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Teen-Beat 142.

Versus

The Stars Are Insane

SIDE ONE:

Thera
Circle
Fallow
River
Mirror Mirror
Be-9

SIDE TWO:

Deseret
Blade of Grass
Janet
Solar Democrat
Wind Me Up
I'll Be You

Compact Disc (CD) ($14,44)

4-page folder, jewel case
with black tray [6th pressing].

Download (FLAC/MP3) ($9,90)

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LINER NOTES

PLAYERS

Ed Baluyut, drums

Richard Baluyut, vocals, guitar

Fontaine Toups, vocals, bass guitar

RECORDED BY

Adam Lasus,

at Studio Red, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
March, 1994

PRODUCED BY

Richard Baluyut,

and Adam Lasus

MUSIC COMPOSITION

Versus,

© 1994

COVER ILLUSTRATION

Amy Byrum

BAND PHOTOGRAPHY

Jill Greenberg

BACK COVER PHOTOGRAPHY

Danielle Nguyen

INTERIOR PHOTOGRAPHY

Richard Baluyut

DESIGN PRODUCTION

Mark Robinson, Teen-Beat Graphica

COVER STAR (interior)

Peng

DANISH EDITION EXTRA TRACKS

Big Head On
N.I.T.A.
[Both culled from Teen-Beat 152]

ET CETERA

Because of running time constraints, the first vinyl edition did not include the song "Fallow".

This is the band's first full-length album.

The extra tracks on the Danish edition are culled from the band's "Big Head On" single.

The barcode on the first four CD pressings was borrowed from a soup can because Teen-Beat had not yet applied for a Universal Product Code barcode registration number and at the time distributors were starting to demand barcodes be printed on product.

The band performed the album from start to finish in it's entirety at Teen-Beat's 20th Anniversary concert at the Black Cat in Washington, D.C. on February 25th, 2005.

REVIEW

The Stars Are Insane is a record that sticks to the similar jangly pop guitar rock that was common in the mid-'90s. Versus set themselves apart by playing with subtle repetition, dramatic dynamics, and varied instrumental intonation. Distorted guitar and bass play off one another, while the drums set the even tempo. Basslines create melodies to the rhythm of the distorted guitar, switching from dreamy to a dry rock feel. The drums always have a good backbeat that creeps into the straight beat, changing things up a bit. Richard Baluyut and Fontaine Toups share vocal duties, both adding depths to the music. The vocals are sung with a sadness and pointed edge that brings a new dimension to the punch-ins of distorted guitar to clean tones. The mix of the record is of high quality; it allows you to enjoy both the music and the vocals equally. The songs may be a bit long for some, but they establish catchy grooves and creep a hummable melody in the jams at the end. "Blade of Grass" is the epic highlight of the record. The song is a jangly, three-chord progression with a haunting lead guitar jingle on top. The Stars Are Insane has the same pop/rock feel throughout, but if you focus on the individual tracks you will discover new delicate intricacies.

- Francis Arres, All Music

RELEASE DATE

May 14, 1994

FORMAT

audio cassette
compact disc
vinyl L.P.

LENGTH

CD:
48 minutes, 1 second

12 tracks

CD (Danish edition):
55 minutes, 44 seconds

14 tracks

LP (1st edition):
? minutes, ? seconds

11 tracks

LP (2nd edition):
48 minutes, 1 second

12 tracks

CASSETTE:
48 minutes, 1 second

12 tracks
(same as CD edition)

CATALOGUE No.

Teen-Beat 142

DETAILS

FIRST LP PRESSING

May 14, 1994

1,000 pressed on black vinyl.

JACKET:
paper over board (front side colour and back side black and white)

LABELS:
black ink on pink paper.

Printed and pressed by
Nashville Record Productions, Nashville, Tennessee

SECOND LP PRESSING

July 11, 1995

1,000 pressed on black vinyl.

JACKET:
magenta and black.

LABELS:
black.

Printed and pressed by
???, Louisiana

The majority of the pressing was warped and was not sold.

FIRST CD PRESSING

May 14, 1994

2,196 pressed.

PACKAGE:
4-page folder and tray card (one side colour and one side black and white).

JEWEL CASE:
with standard black tray.

LABEL:
burgundy.

Printed and pressed by
Skybow, Nashville, Tennessee

SECOND CD PRESSING

June 28, 1994

2,040 pressed.

PACKAGE:
4-page folder and tray card (one side colour and one side black and white).

JEWEL CASE:
with standard black tray.

LABEL:
blue.

Printed and pressed by
Skybow, Nashville, Tennessee

THIRD CD PRESSING

February 12, 1995

1,000 pressed.

PACKAGE:
4-page folder and tray card (one side colour and one side black and white).

JEWEL CASE:
with standard black tray.

LABEL:
yellow.

Printed and pressed by
Skybow, Nashville, Tennessee

FOURTH CD PRESSING

July 17, 1996

1,056 pressed.

PACKAGE:
4-page folder and tray card (one side colour and one side black and white).

JEWEL CASE:
with standard black tray.

LABEL:
beige.

Printed and pressed by
Skybow, Nashville, Tennessee

FIFTH CD PRESSING

September 1, 1999

1,000 pressed.

PACKAGE:
4-page folder and tray card (one side colour and one side black and white).

JEWEL CASE:
with standard black tray.

LABEL:
metallic copper.

Printed by
Discmakers Print Services, Pennsauken, New Jersey.

Pressed by
Nimbus, Ruckersville, Virginia.

SIXTH CD PRESSING

May 24, 2004

1,079 pressed.

PACKAGE:
4-page folder and tray card (one side colour and one side black and white).

JEWEL CASE:
with standard black tray.

LABEL:
metallic copper.

STICKER:
red ink on white paper.

Printed and pressed by
Bellwether, Bloomington, Indiana.

CASSETTE

May 14, 1994

1,000 made.

PACKAGE:
?-panel j-card (one side colour and one side black and white).

Case:
standard clear transparent hard shell case.

Cassette:
? ink on ? cassette.

Printed and pressed by
Skybow, Nashville, Tennessee.

DISCOGRAPHY

SINGLES

Astronaut
Bright Light
split single with Scrawl
Frog
Big Head On
Glitter of Love
Yeah You
Oriental American/Wallflower
split single with Unwound
Drawn and Quartered
Shangri-La

ALBUMS

Let's Electrify!
The Stars Are Insane
Deep Red
Secret Swingers
Two Cents Plus Tax
Afterglow
Hurrah
On the Ones and Threes No.1
On the Ones and Threes No.2
Ex Nihilo
Ex Voto

COMPILATIONS

Stars Kill Rock
Wakefield: Volume 1
A Day in the Park
Wakefield: Volume 2
Wakefield: Volume 3
Wakefield: The Teen-Beat Boxed Set
A Means to An End, The Music of Joy Division
Venue Compilation '95
Ear of the Dragon
Yoyo a Go-Go
Project Echo
How Low Can a Punk Get?
CMJ New Music Vol.36
1996 Teenbeat Sampler
1997 Teenbeat Sampler
Selector Dub Narcotic
1998 Teenbeat Sampler
More of Our Stupid Noise '98
CMJ New Music Vol.59
1999 Teenbeat Sampler
2000 Teenbeat Sampler
2001 Teenbeat Sampler
2002 Teenbeat Sampler
Old Enough 2 Know Better
Teen-Beat 20th Commemorative
Joy Division
Score! Twenty Years of Merge Records
2010 Teen-Beat / Other Music Sampler

SOUNTRACKS

Half-Cocked

ALSO

Versus tee-shirt
Teen-Beat's 10th Anniversary
Dead Leaves porcelain coffee mug
Teen-Beat's 11th Anniversary
Teen-Beat's 13th Anniversary
Teen-Beat's 15th Anniversary
Teen-Beat's 20th Anniversary Commemorative
Teen-Beat Graphica Exhibition
UNREST: Teen-Beat 26th Anniversary

RELATED

Containe
Flower
The Fontaine Toups (T.F.T.)
The Pacific Ocean
+/- {Plus/Minus}
Whysall Lane

SONGS

A Heart is a Diamond
All In Doubt
Angels Rush In
Another Face
Astronaut
Atmosphere
Atomic Kid
Baby Green
Be-9
Between the Hemispheres
Big Head On
Blade Of Grass
Blue Again (F.T.)
Blue Again (Ricardo)
Bow and Arrow
Bright Light
Cicada
Circle
Crashing the Afterglow
Crazy
Crazy Maker (I'm Still in Love With Your Eyes)
Cross the Street
Dead City
Death Ray
Deep Red
Deseret
Double Suicide (Mercy Killing)
Dumb Fun
Erstwhile
Eskimo
Frederick's of Hollywood
Fallow
Flax
Forest Fire
Frog
Ghost Story
Glitter Of Love
Go Tell It on the Mountain
Gone to Earth
Gravity
Gravity (Version)
Hacienda
I'll Be You
I Love the WB
Insomnia
Into Blue
Invincible Hero
Invisible Love
Jack & Jill
Janet
Jealous
Knead
Know Nothing
Let's Electrify!
Linus
Lose That Dress
Lost Time
Mercury
Mermaid Legs
Merry-Go-Round
Mirror Mirror
Moon Palace
Morning Glory
Mouth of Heaven
Mummified
My Adidas
Neither Nor
Never Be OK
N.I.T.A.
Noogie
Nothing But U
Nu Skin
Off The Hook
Office Rocker
One Million
Oriental American
The Ones and Threes
Out in the Streets
Pink Valhalla
Play Dead
Radar Follows You
Raining
Re-Animator
Reveille
River
Said Too Much
Santa Maria
Saturday Saints
Sayonara
Scientists
Sea Girl
Seaweed Rising
Shangri-La
Shangri-La [E.L.O.]
Shangri-La [Kinks]
She's So Lost
Shooting Star
Shower Song
Silver Vein
Solar Democrat
Spastic Reaction
The Spell You're Under
Sunburned
Sunlight Flier
That Girl's Gone
Thera
Tin Foil Star
True Believer
Twenty Four Hours
Underground
Underground (Gallery Redux)
University
Use As Directed
Venus Victoria
Walkabout
Wallflower
We Got the Missles
White Power Porch
Wind Me Up
Yeah You
You Should Call Me
You'll Be Sorry