The band bio hails Star Dancer as ‘boasting a style caught between the bombastic riffs Guns & Roses, the grit of early late 80’s circa Ministry, and the lyrical style & prowess of classic Stone Temple Pilots; Star Dancer is a must for fans of classic hard rock.’ I’m less convinced by the Ministry citation than the rest of this statement, which seems a fair summation of ‘Welcome to My World’.
It’s 2016, but on planet rock it’s still 1985. The title track opens the album and sets the tone: big, bright guitars, flamboyant soloing and stadium vocals set to a tune that leans equally on ‘Brown Sugar’ and ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet’ and delivered with the balls-out pomposity of Zodiac Mindwarp.
They’ve got epic swagger and pack in some solid hooks, with the chunky ‘Earth Mother Dancer’ compensating lightweight pop efforts like ‘Sexpectations’ the punk pop tossoff ‘Shes In Love with Joan Jett’ which land somewhere between Def Leppard and Fountains of Wayne and elsewhere, ‘The Weed Don’t Lie’ goes all Pink Floyd. Their socio-politically-slanted reworking of ‘Unbelievable’ has got some chops, and works well, in context.
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Yes, ‘Welcome to My World’ is a rock album, and fulfils many conventional rock trappings, but it’s varied in its influences and the songs are strong enough to carry it.
Star Dancer Online
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