Stars | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 30 September 1991 | |||
Recorded | August 1990–June 1991 | |||
Studio | Condulmer Studio, Venice, Italy | |||
Genre | Pop, blue-eyed soul | |||
Length | 41:17 | |||
Label | EastWest Records | |||
Producer | Stewart Levine | |||
Simply Red chronology | ||||
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Singles from Stars | ||||
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Stars is the fourth album by British-based pop/soul/jazz band Simply Red, released in September 1991. Five singles were released from the album, including the UK top ten hits "Stars" and "For Your Babies". The album was a worldwide success, particularly in the band's home country where it has been certified twelve times platinum [1] and was the best-selling album of the year in the UK for both 1991 and 1992, [2] [3] the first album to be the best-seller in two consecutive years since Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge over Troubled Water in 1970–71. As of July 2016 it is the 14th best-selling album of all time in the UK. [4]
The album was on the shortlist of nominees for the 1992 Mercury Prize. In 2000 Q placed Stars at number 80 in its list of "The 100 Greatest British Albums Ever". [5]
In 2000 it was voted number 258 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums . [6]
Recording for the album originally began in Paris in August 1990, but the initial sessions did not go well: the equipment in the studio did not live up to expectations, and with the Gulf War having just started and dominating television news reports, the band found the atmosphere in the bunker-like studios oppressive and not conducive to making music. The group moved to the more relaxed surroundings of Venice to resume recording in the Condulmer Studios. [7]
Simply Red's leader and singer Mick Hucknall had wanted the album to have a less electronic and more soulful sound than their previous work, and had recruited programmer Gota after hearing his work with Soul II Soul. Hucknall did not realise that Gota was also a drummer until he heard him jamming on the drum kit one evening in Venice, after which Gota also became the band's full-time drummer. The songs had been written over the previous year: "Something Got Me Started" and "Stars" had been written on the road during the group's previous tour. "Thrill Me" was based on a riff that McIntyre had come up with, while Hucknall described "Wonderland" as "probably the most political song I've written", documenting his dissatisfaction with the British Conservative government of the time. [8]
The album cover features a photograph of singer Hucknall in the Californian desert, wearing a Native American painted cloak that he had bought in Spain. Hucknall had insisted that in the shot he would be wearing the cloak and nothing else, displaying his bare legs. However, when photographer Zanna showed the photographs to EastWest Records, they were concerned that Hucknall's bare legs would offend sensibilities in the US, and Zanna had to digitally retouch the picture using a test photograph of her assistant's jeans-covered legs. [9]
Stars was released 30 September 1991 and debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart. It sold around 150,000 copies in its first week and faced competition from Prince's Diamonds and Pearls and Tina Turner's greatest hits collection Simply the Best . [10] In one year, the album had sold 2.4 million copies in the UK. [11]
Stars was re-issued in 2008 as a Collector's Edition 2CD with bonus DVD digipack.
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [12] |
Chicago Tribune | [13] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [14] |
Entertainment Weekly | B+ [15] |
NME | 4/10 [16] |
Q | [17] |
Smash Hits | 7/10 [18] |
Uncut | [19] |
The album received mixed reviews in the UK. The alternative music magazines were cool towards the record: in the NME Andrew Collins dismissed Stars as "an exercise in no-style over no-content... this is the sound of some technicians desperately fanning some smouldering ashes for people with central heating", [16] while in Melody Maker Caroline Sullivan simply stated that "within his strictly-defined oeuvre – sleek, airbrushed music best described as soulette – [Hucknall]'s miles ahead of the competition... Nor, on an objective level, can Stars be faulted... This is a pleasant album, the sleeve is pretty, and now, at least, you've got a Christmas present for Gran." [20]
However, reviews from newspaper critics and other magazines were more positive. In The Guardian Adam Sweeting wrote that "the new songs sound relaxed, refreshed and satisfyingly cohesive... Easy to listen to but not easy listening, Stars keeps shining", [21] while The Independent 's Andy Gill was similarly impressed, observing that "Hucknall's socialist soul-boy's conviction and his determination to write songs with stings in their tales place Simply Red several notches above the rest of the smooth soul genre... And in simple evocations of love like 'Thrill Me' or 'For Your Babies', the spark of honesty sets them above the superficial, insincere protestations of love that dominate modern soul music". [22] In Q Ian Cranna hailed the album as "a long overdue change in musical direction, with Hucknall for the most part abandoning his undoubtedly sincere but inevitably fruitless attempts to re-create himself as a soul singer. Instead he's eased Simply Red down a couple of gears into a more relaxed and flowing style which owes as much towards current hip hop-inspired club rhythms as it does to old-style soul or funk." He ended his review by describing Stars as "Simply Red's most accessible and danceable work to date". [17]
In his retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine called Stars "Simply Red's best album since their debut. It's smoother and more polished than their previous work, yet Mick Hucknall is singing better than ever and his songwriting is improving... Having absorbed his pop, soul, and reggae influences, Hucknall is now successfully writing songs in his own style, something that, with the exception of 'Holding Back the Years', he hadn't managed previously." [12]
The album was voted the second-worst record ever made in a 1998 Melody Maker poll of pop stars, DJs, and journalists. [23]
All songs written and composed by Mick Hucknall, except where noted.
Disc one (CD) – extra tracks
Disc two (CD) – Mixes
| Disc three (DVD)
|
Simply Red
Additional personnel
| Production
|
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [57] | 2× Platinum | 140,000^ |
Austria (IFPI Austria) [58] | 2× Platinum | 100,000* |
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) [59] | Platinum | 250,000* |
Canada (Music Canada) [60] | Gold | 50,000^ |
Finland (Musiikkituottajat) [61] | Gold | 34,401 [61] |
France (SNEP) [62] | 2× Platinum | 600,000* |
Germany (BVMI) [63] | 5× Gold | 1,250,000^ |
Italy | — | 500,000 [64] |
Japan | — | 50,000 [65] |
Netherlands (NVPI) [66] | 2× Platinum | 200,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [67] | Platinum | 15,000^ |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [68] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [69] | 2× Platinum | 100,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [1] | 12× Platinum | 3,600,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [70] | Gold | 579,000 [71] |
Summaries | ||
Scandinavia | — | 150,000 [65] |
Worldwide | — | 9,000,000 [71] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Simply Red are a British soul and pop band formed in Manchester in 1985. The band is led by singer and songwriter Mick Hucknall, who, by the time the band initially disbanded in 2010, was the only original member left. They have released thirteen studio albums, spanning from Picture Book (1985) through Time (2023), all of which have peaked within the top ten on the UK Albums Chart; with the albums A New Flame (1989), Stars (1991), Life (1995) and Blue (1998), along with their Greatest Hits (1996) album, reaching number one. Their 1991 album Stars is one of the best-selling albums in the United Kingdom.
Unplugged is a 1992 live album by Eric Clapton, recorded at Bray Studios, England in front of an audience for the MTV Unplugged television series. It includes a version of the successful 1992 single "Tears in Heaven" and an acoustic version of "Layla". The album itself won three Grammy awards at the 35th Annual Grammy Awards in 1993 and became the bestselling live album of all time, and Clapton's bestselling album, selling 26 million copies worldwide.
ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits is a compilation album by the Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released on 21 September 1992 through PolyGram, making it the first compilation to be released after the company had acquired Polar Music, and thus the rights to the ABBA back catalogue.
"Something Got Me Started" is a song by British soul and pop band Simply Red, released in September 1991 by East West Records as the first single from their fourth album, Stars (1991). It was released in several forms: a 7-inch single, a 12-inch single, and a CD single, that includes a remix by Perfecto.
Simply the Best is the first greatest hits compilation by Tina Turner, released on October 22, 1991, by Capitol Records.
Home is the eighth studio album by British pop and soul band Simply Red, released in 2003. It is the first Simply Red album released on band frontman Mick Hucknall's own record label, Simplyred.com. The album was a success all around the world, and includes the hit singles, "Sunrise", "Fake", "You Make Me Feel Brand New" and "Home".
Life is the fifth studio album by British pop and soul band Simply Red, released in 1995. The lead single "Fairground" became their first number 1 hit in the UK. Due to this success, the album also made #1 on the UK album chart. It also included "We're in This Together", the official theme song for Euro '96. This was also the last album to feature band members Fritz McIntyre and Heitor TP.
Picture Book is the debut album by British pop and soul group Simply Red, released in October 1985. It contains the US number-one single "Holding Back the Years", and a cover of The Valentine Brothers' "Money's Too Tight ". Three more singles were released from the album: "Come to My Aid", "Jericho", and "Open Up the Red Box".
Simplified is the ninth studio album by Simply Red, released in October 2005. It features new, rearranged recordings of the band's older songs, and four new songs: "Perfect Love" and an alternate version, "My Perfect Love", a cover of Leon Russell's "A Song for You", and "Smile".
Greatest Hits is the first compilation album released by British pop and soul group Simply Red, which contained material from their first five studio albums and included a newer track, a cover of Aretha Franklin's 1973 classic, "Angel".
Men and Women is the second album by British pop and soul group Simply Red, released in 1987.
A New Flame is the third album by British pop and soul group Simply Red, released in February 1989. It was a huge success worldwide, becoming the band's first UK number one album and certified 7× Platinum by the BPI for sales of 2,100,000 copies in the UK alone. The album was also certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.
Blue is the sixth studio album by British band Simply Red. It was released by East West Records on 19 May 1998 in the United Kingdom. Initially conceived as a cover album, it features production from lead singer Mick Hucknall as well as Andy Wright, Gota Yashiki, Stevie J, and Joe "Jake" Carter. Hucknall, Wright, and Yashiki are the only musicians featured in the Blue CD booklet's photography; this is a first for a Simply Red album, as all prior albums featured photos of the various band members credited.
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The discography of Simply Red, a British soul band, consists of thirteen studio albums, six compilation albums, one extended play, fifty-three singles and a number of other appearances.
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"For Your Babies" is a song by British soul and pop band Simply Red. Written by Mick Hucknall, it was released in January 1992 as the third single from the band's forth album, Stars (1991). The song reached number nine on the UK Singles Chart in February same year. It also reached the top 20 in Ireland and the top 30 in Austria and Belgium. The track was included on the band's compilation albums, Greatest Hits in 1996, Simply Red 25: The Greatest Hits in 2008 and Songs of Love in 2010. It was also featured on the band's acoustic album Simplified in a new version.
Big Love is the eleventh studio album by British pop group Simply Red. The album was released on 29 May 2015 by East West Records. It is their first studio album since Stay (2007), and the first album to only feature original material since Life (1995). Big Love is also the first album to be released under a new recording contract with East West Records, a label Simply Red previously were signed to until April 2000.
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[L]urking beneath its overt radio-friendliness was a voice of dissent. 'Your Mirror' was the nearest Mick Hucknall came on record to a socialist rallying cry...
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