By Monk
In the (rare) heat of this past summer, ÜS guitar hero Jack Starr proved that his light does indeed still shine bright (sic) with the release of the tenth studio album under the banner of his proclaimed Burning Starr project. Now, just two months later, the French-born axe slinger is taking the opportunity to cast an eye over his shoulder and look back on at least part of his storied four-decade long career, with this epic three-CD, 37-track retrospective crammed full of one sort of BS but not the other…
For those who need an introduction to Starr, his career stretches back to the late Seventies and his native France, where he was a member of Trust (the band later to give us the legendary Nicko McBrain), before relocating to the good ol’ USofA and re-emerging as co-founder of the short-lived but still much revered Virgin Steele. The Steelers hold a special place in metal folklore, as their self-titled debut album was the first to be released on the legendary Music For Nations label here in the ÜK, pre-dating later, more acclaimed, releases by the likes of Metallica and Manowar.
While not, as billed, the band’s “first ever career-spanning anthology” – there was an earlier compilation in 1998 and this one only covers the period up until their 2011 ‘Land Of The Dead’ opus – this is nevertheless a comprehensive and insightful collection, which truly showcases the band’s development, from the pseudo-sleaze of 1985’s cheesily-titled ‘Rock The American Way’ debut through the early prog-metal Queensrÿche-esque ‘No Turning Back’ through the MTV-friendly power pop blendings of 1989’s self-titled offering to their more latter day traditional hard rock approach.
There are some hidden gems along the way: disc two contains the highlights of the ‘Strider’ and ‘Under A Savage Sky’ releases, recorded without the Burning Starr monicker attached but now rebranded as the project’s fifth and sixth albums respectively, and which remind us of the diversity of this much under-rated guitarist, who can switch from Whitesnake style radio-friendly multi-layered harmonics to savage in yer face riffage via sub-Dio faux pomposity with a flick of his tremolo arm.
Totally ignoring 2009’s ‘Defences’ album, CD3 leans heavily on the ‘Land Of The Dead’ release from two years later, a compilation which saw Starr transgress back into the New Wave of Traditional US Metal mien which has characterized his, albeit limited, output of the past decade, as emphasized by this year’s ÜR-approved ‘Souls Of The Innocent’ collection. It also features an almost obligatory triptych of live tracks (recorded in Germany, natch) and a de rigeur selection of previously unreleased “bonus” tracks – although I swear I have heard ‘Spirit Of ’86’ somewhere before… oh, sorry, it’s just one of those riffs that sticks in your craw and refuses to budge, that’s why.
All in all, this is as decent a retrospective collection as you are likely to get from many artists of this generation. Undoubtedly purists will argue over the omission of some of their favourite tracks, but you’ll get no such discussions from me: honestly, I have paid no more than a passing glance to Starr’s career since those heady Virgin Steele days, but this is a very worthy reminder of the man’s talent and dedication to the metal cause.
- ‘Eternal Starr: The Burning Starr Anthology’ is released on 30 September. You can get your copy HERE.
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