Tag: shooting star

This is album number four for Shooting Star. It was released in ’83 and was the last of their albums to hit the charts. They had a somewhat unique sound coming over as a cross between Survivor and Journey. They certainly had everything going for them: a contract with Virgin who were desperate to sign an American melodic rock band, and they were coupled with producer Kevin Elson who had a great track record with aor bands.

This album is a bit hit and miss for me. Tracks like Straight Ahead, Taken Enough, and Go For It from Side 1 and Winner from Side 2 are great songs, but the rest just don’t reach the heights I’m afraid, and the cover of Reach Out is a bit meh.

You could put together a great album of Shooting Start if you took the best tracks from their first four albums.

6.5/10 from The Grooveman.

Shooting Star was the first US band Virgin Records’ signed and when you consider what bands they had signed in the UK and Europe, this was a bit of a head turner. Journey were just becoming huge at the time and I guess all the record companies were scrambling around trying to sign the next Journey.

Now, if you haven’t heard of them before you should now have some idea of where they stand with their brand of aor/ melodic rock. The majority of tunes fall into that category with a fair sprinkling of ballads, but they do rock out. Tracks like opener You Got What I Need, Stranger with that great classic rock riff, and my favourite Bring It On which has a great groove and the middle section is awesome. They refined their sound more, and had some chart success in the US before they disappeared.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.