Published Tagged review

Earlier this summer, Stars released their album digitally well before their "physical" CD release in order to beat the "pirates" and downloaders (and so-called reviewers) to market. Smart move: music fans like me bought the legit version because WE COULD.

Any fan of a band wants to get their hands on a new album as fast as they can, legitimately or not. A early legitimate avenue is, in hindsight, an obvious idea. Stars fans were impressed -- I bought the iTunes version for about $10 and loved it start to finish.

But that wasn't enough for Stars and their progressive Canadian label Arts & Crafts. They had to include a 55-minute performance and interview DVD with the physical copy of the album. So the album cost more, right? No, it was a very reasonable $16.99 at my local store.

The DVD is fantastic too, it's not just thrown together. It does exactly what a DVD like that should: brings you closer to the band and gets you into their heads more than reading the lyrics ever could. For a fan of the band, it's porn.

Great move, Stars. Great move, A&C.