'' Starz '' is the debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by the American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band

Starz Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, ...

. The album was released on June 21, 1976 on

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

and produced by Jack Douglas (best known for his work with the American hard rock band

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...

). The song "Pull the Plug" caused some controversy, because it is about a man disconnecting his comatose wife's life support.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's Rob Theakston described ''Starz'' as "a simple, catchy, riff-driven album from start to finish", which failed in promoting the band to the level of

arena rock Arena rock (also known as stadium rock, pomp rock or corporate rock) is a style of rock music that became mainstream in the 1970s. It typically involves radio-friendly rock music that was designed to be played for large audiences. As hard rock ...

stars like

and

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

; he judged the album "a mediocre debut, to be sure, and definitely not the release for casual fans to introduce themselves to the group." Canadian journalist

Martin Popoff Martin Popoff (born April 28, 1963) is a Canadian music journalist, critic and author. He is mainly known for writing about heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of '' Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'', he has written over twenty books ...

commented on the lack of success of ''Starz'', writing that it "was perceived as a happy collection of harmless, corporate-vetted, summertime rock 'n' roll, marketed heavily and unfairly as state-of-the-art American hard rock", but concluded that the album aged quite well and is a good representation of "rock 'n' roll's friendlier, more relaxed, more optimistic eras."

Track listing

Personnel

;Starz *Michael Lee Smith – vocals *

Richie Ranno Richie Ranno (born January 21, 1950, in Bronx, New York) is an American musician. He is a member of the hard rock band Starz. Early life Ranno was raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, where he moved with his family as a child. Career After high school ...

– guitar *Brendan Harkin – guitar *Pieter "Pete" Sweval – bass *Joe X. Dube (aka Jeff Grob) – drums ;Additional musicians *Gary Coleman – additional

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

;Production * Jack Douglas – producer * John Jansen, Jay Messina – engineers *Sam Ginsberg – assistant engineer

References

External links

Official band website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Starz (album) 1976 debut albums Capitol Records albums Albums produced by Jack Douglas (record producer) Starz (band) albums