Best Of album review

Looking at this CD, I wish this album never had to come out. The superbly successful group Stellar* have come out with a Best Of album. It is a bittersweet moment having to listen to eighteen brilliant songs from one of our favourite groups of over the last decade as Stellar* are putting an end to their undeniably impressive career as a band and this Best Of album marks the end of their era. But once that disc is in the drive and the hits go rolling off, one after the other, you end up surrounded by a never-ending present filled with great music.

This is a wonderful anthology of their career. It works to suit everyone. For those who own everything Stellar* this best-of is worth getting just for the CD booklet that is scrapbook of memories of their career. With images of tour posters, articles about the group, personal, promotional and live photographs the booklet also contains personal accounts and messages about each track by the band members. For those who have not yet truly discovered the marvel that is Stellar* this album has everything you need to get hooked into their sound.

The songs on this Best Of comprise of the best of their music from the albums, Mix from 1999, Magic Line from 2001 and Something Like Strangers from 2006. ‘Violent’, ‘Every Girl’, ‘All It Takes’ ‘Undone’ and ‘Part of Me’ are all constituents in the album, along with the more recent  ‘Whiplash’ and ‘For a While’ featuring Andy Lovegrove. It is a benefit having songs that are so pleasantly familiar, that you begin to sing along to from the first listen. At the same time, there is something fresh within these tracks. A new single recorded earlier this year ‘So Alive’ is flourishes amongst all the renowned and loved classics.

Over the last decade the flavour of music has changed and progressed through various genres and fashions of sound. What is most intriguing with this Best Of is the fact that despite the time span of these tracks, they all feel contemporary, proving that they are enduring and will remain so. They all have a sense of relevance to the sounds of today with the Stellar* mix of rock, pop and electronic elements. Yet, you can feel the maturity of their songs grow as the timeline of songs unravel, and the voice of Boh Runga develops to pure sophistication.

As the members embark on their own solo careers and endeavours, though it is the end of Stellar* there is little doubt that individually they will carry on their musical and artistic goodness in new ways.

Saying goodbye to a friend is always difficult. Saying goodbye to thousands of them is unimaginable. With Stellar* The Best Of the band present to their fans a sweet memento of their best work, and say a final thank you to all of their supporters.

-Janise.