worm Posts: 83 (11/30/2008 13:25) Maven Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I agree with the drumming assesment. Ploog's drumming is something to be noted on Starfish; he is killer on Blood Money. Although I still think the best drumming is from Jay Dee Daugherty on Priest=Aura. I dont think anything will surpass that, but Ploog does come close on Starfish. NSEW is an amazing song, and the mere fact that after hearing Under the Milky Way a million times at my at work radio, in my countless viewings of Donnie Darko, and my thousands of playings of Starfish I still love that song, is amazing. That song is truly a classic.
vitrack		#52	[-]
Pantechnicon Posts: 176 (08/31/2009 10:58) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	"Under the milky way" acoustic intro always remind me "Youth worshipper" chorus. Both are very similar and both songs are written by Kilbey/Jansson. A coincidence?
Jessica		#53	[-]
Transient Posts: 3 (08/31/2009 14:48) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	This was the first album I got since Under the Milky Way was the first song I heard. There are discs I like better but I absoulutely love the song North, South, East, and West. Destination is pretty good too. I could listen to some of these for eight hours before I'd be ready for a change. Hey, whats the difference. I would just put in Forget Yourself which is my favorite.
Untoward		#54	[-]
Pantechnicon Posts: 115 (09/03/2009 19:23) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Good choices for album cuts, by the way. FY is my second favorite, for a different change of pace.
TonyPucci		#55	[-]
Transient Posts: 1 (08/09/2011 10:34) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hey! As part of my weekly one-hour music podcast @ Simply Syndicated I also write a weekly "cd review" (a term I apply loosely). This week, yep, THE CHURCH - Starfish You can find it directly right here
pangaea		#56	[-]
Transient Posts: 6 (11/05/2011 16:32) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Starfish will always be "the Church-album" for me, just because it represents so many beautiful things. Discovering the band in the 1st place, a soundtrack to my youth years, a fountain of ideas/sounds to make a starting point to my own composing. However, I know that many albums come very close or even go beyond Starfish (to some extent), but the overall value will always be on Starfish,
chrome3D		#57	[-]
Posts: 5335 (11/15/2011 22:40) Faith Healer Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Remove this ad That was a fine way to put it. That overal value will always be on Starfish. Maybe I think like that in a way too. My current Starfish collection. Still looking forward to the Second Motion anniversary-edition. I wish they completed the next batch of them soon.

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