STARCASTLE

Starcastle is an American symphonic progressive rock band from Champaign, Illinois, which was formed in 1972. It was disbanded in 1987, reformed between 1997 and 2007 and that was re-reformed again since 2018. However, Starcastle was born in 1969 with the name of St. James. Strongly influenced by the British progressive rock movement of the time, the band began writing material that would eventually appear on their first album. They also began a rigorous schedule of support club shows throughout the Midwest, refining their stage show and working on some original cover material. Despite the relative success, and the release of a single they needed something else. So, was Starcastle born with firm, rare musicality, glorious vocal harmonies, and a fast fingered bassist named Gary Strater. Now, they were on their way.

Thus began the band, with a self titled debut studio album that was released in the early of 1976. The response to Starcastle's music was overwhelming and despite some accusations, the band was accused of being a clone of Yes, the album received heavy airplay on FM throughout the USA and Canada. The group began an even more intensive concert schedule, including some of the biggest shows of their career. Since they were a very successful band in the beginning of their musical career, they were opening acts for bands such as Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant, Kansas, Boston, Rush, Journey, and some many others. The first album sold well, and Epic Records sent the band to Le Studio in Morin-Heights, Quebec, with producer Roy Thomas Baker. But this is another story. This review is about their debut album.

So, "Starcastle" is the eponymous debut studio album of Starcastle. The line up on the album is Terry Luttrell (lead vocals), Matthew Stewart (backing vocals and electric guitar), Stephen Hagler (backing vocals and electric guitar), Herb Schildt (piano, synthesizer and organ), Gary Strater (backing vocals, bass guitar and Moog Taurus) and Stephen Tassler (backing vocals, drums and percussion).

"Starcastle" has seven tracks. The first track "Lady Of The Lake" is the epic track on the album. The epic contains many various sections, many abrupt tempo shifts and many sizzling solos. The band extends the theme with their 10 minutes. The instrumental dynamics and the created atmosphere are fantastic. The second track "Elliptical Seasons" comes with the guitar in front and an unbeatable dual, bass and keyboard. Once again the vocals in choir deserve great attention. Undoubtedly, they took the best of the English progressive rock and put a little American accent. And in this case it's very welcome. The third track "Forces" comes with an altered and broken rhythm and the close vocalization accompanies everything else. And this is a good thing. Another good thing is that sound we usually hear coming from the guitar like it's a wha wha pedal, but it's really just the volume of the guitar being shifted, giving it that effect. This is a very interesting track too, really. The fourth track "Stargate" is a track that after a few seconds of silence it begins its journey with the synthesizer prophesying what will come. This track has the already famous "strategic stops" in the music world. Here we have a calm mood. This isn't an easy thing to achieve in music without having something boring. The fifth track "Sunfield" is a track with the vocals in an extreme peace of mind. They get the theme right and Gary's bass once again is excellent. It has a very good integration between guitars and keyboard from the fourth minute. The theme is quite surprising from a melodic point of view. However, this is another great track on the album. The sixth track "To The Fire Wind" is a track started by the organ. Evoked by the band, the melody cuts the silence and style, resonating gloriously. The organ rules the sound, with the proper presence of the guitar and the magnificent vocals. The great guitar work at the end shows that the two guitars aren't just there for the sake of embellishment. The seventh track "Nova" is another short instrumental piece that clearly displays the chops of each musician in the band's line up. It's a small ending without further ado and winding. But I think that it could well have ended with a more striking theme.

Conclusion: Starcastle is probably the most extreme Yes' clone band I've ever heard, besides Druid. The band did absolutely everything to sound exactly like Yes, and above all, they succeeded extremely well. Starcastle cloned Yes so perfectly that it's in fact a pure delight to listen to them. Of course I'm talking about the two first studio albums of them. The performance is simply awesome. You can really hear that these are musicians of a high class. The same goes for the songwriting. The keyboard arrangements are just so tasteful and perfect that you could cry. This is the way that symphonic progressive rock would mean to be in the difficult times of the end of the 70's. You can probably say that this isn't genius and that Starcastle did nothing else than writing songs which they played with another band's sound. I even can agree. But they did it so well that I just can't find anything negative to say about that. This is cloning as art, and this album is a treasure for any Yes' fan. So, "Starcastle" is one of the better albums that Yes never made, indeed.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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