I’m realizing that a really good producer has the ability to look at everything a band writes and says, “this song is great, this one is crap. ” Sometimes a band has to write 30-50 songs to put together a 12 song album. It seems like Stars wrote. . . well, 12 songs. Just because a group writes a song doesn’t mean that it’s good enough to make it onto an album; the Stars are really awesome, and really talented — the first half of the CD is evidence of that. But whoever helped them produce the CD checked out for the second half, and the musicality of their song-writing is boring and flat; there’s little for the ear to hold onto, and without strong lyrics to compel the listener (their lyrics are sometimes questionable to begin with), there isn’t much substance left. I’m totally disappointed.

I will be putting the decent four or five songs onto my ipod, but the whole CD won’t go into rotation the way Heart and Set Yourself On Fire have. It’s a shame, too, because the Stars are so much better than this CD would lead one to believe. Maybe they’ll get their act together for the next one?
Rating: 3 / 5