CITADEL

If the music you listen to has to be "bad-ass" or have some sort of tough attitude in it in order for you to take it seriously, then don't bother ever picking up this album, or any Starcastle album for that matter. These guys are big, fuzzy pussycats and they sing about love and light and things that shine with love and light and so forth. But, if you can deal with the overwhelming positivity of it all, you will be rewarded with some breathtakingly beautiful music. Some of this album could be called "power-pop" I guess, in that the songs are relatively concise and serve mainly as vehicles for gorgeous vocal harmonies; and the lyrics may be too much for some people (light and love and shiny falcons...). However, back to those gorgeous vocal harmonies. Where did these guys come from? Every song without exception delivers faultless harmonies that shine forth like beams of light through the fog -- and the instrumental interplay beneath is always exciting. I don't know about everyone else, but that kind of thing really does it for me. So, in a weird world, I consider Starcastle a top-notch band, and I highly recommend any of their albums to the open-minded listener.