All Star United is back with a brand new set of upbeat rockers and catchy Christian anthems, helmed by band founder and in-demand producer Ian Eskelin. Their sixth album, The Good Album, features the singles "Surface of the Sun" and "The Blame" plus "Dude... That's Freaking Awesome" and others.
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SUNNY POWER POP STARS RETURN| Posted March 23, 2010
Street dates for All Star United's latest CD started swirling on the internet last year, and the project's since trickled out overseas and been available directly from the band. Though core fans certainly swarmed upon those outlets to swoop up a copy, the general public at large was probably unaware of the album, which makes this first proper American retail release a chance for this fun and fresh batch of tunes to get a much-deserved second chance.
Front man Ian Eskelin is once again vibrant, quirky and colorful in his pun-riddled rhymes across The Good Album, which hearkens back to All Star United's now classic self-titled debut and the even stronger follow-up, International Anthems for the Human Race. Textbook Brit-pop tunes flow in abundance, from the flowery "Surface of the Sun" to the sing-a-long acoustic ballad "Once Again with Feeling" and the glam rocker "Crashing Cars." Though the group is never shy about its spirituality, a sardonic sense of humor is the prevailing theme with tracks such as "Dude…That's Freaking Awesome!" and "Good Luck with the Girls" fueling that light-hearted feel.
Despite all the delight the disc brings, faithful fans can't help but feel like they've heard these basic premises before, presented in sharper contexts during the band's heyday. That's not to say All Star United is washed up by any means but more like a slightly dulled version of its previous self, which, given its insanely high-octane approach on the whole, is thankfully still able to provide an enjoyable jolt of energy, attitude and encouragement. -Andy Argyrakis
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from CCMMagazine.com. Click here to visit CCMMagazine.com today!
The Skinney| Posted August 10, 2009
Known more perhaps for his work as an award winning producer and writer than actual recording artist the talented Ian Eskelin shows once again how versatile he and his pop rock group, All Star United, are with their newest CD, The Good Album. Although The Good Album doesn’t test the waters of musical originality, ASU experiments within the rock genre produce some impressive pop-rock tunes. Powered by the mega-highlight “Dude That’s Freaking Awesome” lets off great hooks and catchy rhythmic beat along with the solid message not to waste one’s life (immaturity and the title are repeated throughout).
The humor to that song is a definite attraction and it’s continued in the piano-influenced "Good Times" which features a hilarious bridge. The upbeat tunes are the meat of the album but the lighter pop rock “The Blame” is solid while offering strong lyric’s about uh… taking blame. A dud (Like the overused “Pretty Famous” and the shallow “Good Luck With The Girls”) here and there stop the album from becoming a perfect album but The Good Album is a great way for All Star United to attract attention.
All-Stars?| Posted January 17, 2010
Though I have not personally had a full listen to this new addition to the All Star United's discography, from what I have heard this will be a great release for any fans of the band VOTA (formerly Casting Pearls)
Better than good| Posted January 16, 2010
I've kind of gone back and forth with ASU from their first release in 1997 - they're occasionally guilty of creating tunes that can be described as "competently catchy", but which ultimately are rendered forgettable by familiar Beatle-esque arrangement devices and homogeneous production. That said, The Good Album is one of the band's stronger efforts, with tunes that spread more broadly across the palette with melodies that are, while still eminently catchy, a bit more muscular and distinctive than standard fare. (There are a couple occasions where Ian Eskelin connects sly references to melodic and lyrical forebears, such as Gary Wright's Mt Love Is Alive and Poison's Nothin' But a Good Time.) Highlights for me include Dude, That's Freaking Awesome and Pretty Famous (which has echoes of the groups first big hit, La La Land), featuring Ian Eskelin's trademark wry, sarcastic humor, as well as Once Again With Feeling, I'm a Killer and The Blame. (The use of a euphemistic vulgarity by the Christian band may be understandably be seen by some as questionable, but, as the song in which it is used ultimately is skewering the slacker/partier lifestyle, the use of such vulgarity is itself satirized, so I can forgive it; it is, however, unfortunate that the its use is so dang singalong-able.)
Highlights and Lowlights| Posted January 11, 2010
This album is good- I'm not a previous fan so i don't have the history with this band that some of you may- I like some of the more mid-tempo songs the rock songs just seem to zany.
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