Belly
Star
»
Belly
Star
Reprise, 1993
RiYL: Breeders, Juliana Hatfield, Throwing Muses |
After leaving both Throwing Muses and the Breeders, Donelly fiddled around with lineups (Fred Abong plays bass on this record, but was replaced by the "Gepetto" video by Gail Greenwood) for Belly. The group still has some sort of a band identity (the brothers Gorman, on drums and rhythm guitar, help advance this), and that their cohesion improves Donelly's songwriting is made clear by the meandering and profoundly disappointed solo Lovesongs For Underdogs, recorded after King inexplicably failed to match sales expectations.
"Feed The Tree," which isn't even Star's best single, ended up being all Belly, and by extension Donelly, is remembered for, which sucks a whole lot. Star's not a terrific record (King is much better), but it clearly marks the emergence of a female talent with guitar chops, songwriting ability, and vocals on par with the decade's most gifted male artists. Unlike a lot of her peers, Donelly never complains about how tough women in rock have it in her songs, Star and King succeed in achieving equality with records by male-led indie rock bands by just assuming that such equality always has existed.
Album tracks "Dusted" and "Sad Dress" outpunch the singles for speed, grace, and catchiness, and the jokey ballad "Untogether" is a goofy Wind In The Willows fable that hits every mark. A few tracks could have been pared, sure, and there a lot more slow guitar pieces than the record needed, but Star is one of the best records to produce an MTV hit in the '90s. Beats the hell out of me why it didn't produce more -- "Gepetto" and "Slow Dog" disappeared after initial acceptance and King was barely even noticed. Label problems? Intraband tensions? The fundamental misogynism of the modern music industry? I don't know what the deal is, but I do know that I choke a little bit every time I see a Hole video, or hear my sister humming an Alanis Morrisette tune, thinking that by all rights it ought to be Belly getting that exposure.
MARK T.R. DONOHUE | Mark T.R. Donohue is a prolific freelance writer whose areas of expertise include Rockies baseball, video games, genre television, English soccer, and pub rock. He lives in Colorado, where he cultivates the largest and creepiest private collection of Alyson Hannigan memorabilia in the Mountain West.