STARCHILD — Children of the Stars (review)

STARCHILD — Children of the Stars album cover Album · 1978 · Hard Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
voila_la_scorie
Starchild was a progressive-edged hard rock act from Cambridge, Ontario that formed in 1975. The drummer, Greg "Fritz" Hinz would later go on to play for Helix.

The band released one album in 1978 on the Axe Records label, "Children of the Stars". The album showcases the bands hard rock style but also their endeavours to be a little on the progressive side, not unlike compatriots Triumph.

The recording is not lavish. It's more or less vocals, guitar, bass, and drums without much else in terms of overdubs or additional instrumentation, though a touch of synthesizer is added for spacey effect. Basically, the album sounds like the band could have recorded it playing live in the studio if they wanted to.

Lyrically, the songs traverse sci-fi (the title track), dark fantasy (Wooden Steaks and Mashed Potatoes), fantasy of females (Wizard Woman), and social commentary. The song Groove Man is a somewhat comical observation of an ex-punk rocker who's gone disco.

The album shows a band with a lot of promise but at the same time, an album by a band in the studio for the first time. The songs rock out and the efforts at musical complexity are earnest and appreciable. However, I can't help but feel that there was a confusion about letting the band be a progressive hard rock act while approaching the recording in a punk rock fashion. It's raw and the production sounds simple even though the band is clearly striving to be more.

It's not as good as Triumph and certainly a far cry from Rush, but nevertheless it's an interesting find, being a rather obscure album. CDs are available from Axe Records.
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