Chrome stripped off and painted flat black
William Newman | Seattle, Washington USA | 06/22/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Dark Star is 3/5 of a band called Levitation that burst on the UK scene in the early 90s. Levitation was led by singer/guitar god Terry Bickers, who had dropped out of a rising band, House Of Love. Levitation created idiosyncratic music that is sometimes called progressive. They played syncopated and dramatic music that is hauntingly english. Bickers left the group, in mid gig, and Levitation tried to carry on without him, unsuccessfully.That was 1994. The 3 remaining members of the band started Dark Star in 1998 (or thereabouts) and are self described as Levitation but "with the chrome stripped off and painted black".Listening to Dark Star it is easy to see where that great Levitation music came from. These guys have that haunting tone and frame of mind, only more desolate, and more grinding.Use the web, and search for their web site. They have plenty of tracks to listen to as samples. My favorite is the live version of "Graceadelica", a studio version of which appears here."
Beautiful grunge
Silent Abstraction | 07/09/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I bought this CD second-hand because the cover made me curious; I had no idea what the music was about. Back at home I immediately realized that this is one of the most beautiful grunge (or whatever you want to call it) recordings I have heard. I believe it's better than anything Nirvana have recorded.In contrast to many groups playing this style with little or no musical ability, Dark Star are great instrumentalists. The guitar is very versatile, the drummer knows how to use the cymbals to create interesting textures and atmospheres, and the bass player is simply great, reminding me of Geezer Butler sometimes (yes, and there IS a Black Sabbath influence in the music). Finally, there's intelligent lyrics and superb songwriting.This is really high-class guitar rock and definitely deserves some attention!"
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1