'' Starz '' is the debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Starz Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consist ...

. The album was released on June 21, 1976 on

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

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 Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...

). 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 music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'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 stars like

and

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

; 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 the genre of heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'', he has additionally ...

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, most famous as a member of Starz. Early life Ranno was raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, where he moved with his family as a child. Career After high school Ranno move ...

– 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 beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

;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