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[ More Music Reviews ]

Starmen: Welcome To My World

Melodic Hard Rock

3.5/5.0

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Black Lodge Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 19.02.2020 | Released: 21.02.2020

I know what you're thinking. You take one look at the Starmen band photo below and think, a KISS cover band. WTF? And with all the band members sporting Paul Stanley's "Starchild" star in grease paint. Please, God, no! Apparently, three members of the band come from Kissed, which I suspect is a Swedish KISS cover band. To me, the whole face paint thing is a sideshow gimmick, and totally unnecessary. Nevertheless, Starmen finds the foursome stretching their musical skills to play original tunes of Eighties melodic hard rock. Shortly after forming in 2018, the band released their first album, Kiss The Sky. Now Starmen return with the follow-up, Welcome To My World.

Starmen

In their musical quest, Starmen seek inspiration from and hope to emulate legendary bands like KISS, Whitesnake, Def Leppard, AC/DC, among others, while at the same time offering some originality. This is hardly a novel venture. But, rather, the question is can they pull it off? Honestly, I don't think Starmen reflect any of those legends in any specific way. However, one guy does sound like Paul Stanely, at times. Maybe they still do KISS covers. But moving on.

With one spin through the album, I can succinctly say, Starmen have both the musicianship and songwriting skills to accomplish their goal. Nevertheless, across the album, the songs can seem inconsistent in the sense that Starmen can't seem to settle on a musical style. For instance, Dreaming, Warrior, R.I.P., and Electrified have something of a funky groove, sometimes with synths, mixed with their melodic hard rock. Alternatively, Starmen are quite good at delivering guitar-driven melodic hard rock. You'll find this with Ready To Give Me Your Love, the heavy steady Evil or the fast riff rockers, Face The Truth and Welcome To My World. I found the songs in this category much more interesting. With Stay The Night, Starmen offer an inspired piano driven, rising traditional ballad, but a bit too long at six minutes. Fundamentally, Starmen's Welcome To My World is the band's second attempt to channel and emulate their heroes of classic rock by creating original music in that style. I think with dubious to interesting results. Nevertheless, check them out and support the band.

Seven Spires: Emerald Seas

Melodic/Symphonic/Power Metal

4.0/5.0

With band members hailing from various American states, Seven Spires was formed in 2013 by students attending the internationally known and respected ... [ Read More ]

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

Fundamentally, Starmen's Welcome To My World is the band's second attempt to channel and emulate their heroes of classic rock by creating original music in that style. I think with dubious to interesting results. Nevertheless, check them out and support the band.

Alphabetical Index

Three years have passed since Sweden's Cruzh dropped their second long-player, Tropical Thunder, also introducing their new singer, Alex Waghorn. Now the band returns with The Jungle Revolution ... [ Read More ]