Performer Notes

Simply Red: Mick Hucknall (vocals); Heitor T.P. (guitar); Ian Kirkham (saxophone); Fritz McIntyre (keyboards, background vocals); Tim Kellett (keyboards); Shaun Ward (bass); Gota (drums, percussion, programming).
Although it doesn't have a single as strong as "Holding Back the Years" or "If You Don't Know Me by Now," Stars is Simply Red's best album since their debut. It's smoother and more polished than their previous work, yet Mick Hucknall is singing better than ever and his songwriting is improving. That is a good thing, too, since Stars is the first Simply Red album not to contain any cover songs. Having absorbed his pop, soul, and reggae influences, Hucknall is now successfully writing songs in his own style, something that, with the exception of "Holding Back the Years," he hadn't managed previously. The result, in Europe and especially the U.K., was a massive commercial breakthrough for the group. Stars even outsold Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band at home. In America, where the band had never established much audience continuity beyond its two number one hit singles, it was a different story, which, given the band's highly American-influenced sound, was a confirmation of the overall decline of English bands in the U.S. in the early '90s. [A remastered 25th Anniversary Edition of Stars was released on vinyl LP in 2016, packaged in a gatefold sleeve featuring previously unissued photographs of Mick Hucknall.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & William Ruhlmann

Professional Reviews

Q (6/00, p.63) - Ranked #80 in Q's "100 Greatest British Albums" - "You can take the boy out of Manchester, give him money and women, but you can't take Manchester out of the boy....Hence the admirable STARS..."

Q (12/99, p.70) - Included in Q Magazine's "90 Best Albums Of The 1990s."

Q - Included in Q's list of the 50 best albums of 1991.

Uncut (p.111) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[L]urking beneath its overt radio-friendliness was a voice of dissent. 'Your Mirror' was the nearest Mick Hucknall came on record to a socialist rallying cry..."

New York Times (Publisher) (10/2/91) - "...intelligent, soulful dance-pop."

Album: Stars [25th Anniversary Edition] [LP]
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Something Got Me Started	More Info...
2)	Stars	More Info...
3)	Thrill Me	More Info...
4)	Your Mirror	More Info...
5)	She's Got It Bad	More Info...
6)	For Your Babies	More Info...
7)	Model	More Info...
8)	How Could I Fall	More Info...
9)	Freedom	More Info...
10)	Wonderland	More Info...

Album: Stars [25th Anniversary Edition] [LP]
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Something Got Me Started	More Info...
2)	Stars	More Info...
3)	Thrill Me	More Info...
4)	Your Mirror	More Info...
5)	She's Got It Bad	More Info...
6)	For Your Babies	More Info...
7)	Model	More Info...
8)	How Could I Fall	More Info...
9)	Freedom	More Info...
10)	Wonderland	More Info...