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.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Spruce Street Classics Sludge Metal
TOADCRUCIFIER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Can It Possibly Get Worse? Sludge Metal
TOADCRUCIFIER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Auditory Assault And Ear-Piercing Melodies Sludge Metal
TOADCRUCIFIER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Artillery Victim Sludge Metal
TOADCRUCIFIER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Split Nautilus Crust Punk
ENGHENDRIX
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Prisoner - Children of the Grave (Official Video) Live
PRISONER (VA)
Bosh66· 14 hours ago
Prisoner - Skies are Blackened (Official Video)
PRISONER (VA)
Bosh66· 14 hours ago
Prisoner - Prisoner of Time (Official Video)
PRISONER (VA)
Bosh66· 14 hours ago
Death Conspiracy - The Thousand Truths (Official Lyric Video)
DEATH CONSPIRACY
Tupan· 1 day ago
Death Conspiracy - Living To Explain (Official Music Video)
DEATH CONSPIRACY
Tupan· 1 day ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed