A quick glance back at Starflyer 59's career demonstrates a band which is truly a work in progress. The first album was a noisy, layered sonic landscape, with guitars everywhere. Flash forward eight years, to 2001 and the release of Leave Here a Stranger. We still have the noisy, layered sonic landscape, but what a difference time makes!
On Starflyer 59's latest outing, the band is now a four-piece, with Wayne Everett's departure, with two new faces in the group. The album takes the band further in the direction begun on the album The Fashion Focus and continued on Everybody Makes Mistakes. However, since the untimely passing of former producer Gene Eugene, Jason Martin and company took on a similar heavyweight in Christian music--Terry Taylor--as the new producer. The result of the creative collaboration of Taylor and SF59 is an album which is simply timeless.
The influences run from surf-pop to the Beatles to--well--early SF59. The layering is intricate, and the mix is monophonic. Martin's guitar playing and vocals are well-placed in the mix, and sound good.
Lyrically, Martin comes up with his best yet, reflecting on the emptiness of the rock lifestyle and on his own struggles with faith. One of the best is "Give Up the War" where he compares himself with Paul and finds himself wanting.
All in all, this album is one which shows that at long last Martin and company have arrived as musical heavyweights in the rock world. Period. This is one album that deserves to be heard by everyone.
5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
ReAL Magazine 2001Reviewed by Nolan K.Here's what Jason Martin (Starflyer 59's guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and backbone) is up against: eight years ago the mysterious blank-silver cover of Starflyer's self-titled debut appeared on the music-store shelves. The album, commonly referred to as Silver, became an instant favorite, established Martin and company as a musical force to be watched, and proved once and for all that…The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Ken MuellerIf you surf the internet for Starflyer 59 you will find more and more interviews with Jason Martin where it sounds as though he is very close to hanging it all up. He sounds tired and bored...of everything: the music industry, being in a band, recording. Leave Here a Stranger is to Starflyer 59 as Pet Sounds is to the Beach Boys...or so some critics would have you believe. And Martin says that…The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Jon KortebeinSome songwriters, like Terry Taylor or Bob Dylan, have a love affair with words. Others, like Brian Wilson, place their fascination in the world of sounds. SF59 leader Jason Martin falls into the latter category, and he exercises this fascination more obviously on Leave Here a Stranger than on any other SF59 recording so far. The result is a beautiful record that is at points catchy, dreamy and…Similar sounding releases
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