Perhaps there's something just a little bit autobiographical to be deduced from the album title. Starsailor???s third album On The Outside finds yesterday's next-big-thing fighting a defiant rear guard action against fading fortunes and particularly the tepid reception afforded to their last studio outing, Silence Is Easy. Starsailor's response to potential critical excommunication is to sound more devout about their oevre than ever before with the curling, overwrought vocals of James Walsh and the sang-froid of Barry Westhead's organ cementing a wall-of-sound that former producer Phil Spector never managed.

While they've hit on a singular signature and milked it for all it's worth--the plangent, acoustic murder-ballad "Jeremiah" being the most noticeable deviation from the script--On The Outside tenders Starsailor???s most full-blooded assault on the "big breakthrough" to date with the angsty metropolitan blues of "I Don't Know" and the single "In The Crossfire"--among others--destined to increase the band's commercial currency. --Kevin Maidment

Starsailor may be lead my a red pillock but "On The Outside" is one of the great records of the last five years. From the opener of the impassioned and totally unexpexpected pleas of "In The Crossfire" through the sunshine criticism of "Keep Us Together" to the requiem of "Jeremiah" it stands as a truly great and totally underrated record.
Buy it now!

I've said it before and I'll say it again - you either like Starsailor or you hate them. The vocal is distinctive, the subject matter quite bleak, but the tunes are always good. This is the third album, and the first thing you note is that they've bought a few more amplifiers. Place this album in a shuffle playlist with anything else and you have to turn it waaay down to avoid being deafened.

The tunes are all still there. In The Crossfire sets the tone for a more rock-charged album, and Jeremiah is a mournful epilogue, based on a true story.

But, as with both the previous albums, it's just too short!

I came to Starsailor after hearing of their Jeff Buckley influences (and, of course, the Tim Buckley album reference in their name). However, I always found them a little... well, dull. I liked the music, but never quite got around to properly listening to it.

This changed after seeing them at Hyde Park Calling 2006, where I was particularly impressed with some tracks from the new album. Moreover, they showed a heavier, rockier side to them live which I sense in the new album, too. It's more lively, more listenable and more interesting.

I suppose old fans may therefore miss their old band, but for me this is a very positive evolution that reminds me a little of how Stereophonics have changed in the last years.

I'm not a Starsailor fan but perhaps I should be as I've really liked everything I've heard of theirs. I'd never heard of this album before and only came across it whilst browsing the sale items. Based on previous experience of them and the other review here I decided to get it. I must say that it's a cracker and unlike the other review I really like the last 2 tracks in addition to the first 9. I only got it this morning but it's been on the cd player repeat all day and at three quid for the "bonus" edition with the extra dvd this has really got to be a steal, quite possibly "bargain of the year".

Starsailor shot to prominance on the indie music scene with their debut Love Is Here in 2001, along with Coldplay and the like they were hailed as the next big thing. I loved their debut record but the singles released from their second offering, Silence Is Easy, failed to convince me that it was worth buying. Since then Starsailor fell off the radar altogther and I for one had forgotten they existed, save for the occasions when I wanted to listen to some of the sweet melodies and heartwarming lyrics from Love Is Here. Out of the blue in autumn last year Starsailor came back with single In The Crossfire and I was amazed at what I heard - surely this wasn't the piano tinkering harmless indie band of yesteryear?

Whether it was the criticism they recieved after Silence Is Easy that motivated them to write this record or not I don't know but it really is quite remarkable. Evident here is the kind of angst and anger usually associated with Nirvana. Ok this no Nevermind but it sure is grungy at times and the lyrics have taken on a personal sadness and even a political edge. Starsailor have really moved on admirably from their last album, emphasizing their songs with guitar riffs now in a way I would never have expected from them. It's a real progression and one that could have backfired, but then they didn't have much to left to lose.

The album is by no means flawless, and it losses momentum somewhat towards the end which is why I could only award four stars. But it finishes with the superb acoustic, thought provoking, Jeremiah. Starsailor have certainly come back in a big way - surprising indeed.