Return To Form

Album review

On their seventh album, Return to Form, acid rockers Major Stars make a journey back to their fuzzier, more psychedelic roots. Sandra Barrett is still holding down the vocal duties, but with a better mix than its previous album, Mirror/Messenger, the band is able to focus more attention on the three-pronged guitar assault of Wayne Rogers, Kate Village, and Tom Leonard. While the sound on this one isn’t as dirty as their earlier albums, they make up for it by doing what they do best and bringing the guitar worship back to the forefront. “Black Point” pretends to be a straight-ahead rocker for just over a minute before exploding into five minutes of searing solos, with the scream of wah-wah pedals and super-dense Velcro-like fuzz creating a swirling psychedelic storm of raw guitar fury. Similarly, songs like “Low Grade” and “Run from Me Devil” erupt into searing acid rock freakouts, with the latter bringing the album to a frenzied close. With this album, Major Stars show their talent as songwriters, creating a collection of songs that manages to rope you in with a solid rock foundation before attempting to blow your mind with fuzzed-out fretboard acrobatics, making the title a statement of purpose rather than empty posturing.

© Gregory Heaney /TiVo