Stars – Set Yourself on Fire

Set Yourself on Fire is the third album from Toronto-originating, Montreal-based indie collective Stars, who are somewhat entwined with Broken Social Scene and Metric. The album was nominated for the 2005 Juno as Alternative Album of the Year and received solid reviews from the critics:

• AllMusic gave it 4 stars out of 5
• CBC Radio named it the 63rd greatest Canadian album ever
• Robert Christgau gave it a three-star honourable mention
• Pitchfork rates it a 8.4 out of 10
• Rolling Stone gave it 4 stars out of 5

Set Yourself on Fire was certified gold in Canada, for sales of over 50,000, and made the top 100 in Germany (#84). "Ageless Beauty," "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead" and "Reunion" were all released as singles, with the former two reaching the lower rungs of the UK chart.

I suspect it was my daughter Sara who convinced me to buy the CD and I found the vaguely leftist romantic ponderings interesting enough to rip to my hard drive and keep in fairly steady rotation.

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Track Listing

1. "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead" (Torquil Campbell, Evan Cranley, Amy Millan, Pat McGee, Chris Seligman) – 4:16
2. "Set Yourself on Fire" (Torquil Campbell, Evan Cranley, Amy Millan, Pat McGee, Chris Seligman) – 5:39
3. "Ageless Beauty" (Torquil Campbell, Evan Cranley, Amy Millan, Pat McGee, Chris Seligman) – 4:05
4. "Reunion" (Torquil Campbell, Evan Cranley, Amy Millan, Pat McGee, Chris Seligman) – 3:41
5. "The Big Fight" (Torquil Campbell, Evan Cranley, Amy Millan, Pat McGee, Chris Seligman) – 5:22
6. "What I'm Trying to Say" (Torquil Campbell, Evan Cranley, Amy Millan, Pat McGee, Chris Seligman) – 3:22
7. "One More Night (Your Ex-Lover Remains Dead)" (Torquil Campbell, Evan Cranley, Amy Millan, Pat McGee, Chris Seligman) – 5:18
8. "Sleep Tonight" (Torquil Campbell, Evan Cranley, Amy Millan, Pat McGee, Chris Seligman) – 2:44
9. "The First Five Times" (Torquil Campbell, Evan Cranley, Amy Millan, Pat McGee, Chris Seligman) – 3:00
10. "He Lied About Death" (Torquil Campbell, Evan Cranley, Amy Millan, Pat McGee, Chris Seligman) – 5:12
11. "Celebration Guns" (Torquil Campbell, Evan Cranley, Amy Millan, Pat McGee, Chris Seligman) – 3:05
12. "Soft Revolution" (Torquil Campbell, Evan Cranley, Amy Millan, Pat McGee, Chris Seligman) – 3:16
13. "Calendar Girl" (Torquil Campbell, Evan Cranley, Amy Millan, Pat McGee, Chris Seligman) – 4:07

Personnel