Starset was my "artist of the decade" | Band Review
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- Опубликовано: 16 июн 2020
- The Week I Review has been laid to a well deserved rest. Future videos @AlecKayEm
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Entry 90: When I was asked on a live stream a month or so ago who my favorite band was, I said it was Starset and that rather than explain there why, I would review them at some point. Welcome to "at some point."
(Tbh, the document for this script was created in October and things just got in the way of me finishing it... but it's done now, and that's great, because Starset is great. Go listen to them. And also Ice Nine Kills. And the first minute and 36 seconds of BTS's "Boy With Luv" ft. Halsey.)
Live footage via @LoudwireMusic, and the photo from the set was taken by Grizzlee Martin from there and used here without permission. (Sorry.)
Music videos via @starsetonline
I accept that the not-even-subtext of this video is that I'm a dumb person and you definitely shouldn't listen to my opinions about anything.
Other places to find me:
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/alecjkm.net
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Discord: / discord
Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/1J4eV...
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Thanks to Aaron Belinfanti for the drums! 
Развлечения
If you think you understand the Starset narrative, you don’t understand the Starset narrative
I think the best summation anyone could give regarding the narrative would be somewhere between "i would follow you to the end of the universe" and "fuck toxic love, both literally and figuratively"
though i can be wrong...
Bruh that's so... Quantum
if you think this is true, you'd also need think you understand the STARSET narrative, as such...
@@ThighErda, cosmic
4:19
‘I am a sucker for a dope chorus.’
-every starset fan ever
Haha tbh, and the screams
Hahahahah
fr
Starset's songs shouldn't even be listed as music. It's a movie you can't even see
THIS! ^
YOU NEED A PROMOTION
I yelled "yes" and vigorously clapped my hands hearing that your favorite song from Divisions is Perfect Machine. That song is so goddamn good
The best music is the music one cannot pigeonhole. Great observations, btw
Often very much the case! Thank you.
Starset is my second favorite band ever (behind breaking Benjamin) because I’m a space fanatic and rock lover. I stuck to their music immediately due to their lyrics before even the sound so I was already attempting to dig at the lyrics before anything else. Your opinions on the band are all great (especially on how you felt on ability to repeat) but most importantly, Perfect Machine is the best song on Divisions ;)
Breaking Benjamin was one of the first bands I went to see live many moons ago, doing a headlining tour with Adam Gontier-era Three Days Grace.
So nostalgic.
Makes sense breaking Benjamin and Starset being mentioned as your favorites, since BB was a major inspiration for Starset and even helped popularize them by touring together and having Dustin join them for some songs
I agree with everything, but prefer Starset over Breaking Benjamin.
You know whats funny. STARSET and Breaking Benjamin are my two favorite bands! I love the two bands dearly!
You nailed it.
The older I get, the more I get the impression that listening to a single song is like reading a single chapter of a book - at least in good albums. I do it sometimes, but seldomly, and practically never on the first run.
Radio to me has become the equivalent of reading samples...
That's an interesting way to think about it. I feel like it's less and less true that albums are a complete narrative though; they're more like a bunch of short stories.
I am always disappointed when I find out that a song I really like it a one off. I've had multiple times where I got a song that I loved and then it turned out that it was the only song that band ever released. And it's like, da fuk guys
@@TheWeekIReview Let me put it this way: I didn't want to say that albums work like books - they're a different medium after all. But it's interesting to see how different songs work in the context of an album. I discover connections (intended or not I don't care #RolandBarthes) I never thought I would see. Sometimes I even start to like a song that I didn't care too much for when I listened to them separately (and vice versa, unfortunately).
In my opinion, there are many ways to build a narrative - an idea/story, musical themes, exploring topics from several sides, even a recurring emotion might be understand as a sort of narrative. And I get that a lot.
Sure, there are a lot of bands that don't think too much about album structure - but I don't know whether it's worse than in the past (luckily, the 90% trash that every generation produces are forgotten really quickly).
But still, there are enough artists that put effort into album concepts and structures. Take Beyoncé's LEMONADE - not what I listen to normally, but oh Boy! A perfect three act structure with wonderful pacing and evolving themes (both intellectually and emotionally). And a booklet! With content connected with the music!!!! (Yes, I'm still buying physical copies...).
And there are many lesser known examples (Laura Gibson's EMPIRE BUILDER - to mention a personal favourite...). I guess, what I want to say is: There's light even in the darkness of the world of Spotify and ITunes...
Very good video! I love STARSET so much!! It's great they're getting more attention! I'm subscribing!
And I have to say I'm actually the same way with the music, I listen to the same songs over and over again. When ever Spotify brings up my weekly playlist I just pick out the ones I like and listen to those on repeat. So you're not the only one my friend!
I also found STARSET by My Demons on an anime amv in February of this year. When I heard the song it sent tons of chills up my spine and I instantly fell in love with it! It was perfect because I love rock and epic cinematic music, STARSET had both of that in My Demons, it was an amazing combo that I really needed in my life! I added it to my playlist and listened to it on repeat. Then one day I decided to look through the Transmissions album and I found new favorites like, Point of No Return, Carnivore, Rise and Fall, Antigravity, and Halo. Then it was just those songs for awhile until I searched through, Vessels, and then DIVISIONS. I found more favorites until I listened to all their songs. I'm so glad I delved more int STARSET as a band, because if I didn't I'd be missing out on their other amazing songs!
And with the hole story narrative, I haven't read the novel or graphic novel. But I understand the basics of the STARSET Society, and the message they're trying to send.
But like Dustin said, you don't need to understand that to become a 'true' fan. As log as you truly love their music and it speaks through you I a special way, then you're a truer fan then anyone else!
That's a lot of words, and my response to all of them is: Yes!
Sir, you know exactly what are the substances that defines the ingenuity of starset. You have my respect
Well thank you
I freakin love starset. I just bought vessels on vinyl and I’m going through a big phase
Imo Starset's Perfect Machine (instrumentals especially) and Back to the Earth (outro part) is hella underrated and under-appreciated
Starset was my artist of the decade too. I love their songs so much. Unfortunately I listened to them so much that I burnt myself out on their songs. It wasn’t until recently that I started listening to them again
Found out about this band from Forza Horizon 4. Cool to see them recognized on your channel.
Are they in FH4? That's pretty flipping awesome. I remember finding music from video games way back in the day... doesn't really happen much anymore.
@@TheWeekIReview Satellite by starset is on the rock channel in forza
@@TheWeekIReview I know this is super late but I just found the video. I found one of my favorite songs from Greg Hasting's Paintball. Down by Candiria was amazing.
I discovered Starset because of the Mobile Game Arknights and all, I'm still a baby to the band as I haven't listened to them for any more than 3 weeks, but what I can say is that they are incredible.
The Songs are amazing, of course, I like some more than others, like Starlight, Monster, Unbecoming, Other Worlds than These, and Down With the Fallen, but all their songs are bangers.
I hope to hear everything and then call myself a proper fan, because they already gained my number 1 spot with just those songs, now I just need to consolidate them.
Starset is amazing. I hope I can buy one of their merch someday.
Carnivore is literally just my favorite song ever. I'm obsessed with wendigo legends and short stories and it gives me such intense visuals to listen and imagine it as a wendigo legend.
It's not very original but I found out about carnivore from a tokyo ghoul amv.
Overall, great video. I always like seeing Starset get some attention. I actually found your channel through your Dance Gavin Dance video, and I've been subbed since. Hearing you're a fan of Starset and Ice Nine Kills is awesome as well. You have a great taste in music.
If you like Starset, you HAVE to check out Red. They're one of the original bands that started mixing alt metal with orchestral elements, and Dustin cites them as a big influence on Starset (especially their album Innocence & Instinct). He's even co-written with them on their songs "A.I." and "Losing Control" from their 2017 album Gone, although if I was to reccomend a place to start listening to them, it wouldn't be that album. Maybe you'd like it, because it's very "Starset-ish", mainly because they added in electronics, and Starset is basically electronic Red imo. I'd reccomend starting with their album Of Beauty & Rage. It's a lot darker, heavier and less... poppy? than most of their other material, but it just hits on another level. Best album of the last decade imo, though it is a bit of a grower.
Well *actually*, sir, I saw Red open for Breaking Benjamin and Three Days Grace in 2006, almost immediately after their debut album dropped. They're definitely my favorite Christian rock band, but I straight-up disliked Release the Panic and have only checked in on them every couple of years since, and it's been pretty hit or miss for me in general. The good stuff is really good, but the rest is just kinda whatever for me. (They've added more electronic-y stuff but did a bad job.)
I'm giving of Beauty and Rage another shot, though, since you've recommended it.
Starset has easily taken over my music life, and I'm so glad it did.
I never new that you could just loop a certain part of the song.
Knowing that is probably not good for me since I am also very vulnerable to what you described with listening over and over again.
Wow, every genre, no matter, if music, video game, or movie medium, you produce great reviews! I always love your insight and expository writing on these!
Definitely going to listen to this artist now because of this :o love hearing new artists or ones I never knew of.
Thank you! I try.
Hope you enjoy 'em, even if it's not as much as I do!
While looking for an heir-apparent to my favorite band of all time, Linkin Park, I chanced across (what else?) My Demons. Like the review, I too tend to play the hell out of a single song I like rather than sample a repertoire, which has made for an incredible 14 months as I “discovered” new favorites every 3 weeks or so, moving from My Demons to Monster to Ricochet to Carnivore to Let it Die to Starlight to Waking Up to Diving Bell to Perfect Machine. I too am not entranced by the narrative, both outside the music or at the end of some songs. But Dustin Bates shows he can both write music and lyrics like Mike Shinoda and sing with that nu metal range that mixes ethereal melodies with raspy throat-roars like Chester Bennington. And the bridges on nearly every song are nothing short of incredible. I found this group not long before the pandemic. Can’t wait for it to be safe to see Starset in concert!
I'm currently obsessed with Icarus and unbecoming. I'm hoping to buy one of their cds soon to really get into more than six of their songs. I just wish other artists on RUclips would release cds. I'd be happy to purchase one from AVIVA or Kloud.
After hours of watching (and rewatching) your videos, I still can't understand how this channel has only 5900 subscribers...
I dunno, man. I'm bad at self-promotion. Also, people don't like my face.
Thank you, though!
Dude you are Entertaining as hell. Amazing Review for an amazing Band.
Thank you so much!
If you haven't already and you dig Red or Breaking Benjamin, you should check out Dustin's original band before Starset, Downplay. Besides Saturday (which is a poorly mixed and not so polished album made within a day), the rest of their albums are amazing and Rise Fall Repeat onwards have some big Red/Breaking Benjamin vibes. Average Unknown, Red Window, All I Need, Hated You From Hello, and The One Who Laughs Last are worth checking out. He also has another concept band/artist thing called MNQN, which tells the story of an AI developed to feel human emotion breaking free of the control of its "masters". The best way to describe it is if you mixed pop and synthwave. On My Mind, Amphetamine, Noir, Terminal, and Animal Oddity are my personal favorites and are also worth checking out.
Even if I understood the story, I enjoy making my own story more.
thank you for this video, going to a show +VIP experience in March 2022 and thought i should know about their whole story so I'm doing a bit of research and your video is the 1st I watched.
0:48 Would’ve never expected that from you haha. It’s pretty different imo production and style wise from BWL but their albums Wings, and The Most Beautiful Moment In Life: Young Forever have some bangers. If you’re not into their rapping, Wings has some vocal only songs.
Edit: and since you like rock, you might like Dreamcatcher (girl group)
What the actual fuck why did no one tell me Dreamcatcher exists before right now. It's like kawaii-metal adjacent and I love it.
Are there other groups like them?
Ive been listening to starset for around 7 years first song i listened to was my demons, then i heard it had begun, and let it die, and since then ive loved every album, their music is just so unique and great
Great video. There is a new album coming up really soon, i hope to see your review about it.
Funny fact to me, i actually found Starset by Let it die and i love the band from there.
your videos are just phenomenal. you can tell that you care about every single detail of each video
Thank you very much!
On a separate note, it's fitting that WOTSTC was essentially remastered by Starset. While it has to Breaking Benjamin anyways, the original song is so close to something Starset could have easily released later on. While Downplay didn't quite get to shine, it was certainly the catalyst for the amazing band we see today.
I was lead by RUclips's algorythms into your video and I am amazed to see that starset is hitting the points to the success.
I also had no ideia Starset had a comic and a website dedicated to its song's atmosphere and I'm really happy to know about that, although I don't plan to read them.
Straight to the point, I began to hear Starset and it's songs pretty early to the band's begin stages. I came across some of their first songs on youtube and really enjoyed in the first moment.
The band's channel here was about 70 to 80 thousand subscribers and, at the time, I was already getting the "How this band is not mainstream?" feeling that we get when someones encounters a band that really like and appreciate.
And the term "cinematic rock" to describe their sound is really good and makes sense to me.
I really liked their songs, but what blazed me away and make me really think about the imaginative scenarios and futuristic environments that they seek to portray were some of their songs that really brings a tone to a space tech/exploration era that we are diving into.
I really like the songs you mentioned. Perfect Machine, Manifest, Carnivore and many more are songs that I see myself going back to listen (like you, when I find something new to hear that I appreciate a lot, I keep stuck to it until something better comes up).
But the songs that really give me THE CHILLS when I'm listening to STARSET and creates their tones are no those that you mentioned, but yes the ones below:
Telescope;
Ricochet;
Satellite;
Stratosphere;
And This Endless Endeavor, from their recently released new album (that really ressembles MANIFEST, with the mix of light/calming sounds and heavy beats.
I enjoyed ALL starset songs. I have my preferred ones, but there's no song that I dislike from them.
If anyone gets the chance to and really like this type of music, I suggest you to hear their first albuns first and then advance to the newest ones.
You won't regret. It's a massive experience.
STARSET??? STARSET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! as someone who is deeply invested into starset lore i'm very amused seeing someone choose to delve into it after only listening to the music
I'm confused by this timeline. Are you saying you got into the lore before listening to the music?
@@TheWeekIReview haha no! my fault for the bad wording, i meant it like "after having primarily only listened to the music"
You deserve more subs.
Well thank you
Been a Starset fan since they released their first note. Seen them in concert 4 times. I think they are as ahead of their time as Pink Floyd was back in their day.
YES!! I've loved Starset since the first time I heard them, I played through their first album entirely (which I rarely do, I pick one song and binge on it) but Starset had me entirely.
Hell yes! Perfect Machine was most favorite from Divisions. Also yes, agree with the long outros.
Can't wait for more from this band.
I got in through it has begun.
I do agree with some things said but the ending parts that drag on make it 100x better and ahh I just love starset
Just curious if you still plan on reviewing Kentucky Route Zero. I just finished it and knew you had mentioned it in the past.
Bro I loved Unbecoming!!!
Starset was my first concert which was the day before 6th grade 7 years ago and that is my biggest flex
Oh damn, True Fan up in here huh?
@@TheWeekIReview yes! I listened to Transmissions all of 6th grade year and forced all my friends to listen to vessels when it came out the next year. I’ve only been to two demonstrations but I hope to go to another one when the whole Covid thing blows over.
I am glad Perfect machine is getting a recognition it deserves
I only want to say:
Starset is my favorite band since 2016.
I love starset but I’m with you, I could get into the lyrics and overarching narrative more. One thing that I found interesting was their orchestral outros. I think one reason they do this, they are shooting for a movie soundtrack use. I can see them exploding once a sci-fi or horror movie/show picks up one of their songs.
The way you move makes me anxious
awesome video, this level of quality is not represented in the number of subs you have.
You brought up manifest as pop-y and a video i just watched was commenting that it was the most metal song before horizons. Just thought that was funny.
Recently I came to realize that starset is just heavy metal hans zimmer
I'm happy to know in not the only one who hears one song from a band and just doesn't listen to the rest of the discography, not for any lack of desire but just because "I like this song though"
btw what is your favorite Starset horizons song
MNQN
14:13 how DARE you to disrespect Downplay, jk.
There are a few of starset's songs played in Downplay's style on RUclips, like Carnivore and It has begun I think.
Carnivore, dark on me, down With The Fallen, let it die and My Demons are the ones I know for sure
@@rockmusicandgames8033 mainly bc most of them were originally downplay songs
Agreed 💯
There so many bands that have these lengthy interludes. Rock got it especially badly. Don't know what to think about them either
By the way, I am still waiting for the kick-ass anti-trump rock/alternative album. Something like Green Day's American Idiot
Lindsay Ellis just did an interesting video about protest songs from the Bush era.
I think part of the problem is that the specifics keep changing and getting worse and worse and the things you would be protesting when you started writing would be irrelevant by the time you actually got in the studio and then even moreso by the time it's being mixed/etc. FDT is a fun song, but how do you talk substantively about a person with no substance?
But I hope someone figures it out!
Spotify has kind of ruined song making. I mean it has its positives, but when everything is based around playlists and picking out single songs, it really does seem to have taken away the popularity of have a full album. Some of the greats have some of their most popular and most technically brilliant work as part of a single long continuous album. The best example being The Wall by Pink Floyd. A concept album which tells a story and was even turned into a film. These works have been incredible and it doesn't always have to tell a story, but can sometimes just be thematically or musically similar. And that is dope. Muse do this very well too. Resistance is very classical with symphony's and piano, whilst Drones is a hard hitting rock album. I love just sitting and listening to an album all the way through and either absorbing the story or just listening to the album evolve and grow and almost tell a story in its instrumentation. Spotify doesn't care for that though. Doesn't matter that track 5 on album A is part of a 9 track story, Spotify just sticks it in between track 4 of album B and track 1 of album C. And I worry that many kids are growing up not appreciating the long game of listening to a whole story, but instead want short snappy songs which are 3 minutes and go in a playlist of other songs with no thematic or instrumental similarity. And we see this as some artists don't release albums any more, opting instead for regular singles of EPs. It's sad
Lots of fans have suggested that Starset should release their albums without the intro/outros. I agree, except with Transmissions because that album is perfection the way it is.
Have you ever listen to Downplay and MNQN? Downplay is Dustin Bate's old band and MNQN was a side project by Dustin Bates.
I found them through an undertale amv in 2015 that had “It Has Begun” in it. Also the novel was better than the comic.
As someone who grew up with this band, it helped me through a lot.
Turn your attention to the album Divisions. One thing that has always stuck out is how much it feels like everyone hates their lives, like a Socialist or Communist world. Hell this is expanded upon a lil bjt in the new album Horizons. This feels and sounds exactly like the book, 1984. If you know this book, you know exactly why I brought it up.
Have u herd of MNQN? Its not like starset but its a same singer and its great too
10:50 So you're telling me, that I've been a fan of this band for almost half of my life and I've never once heard of them making a book and a comic with fuckin Marvel? When did this happen, the fuck??
Right?
Yup! I got both the book and the graphic novel both signed by Dustin. It's worth the read
Fair Use is wonderful!
Yeah, though I haven't actually disputed the claim yet. The video isn't popular enough to justify the suppression if I lost the claim and didn't make the cuts...
@@TheWeekIReview I'm thinking about starting a channel because I'm stuck in my house and I've been reading a lot about fair use
Have you lessened to horizons
I saw them perform it!
Don’t worry. I listen Starset songs over and over…
I stopped listening when he said he doesn't put any effort into learning the lyrics and could care less... well you had me for about 20 seconds because that's all the effort I'm going to put into listening to your invalid opinions.
I went back and watched the full video and I'm glad i did. I actually heard their songs on the radio and found out they were a concept band and was at their show 2 weeks later lol being a Coheed and Cambria fan I immediately dove into the lore. I've been a VIP member and met the band and I'm seeing them for my 3rd time next month but I haven't listened to the new album because I'm honestly scared to lol
Ohhh you have to listen to Horizons its amazing! That album is so real with so much emotion
Oh the actual novel is so much more complex than you explained. The marvel comic is nothing compared to the book.
The story is amazing
I’d have to say the one thing I don’t like about this band are the outros to the songs. They are annoying to be but I just skip the song to the next track. I just prefer what bands like Breaking Benjamin have: into and outros to the whole album, that’s it
I generally define STARSET’s genre as “progressive rock”, which in my eyes is rock music that frequently makes heavy or consistent usage of synths alongside their rock-inspired melodies and rhythms. One of my favorite songs from STARSET, Perfect Machine, perfectly encapsulates this genre, a rock song with loads of synths jam-packed into its melodies.
Ah no! I was enjoying a really good review then he started spoiling the unopened book on my nightstand 😂😂😂
i will say the novel is far better than the graphic novel
You don't understand them my dude
Boring
Your moms boring
Definitely wouldn't say downplay went nowhere...they were a great band in the early to mid 2000's