The Church
The Church, though popular in their native Australia, had a tougher time in the States due in large part to their often diverse, free-form approach. They tended to favor thoughtful and meandering acoustic oriented songs. The Church could be moody and gloomy but also lush and textured.
Steven Kilbey (bass, keyboards, vocals), Marty Wilson-Piper (guitar, vocals), Peter Koppes (guitar, vocals) and Richard Ploog (drums, vocals) comprised the original line-up. Jay Dee Daugherty took over on drums in the ‘90s
Starfish
Under The Milky.
Easily, their best album (and best-seller going gold in the U.S.) was “Starfish” arriving in ‘88. The absolute, no question, best song from the set was “Under The Milky.” Starting as a mournful acoustic number the drums and electric guitar enter building toward a richly layered uptempo climax. It peaked at #24 on the U.S. pop chart but went to #2 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
From “Gold Afternoon Fix,” “Metropolis” with a demanding rhythm and jangling guitars supporting ethereal lyrics was a hypnotic creation. Topping the Alt. Rock chart in ’90, it is a classic.
Sustained U.S. mainstream success proved elusive, but the band was able to attract a large international cult following.
They were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in Sydney in 2010.
Metropolis
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