In Our Bedroom After the War | 
 enlarge | Artist: Stars
Label: Arts & Crafts
Category: Music
List Price: $20.98
Buy New: $18.76
You Save: $2.22 (11%)
New (8) from $18.76
Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 375098
Format: Enhanced
Media: LP Record
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 12.2 x 12.2 x 0.2
UPC: 827590280014
EAN: 0827590280014
ASIN: B000UZ4OXY
Release Date: September 25, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | The Beginning After the End | | • | The Night Starts Here | | • | Take Me to the Riot | | • | My Favourite Book | | • | Midnight Coward | | • | The Ghost of Genova Heights | | • | Personal | | • | Barricade | | • | Window Bird | | • | Bitches in Tokyo | | • | Life 2: The Unhappy Ending | | • | Today Will Be Better, I Swear! | | • | In Our Bedroom After the War |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Montreal's Stars are certainly a theatrical bunch (and not just because co-frontman Torquil Campbell is also an actor). Their passionate delivery of love and breakup songs--often sung dialogue-style between male frontman Campbell and female lead Amy Millan--is a compelling combination of musicianship and dramatic intensity. In Our Bedroom After the War is similar in style to Set Yourself on Fire--albeit a little gentler and more intimate in tone--capturing the many varied elements that Stars do best. "Midnight Coward" begins with Millan's gentle voice singing "sweetness never suits me," then eventually expands into an abundant, symphonic-sounding conclusion. "The Ghost of Genova Heights" features co-vocalist Torquil Campbell evoking a Scissor Sisters funkiness, which may surprise some fans. "My Favourite Book" is a bright, sunny spot showcasing Millan's penchant for smooth, silky jazz-pop a la Morcheeba or The Style Council. Throughout, the group remains poets-cum-performers--topics range from love between political protestors ("Barricade") to emotive hook-up attempts between personal-ad users ("Personal"), always done with lush musicianship that's often Moulin Rouge-esque at its core. Note to diehard fans: the limited-edition version of the disc is well worth the investment, featuring a captivating hour-long DVD that is part travelogue, part interview, and is filled with impressive clips from live shows throughout Europe and North America. --Denise Sheppard
Album Description
On September 25, Stars will release their fourth studio album, In Our Bedroom After The War. It's Stars' most confident and compelling work to date, an album that showcases the seven years of experience they share as a band. It was recorded at the Warehouse Studios in Vancouver, BC and mixed by Joe Chiccarelli (The White Stripes, The Shins, Morrissey). For a limited time, In Our Bedroom After The War will include a bonus DVD featuring a 55-minute documentary of Stars' live performances and interviews while touring Set Yourself on Fire.
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| Customer Reviews:
 They really are Stars December 26, 2008
Nathan Beauchamp (Oak Park, IL USA)
Stars is the best band that I had never heard of until this year. I now own all their albums, including their strange little release SAD ROBOTS from November 2008. Blending interesting lyrics with synthpop sensibilities, a flare for the dramatic, and dueling male and female vocalists, Stars is hard to quantify, except that they are excellent.
Their newest album, IN OUR BEDROOM AFTER THE WAR, is darker than previous albums, which lyrics that can tear at the listener's heart. Poignant and richly rewarding, each song is something of a vignette of life. Some border on fine art in their quality of writing, even worthy of adaptation into short fiction.
What Stars does better than almost all Indie contenders is fluidly blend musical styles without seeming nothing more than a musical collage. "Take Me To The Riot," has an intense rocker feel, sort of The Cure blended with Arcade Fire, with the piano sweetly singing in the background. It is probably this reviewer's favorite, full of dark humor and brilliant intensity.
"My Favorite Book" slips into a 70s beat with understated vocals that is quite pretty. It is one of the lighter songs in the collection, but quite nice for what it is.
"The Ghost of Geneva Heights," is slow and intimate, with a beat that is re-imagined 70s with a grunge heaviness. Carefully minor key, this song grows better on each listening.
"Barricade" is a piano ballad in the likes of Ben Folds, but with lyrics that stand in stark contrast to the music. Dark, beautiful, poetic, and addicting: "There's only darkness at the finish. Meet me at the barricade. I'll be at the barricade. The love dies, but the hate can't fade..."
A collection of songs diverse in style but equally well done, the album is a perfect review of Stars' varied and quality musical styles. 4.5/5, and a must buy for any serious Indie fan.
Allegro, non troppo December 24, 2008
Giuseppe A. Paleologo (Riverdale, NY United States)
For Stars, the nineties never happened. All members have metabolized the two pillars of 80s British pop-rock -- Smiths and New Order -- so thoroughly that they don't need to copy them, they just exude them. Prefab Sprout, Electronic, Sundays, Everything But The Girl, even Cure: the intelligent melodic music of Northern England is shimmering inside every song. On the other side, I bet that Campbell & Co. cannot locate Bristol on the map, and listen to Portishead or Tricky only when they are in wrist-slitting mode.
Why this long introduction? Because this heritage seems Stars' strength and weakness. At its best, the band has the innocence and urgency of a teen-ager finding the right words for the first time. "The Night Starts Here" and "Take me to the Riot" are memorable and enthusing. They sit of the wide shoulders of Bernard Sumner and Morrissey without plagiarizing them. There are many other songs that are pitch-perfect, efficient and honest. "My Favorite Book" and "Personal" are in this class. They are intelligent without being cerebral. But, when they are short on ideas, the songs flounder. They go on melodic 80s autopilot. I felt that "Bitches in Tokyo" and the titular song were enjoyable but gratuitous and detract from the overall experience. When you have 10 dry, powerful, needed songs from a Canadian rock band what you get is Neon Bible. Stars are not there yet. But they have potential for greatness, and they already have several excellent songs in their repertoire.
I heard that the band is very selective in its choice of material. I hope they could be just a bit more selective. It's just a matter of time until the perfect album.
 Best of 2007, building up on Set Yourself On Fire December 21, 2008
Manny Hernandez (Bay Area, CA)
Stars was a band that I loved at first listen. It was pure coincidence: they were opening for Death Cab For Cutie in Orlando and only later did I learn that they were a spinoff of Broken Social Scene (one of my favorite bands today).
With "In Our Bedroom After the War" they build up on the brilliance of "Set Yourself on Fire," delivering a solid album that keeps you engaged with the smooth vocals where male and female almost play with each other, alongside with the fantastic arrangements that depart from what you may be more used to listening these days.
There is practically no weak moments in the entire album, making it easily one of the best ones to be published in 2007. Also highly recommendable is their 2008 EP, "Sad Robots."
Top notch! September 26, 2008
Eric J. Robertson (New York, NY)
The stars lyrical quality is hypnotic. If you are a fan, this album does not disappoint, although the continuity between songs isn't quite as consistent as previous albums. If you are new to them then start with the earlier albums to get a better sense of where their electro-pop influences have come from. Great lyrics and narrative basis to the songs. Easy on the ears!
in our bedroom after the war July 21, 2008
Jessica Tate (denton, tx)
i've been a fan of this band since i heard of them from a friend. their melodic voices and intelligent lyrics from their previous albums have always been my weakness, but this album ascended my love for them to all new heights. the album has a soundtrack feel, and as you listen to it all the way through, the characters are brought to life by the music.
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