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Avg: 4.0 (42 ratings)
- Date Released: February 1, 1993
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Label: 4AD
Former Muse brings her hazy dreams into clear-eyed, catchy-pop focus.
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We Say...
On its release back in 1993, this reviewer took the drifty, almost amorphous sound of Star for a modest addition to the Julee Cruise Twin Peaks scary-ambient school. But give Belly’s debut an even break and it takes hold — insidiously strange, part poetry, part cryptic detective story. Striking out on her own after ten years with Throwing Muses and a brief Breeders interlude, Tanya Donnelly floated her apparently tiny voice, remote yet intimate, over a grind of assorted guitars. Then, as songwriter, she unleashed vertiginous imaginative leaps.
Look at "Angel," the second song. A woman prays for a man. Instead, the deity diverts a river past her house. Impressive, but not what the customer ordered and she’s not happy. So, in two verses Donnelly manages to question man’s understanding of God, God’s understanding of man. Not bad. Later, in "Sad Dress," a woozy tale of booze and sexual assault, the victim’s clothes come to symbolise all the scummy horror of what’s happening until she sighs like a trapped animal, “I’d chew my foot off/ To get out of this dress.” Star remains baffling at times — explain "Slow Dog" for tonight’s star prize — but it’s bracing to engage with Donnelly’s rigorous thought and fierce emotion. -
They Say...
Tanya Donelly's songwriting began to blossom on Throwing Muses' Real Ramona, and Belly's debut, Star, is where it reaches fruition. Using the trancy harmonies of dream pop as a foundation, Donelly expands the genre's boundaries, trimming away its pretensions and incorporating a flair for sweet, concise pop hooks and folk-rock inflections. She also spikes her airy melodies with disarmingly disturbing lyrics. Images of betrayal and death float throughout the album, but what hits home initially -- and what stays after the album is finished -- are the hooks, whether it's the rolling singalong of "Gepetto," the surging "Slow Dog," the melancholy "Stay," or the cool, detached sexiness of "Feed the Tree." Occasionally, Donelly suffers from preciousness or unformed ideas, yet Star remains an enchanting debut.
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| 01. |  |
Someone To Die For |
2:04 |
|
| 02. | |
Angel |
2:58 |
|
| 03. | |
Dusted |
2:48 |
|
| 04. | |
Everyword |
3:33 |
|
| 05. | |
Gepetto |
3:24 |
|
| 06. | |
Witch |
1:35 |
|
| 07. | |
Slow Dog |
4:02 |
|
| 08. | |
Low Red Moon |
5:31 |
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| 09. | |
Feed The Tree |
3:29 |
|
| 10. | |
Full Moon, Empty Heart |
3:02 |
|
| 11. | |
White Belly |
3:35 |
|
| 12. | |
Untogether |
4:43 |
|
| 13. | |
Star |
1:26 |
|
| 14. | |
Sad Dress |
3:45 |
|
| 15. | |
Stay |
4:56 |
|
15 Total Tracks, 50:51 Total Length
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Credits
- Chris Gorman - Percussion // Chris Gorman - Drums // Chris Gorman - Photography // Belly - Producer // Belly - Main Performer // Fred Abong - Bass // Tracy Chisholm - Producer // Tracy Chisholm - Engineer // Gil Norton - Producer // Tanya Donelly - Guitar // Tanya Donelly - Vocals // Thomas Gorman - Organ // Thomas Gorman - Guitar // Chris Bigg - Design // Chick Graning - Guitar // Chick Graning - Vocals // Chick Graning - Slide Guitar
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© 1992 - 2009 All Media Guide, LLC