Starflyer 59 (Gold)[a] is the second studio album by alternative rock band Starflyer 59. Continuing the heavy shoegaze sound of debut studio album Silver while making various adjustments,Gold explores themes of melancholy,heartbreak,and lost friendships.[3] It was released on June 27,1995 by Tooth &Nail Records.
Ranked as number 41 on Pitchfork's 50 Best Shoegaze Albums of All Time list,Gold is considered a landmark in the history of the shoegaze genre.[4] Discussing the album with an interviewer at NPR decades later,band frontman Jason Martin (who produced the album) mentioned,"I don't know what the hell I was doing on that thing. But listening back,it's almost like you're listening back to a different person."[5]
In June 2005,Tooth &Nail released an extended,remastered edition of Gold for its 10th anniversary,featuring five bonus tracks from the band's Goodbyes Are Sad 7-inch single and Le Vainqueur EP.[b] This was accompanied by an extended,remastered edition of first studio album Silver.
Recording
In the CD liner notes for the Easy Come,Easy Go compilation album released in 2000,band biographer J. Edward Keyes records that Gold was marked by a chaotic production process. Having parted ways with original production team Blood (Jyro Xhan,Jerome Fontamillas) due to "internal tension," band frontman Jason Martin ended up taking most production duties upon himself,working alongside engineer Bob Moon,to complete his original two-album contract with Tooth &Nail. Moon recalls that Martin,grinding through a month-long recording process,told him outside the studio on one occasion that "it was the first time he'd seen daylight in seven days." Coupling the difficult recording process with the album's depressive themes,Martin revealed to Keyes that the Gold sessions were causing him to have "a semi-breakdown. It was a sick experience."
Martin recalls that after production had finished,upon final examination,he "hated [the album]. There was just too much me.... It was just so overindulgent. The music became longer and longer with those stupid solos because I was in there and I just wasn't thinking straight." Martin also initially received negative feedback from fans on the album's modified shoegaze sound and production quality,having confused "intentional underproduction for budgetary constraints," with Martin stating to Keyes that "they hated the thing." In an effort to create a specific,unique sound,Moon describes that he and Martin "had like fifteen mikes up for guitar,[and] different types of mikes in different positions. We had six rhythm tracks [running,which were] going through three different [amps,in order to get] a low guitar tone,a mid guitar tone,and a high guitar tone,and then doubling all of those to get this wall of sound.
Friends of Martin privately shared to him that wider connections were discussing how "Starflyer really choked on this second album." However,sometime after the album's release,Gold unexpectedly received a dramatic increase in popularity,along with a significant rise of approval among fans,going on to reach "nearly triple the sales" of Silver.[3]
↑ Burr, Matthew (November 15, 2005). "Starflyer 59, 'Gold' Review". Jesusfreakhideout.com. Archived from the original on July 23, 2025. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
↑ The original release of Gold was eponymously titled Starflyer 59 (as was 1994 debut album Silver), where it was colloquially known as Gold. This is corroborated by a 2019 vinyl rerelease test pressing. Gold is not to be confused with a digital reissue of Silver that has yellow-colored cover art. It was officially titled Gold for its 2005 extended, remastered edition.
↑ The Extended Edition cover art depicts a steamship, alluding to the ship illustrated on the Le Vainqueur EP cover art.
↑ The total length of the album release tracks on the Extended Edition reaches 50:06 due to track length variances caused by the remastering process.
↑ The total length of all tracks on the Extended Edition reaches 72:54 due to track length variances caused by the remastering process.
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