A Victim of Stars 1982–2012
2012 compilation album by David Sylvian
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A Victim of Stars 1982–2012 is a compilation album by David Sylvian. Released in 2012, the album features songs from his solo work, from Japan's reformation Rain Tree Crow, his collaborations with other artists such as Ryuichi Sakamoto and Robert Fripp, and from his more recent involvement in the band Nine Horses. It also features a remix of Japan's "Ghosts", released on Sylvian's 2000 compilation Everything and Nothing. The album peaked at number 58 on the UK albums chart.[9]
| A Victim of Stars 1982–2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | ||||
| Recorded | 1982–2012 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 156:27 | |||
| Label | Virgin/EMI | |||
| Producer |
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| David Sylvian chronology | ||||
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| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 85/100[2] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| God Is in the TV | 4.5/5[3] |
| musicOMH |  [4] |
| Pitchfork | 8.2/10[5] |
| PopMatters | 8/10[1] |
| Q |  [6] |
| Record Collector | [7] |
| Uncut | 8/10[8] |
Despite that fact not being mentioned anywhere on the album, "Forbidden Colours" is present in the re-recorded 1984 "Version" released as a B-side to "Red Guitar".[10] Also, the song "Manafon" is a remixed version of the song from the album of the same name, which featured on the 2011 remix album Died in the Wool – Manafon Variations.[11]
Track listing
All tracks are written by David Sylvian, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | From the album: | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ghosts" (2000 Remix) | Everything and Nothing, originally from Tin Drum by Japan | 3:47 | |
| 2. | "Bamboo Houses" (Remix) (with Ryuichi Sakamoto) | Sakamoto, Sylvian | Everything and Nothing, originally a double A-side non-album single with Bamboo Music | 5:21 |
| 3. | "Bamboo Music" (with Sakamoto) | Sakamoto, Sylvian | double A-side non-album single with Bamboo Houses | 5:40 |
| 4. | "Forbidden Colours" (Version) (with Sakamoto) | Sakamoto, Sylvian | B-side single of Red Guitar, originally from Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence Original Soundtrack | 5:58 |
| 5. | "Red Guitar" | Brilliant Trees | 5:09 | |
| 6. | "The Ink in the Well" | Brilliant Trees | 4:29 | |
| 7. | "Pulling Punches" | Brilliant Trees | 5:02 | |
| 8. | "Taking the Veil" | Gone to Earth | 4:40 | |
| 9. | "Silver Moon" | Gone to Earth | 6:19 | |
| 10. | "Let the Happiness In" | Secrets of the Beehive | 5:37 | |
| 11. | "Orpheus" | Secrets of the Beehive | 4:51 | |
| 12. | "Waterfront" | Secrets of the Beehive | 3:36 | |
| 13. | "Pop Song" | non-album single | 4:34 | |
| 14. | "Blackwater" (Rain Tree Crow) | Sylvian, Steve Jansen, Mick Karn, Richard Barbieri | Rain Tree Crow by Rain Tree Crow | 4:22 |
| 15. | "Every Colour You Are" (Rain Tree Crow) | Sylvian, Jansen, Karn, Barbieri | Rain Tree Crow | 4:46 |
| 16. | "Heartbeat (Tainai Kaiki II – Returning To The Womb)" (with Sakamoto featuring Ingrid Chavez) | Sakamoto, Sylvian, Arto Lindsay | Heartbeat by Sakamoto | 5:17 |
| Total length: | 79:47 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | From the album: | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Jean the Birdman" (with Robert Fripp) | Sylvian, Fripp, Trey Gunn | The First Day by Sylvian and Fripp | 4:16 |
| 2. | "Alphabet Angel" | Dead Bees on a Cake | 2:06 | |
| 3. | "I Surrender" | Dead Bees on a Cake | 9:25 | |
| 4. | "Darkest Dreaming" | Sylvian, Djivan Gasparyan | Dead Bees on a Cake | 4:01 |
| 5. | "A Fire in the Forest" | Sylvian, Christian Fennesz | Blemish | 4:41 |
| 6. | "The Only Daughter" | Blemish | 5:57 | |
| 7. | "Late Night Shopping" | Blemish | 2:54 | |
| 8. | "Wonderful World" (Nine Horses) | Sylvian, Jansen | Snow Borne Sorrow by Nine Horses | 6:02 |
| 9. | "The Banality of Evil" (Nine Horses) | Sylvian, Burnt Friedman | Snow Borne Sorrow | 8:02 |
| 10. | "Darkest Birds" (Nine Horses) | Sylvian, Jansen | Snow Borne Sorrow | 5:03 |
| 11. | "Snow White in Appalachia" | Sylvian, Christian Fennesz, Keith Rowe, Michael Moser, Werner Dafeldecker | Manafon | 5:59 |
| 12. | "Small Metal Gods" (Remix) | Sylvian, Fennesz, Moser, Dafeldecker, Burkhard Stangl | Died in the Wool – Manafon Variations, originally from Manafon | 5:09 |
| 13. | "I Should Not Dare (for N.O.)" | Sylvian, Fennesz, Jan Bang, Emily Dickinson | Died in the Wool – Manafon Variations | 3:24 |
| 14. | "Manafon" (Remix) | Sylvian, Fennesz, Rowe, Moser, Dafeldecker | Died in the Wool – Manafon Variations, originally from Manafon | 4:05 |
| 15. | "Where's Your Gravity?" | Sylvian, Bang, Eivind Aarset | new song | 5:20 |
| Total length: | 76:40 | |||
Charts
Reception
As presented on Sylvian's website, critical reception was very positive.[15]
A review at Pitchfork concluded: "It's not easy to string a single narrative from A Victim of Stars-- Sylvian's career is in a permanent state of flux and reinvention. But he works best when his songwriting is pulled away from the concrete, when there's open-endedness for him to spin his focus around. But nothing here is ever wholly drawn into that world. Sylvian's role often feels like that of a curator, tugging in elements of free improvisation but never letting it overshadow, lest his absorption with songcraft, opulent orchestration, ambient electronics, and dozens of other impulses suffer."[16]
A review on the BBC website, focusing on the outline the compilation offers, praised the beginning of Sylvian's solo career (i.e. CD1) but was more mixed about his later productions.[17]
Writing for Pop Matters Maria Schurr noted, "As a primer for those intrigued by David Sylvian’s solo work, A Victim of Stars serves its purpose wonderfully. Yet, in some instances the selected songs fail to be as impactful as on their original releases."[18]