Starmen ‘Welcome To My World’
Album Review By Adam McCann
Black Lodge Records/Hard Rock/AOR
Starmen? Who are Starmen? Will be the question posed for most people reading this; are they huge David Bowie fans? Or do they worship Paul Stanley? The answer to the question is most certainly the latter. This Swedish four-piece hide their faces behind stars of different colours and present a music which takes in 70’s and 80’s hard rock and AOR sound as they unleash their debut album ‘Welcome To My World’.
As expected, this album is very much rooted into the early 80’s Kiss sound with ‘Welcome…’ having all the appeal of albums ‘Unmasked’, ‘Creatures of the Night’ and ‘Animalize’, but what else do you expect when ¾ of this band are also members of the Swedish Kiss tribute band Kissed? Therefore, this is an album which oozes with memorable melodies and chest pounding chorus’ which would make Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons nod in appreciation, particularly tracks such as the almighty ‘Warrior’ and ‘Freewheelin’’, the former of which is an example of how Gene Simmons would sound singing Bon Jovi. However, there is significantly more here than just Kiss worship, sure that is the overall feeling, but there is plenty here for fans of Whitesnake, Def Leppard and Europe, the latter in particular is seen during the shredding guitar solos of Andreas Lindgren who really gives John Norum a run for his money. However, this album is not all just hip-thrusting sexual machismo and Starmen show an awareness of wider social issues, the track ‘Mayday’ is an impressive take on how humans are destroying the world they live in.
‘Welcome…’ is a surprisingly refreshing change; yes, of course this album is so cheesy that the 80’s want it back, but who cares? Every track here is exceptionally enjoyable and any self-respecting fan of hard rock and AOR should go out and buy this album, it will certainly not disappoint.
Rating : 88/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
