Trail of Stars is the ninth studio album by American alternative country band The Walkabouts released on August 2, 1999 through Glitterhouse Records. It's their return album to Glitterhouse, formerly Sub Pop Europe, after a two album detour with major label Virgin.
Track listing Source:
All tracks written by Chris Eckman, except where noted.
"Desert Skies" (Eckman, Carla Torgerson, strings arrangement by Glenn Slater) – 7:32 "Straight to the Stars" – 4:32 "Gold" – 6:26 "Last Tears" – 6:21 "Crime Story" – 4:39 "Hightimes" (strings arrangement by Fred Chalenor) – 4:53 "Harvey's Quote to Me" (Slater) – 1:29 "On the Day" (Eckman, Chalenor, woodwinds arrangement by Chalenor) – 6:30 "Till I Reach You" – 4:37 "Drown" – 4:30 "No One the Wiser" (strings arrangement by Slater) – 6:43
limited editionThe Walkabouts at Discogs "Bonnie and Clyde" (Serge Gainsbourg) – 6:27 The limited edition also contained a multimedia track with a screen saver.
The album was engineered and mixed at Paradise Sound, Index, Washington and Avast!, Seattle, Washington and Swanyard, London. The album was mastered at Country Masters, Surrey.
Release history
Region Date Label Format Catalog Germany August 2, 1999 Glitterhouse Records 2xLP GR 450 CD GRCD 450 United States 1999 S2 Records S2CD 2500
Drown (Single)
Drown is the eleventh single by American alternative country band The Walkabouts released on August 23, 1999, through Glitterhouse Records. The catalog number is GR 461.
Track listing "Drown (Stars on 45 edit)" "Bonnie and Clyde" (Serge Gainsbourg) "Lost in the Scraps"
The song "Bonnie and Clyde" was also released as a bonus track of the limited editions (both LP and CD) of Trail of Stars.
Personnel
Fred Chalenor – bass Terri Moeller – drums, percussion, loops Glenn Slater – organ, Fender Rhodes, piano, ARP synthesizer, Moog synthesizer, mellotron, tapes Carla Torgerson – vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, percussion, tapes Chris Eckman – vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, wobble board, samples, loops
Additional musicians
Steve Moore – trombone Christine Gunn – solo cello Bev Setzer – clarinet Kevin Suggs – pedel steel April Acevez Cameron – viola Justine Foy – cello Tyler A. Reilly – violin Rebecca Clemens-Keith – violin Phill Brown – loops, sounds
Technical personnel
Phill Brown – production, mixing Kevin Suggs – additional engineering Pat Sample – assistant engineer Kip Beelman – assistant engineer Jason Howes – assistant engineer Dennis Blackham – mastering
Additional personnel
Maurizio Poletto – design Enrico Bravi – design Mark Van S. – band photographs David French – space-ship sculptures
Critical reception
John Duffy wrote for Allmusic: "... Drenched in John Cale-like soundscape washes and heavy strings, Trail of Stars comes off as morose and dirge-like. Only "Straight to the Stars" doesn't feel like a death march. This is frustrating, since the instrumentation of the record is expertly crafted and lovingly played. ..."
Don Jates wrote for KEXP-FM: "The veteran Seattle band continues to evolve with this album of dark, delicately textured atmospheric pop."
Gaesteliste compared it to Portishead, Massive Attack, and Roxy Music.
Charts The album charted one week (36/1999) on position 30 of the Norwegian album charts.
References