Marc Almond

★★★★

The Stars We Are

CHERRY RED. CD/LP

Expanded version of 1988’s fourth solo LP, his moonshot for the mainstream.

Not even the chart-topping Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart could prod The Stars We Are into the Top 40. In fact, the album was already out when Gene Pitney was recruited to duet, so early editions featured Almond’s solo version. Over three decades later, the duet is in its rightful place and there’s a slew of B-sides and 12-inch mixes, plus a DVD of promotional videos. Impeccably produced, lyrically edgy and drenched in melody, The

Stars We Are offers no solution to the conundrum of why he was never fully embraced by the mainstream. Almond’s only US chart showing, Tears Run Rings, oozes brooding menace; the impossibly catchy Bitter Sweet was an obvious

Top 10 hit (naturally, it reached Number 40) and, on her final recording, Nico couldn’t have been more Nico, threatening to “lead you to your funeral pyre” on Your Kisses Burn.