# Stars on E.S.P. > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Stars_on_E.S.P. > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Stars_on_E.S.P..md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stars_on_E.S.P. > Source revision: 1355259936 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 1996 studio album by His Name Is Alive Stars on E.S.P. Studio album by His Name Is Alive Released June 24, 1996 Recorded 1992–1995 Genre Alternative rock Length 44:11 58:33 (1998 reissue) Label 4AD Producer Warren Defever His Name Is Alive chronology King of Sweet (1993) Stars on E.S.P. (1996) Nice Day EP (1997) Singles from Stars on E.S.P. "Universal Frequencies" Released: May 28, 1996 "Bad Luck Girl (Country Girl)" Released: 1997 Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating AllMusic [1] Entertainment Weekly A[2] NME 7/10[3] Pitchfork 7.1/10[4] Spin 7/10[5] The Village Voice A−[6] ***Stars on E.S.P.*** is an album by [His Name Is Alive](/source/His_Name_Is_Alive), released by [4AD](/source/4AD) in 1996. ## Background *Stars on E.S.P.* had the longest gestation period of any [His Name Is Alive](/source/His_Name_Is_Alive) album, a project that band leader [Warren Defever](/source/Warren_Defever) spent three years crafting before it saw release. In his notes written at the time of the album's release, he mentions that he began work on "I Can't Live in This World Anymore" in December 1992, right after the completion of *[Mouth by Mouth](/source/Mouth_by_Mouth)*. The project took so long for a few reasons: HNIA's 1993 tour in support of *Mouth by Mouth*; the death of Defever's mother in 1994, which led his father to move to Florida, leaving the house to Defever and him living alone for the first time; and various other projects that were started but mostly left uncompleted. The album finally saw release in July 1996 on [4AD](/source/4AD), both by their native UK branch and their USA wing, which was distributed by [Warner Bros. Records](/source/Warner_Bros._Records) at the time. This was the first album to feature [Lovetta Pippen](/source/Lovetta_Pippen), who became the band's primary vocalist in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She sings as part of a gospel choir on the song "Last One." "Universal Frequencies" is highly reminiscent of [The Beach Boys](/source/The_Beach_Boys)' "[Good Vibrations](/source/Good_Vibrations)". In interviews, Defever has called the song a "sequel" to "Good Vibrations".[7] ## Track listing All songs are written by Defever, credited as His Name Is Alive, except for: "The Bees," co-written by Erika Hoffman; "Universal Frequencies" and "The Sand That Holds The Lakes In Place," co-written by Matthew Smith; "Across The Street," co-written by [Mark Kozelek](/source/Mark_Kozelek); and "Movie," written by drummer Trey Many. 1. "Dub Love Letter" 1. "This World Is Not My Home" 1. "Bad Luck Girl" 1. "What Are You Wearing Tomorrow" 1. "The Bees" 1. "What Else Is New List" 1. "Wall of Speed" 1. "Universal Frequencies" 1. "The Sand That Holds the Lakes in Place" 1. "I Can't Live in This World Anymore" 1. "Answer to Rainbow at Midnight" 1. "Famous Goodbye King" 1. "Across the Street" 1. "Movie" 1. "Last One" - 4AD's 1998 reissue contains the tracks from the 1997 *[Nice Day](/source/Nice_Day)* EP: 1. "Drive Around the Clock" 1. "Crashed Up on the Corner" 1. "Soul Resides in the Horse Barn" 1. "Whale You Ease My Mind" 1. "Oh Sinner Man" For the first time in His Name Is Alive's history, the 4AD UK release (CAD6010CD) and the American CD release were the same. See entries for earlier albums for the differences in UK and USA releases. As noted above, the 1998 reissue on 4AD (worldwide, and not distributed by Warner Bros. in the USA) contains the tracks from the 1997 [Nice Day EP](/source/Nice_Day_EP). This version has the catalog number GAD6010CD ### 4AD vinyl release (CAD6010) The cover for the rare 4AD mono vinyl LP version *Stars on ESP*. 4AD's vinyl LP release of *Stars on ESP*, a limited edition, featured a special mono remix of the album, further emphasizing the album's tribute to the past glory days of AM radio (which is always broadcast in mono). A different cover featuring oven mitts was used. The LP features tracks 1 through 8 on side one, and 9 through 15 on side two. ### Warner Bros. 1996 promo release The cover for the rare Warner Brothers promotional release of *Stars on ESP*. During the years that Warner Bros. distributed 4AD's releases in the US, they used their own catalog numbers that did not correspond with the standard 4AD numbering scheme (one can tell whether a release is an LP, EP, etc., and what year it came out by looking at a 4AD catalog number). Nonetheless, the front and back cover CD artwork for the Warner Bros. release did use the CAD6010.01, CAD6010.02, etc., designations as mentioned above, even though the Warners' catalog number was different. However, a special promotional release with a different cover re-did this scheme with the Warner Bros. catalog number (46207). ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Phares, Heather. ["Stars on ESP – His Name Is Alive"](https://www.allmusic.com/album/stars-on-esp-mw0000185686). [AllMusic](/source/AllMusic). Retrieved June 22, 2017. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Kim, Wook (July 26, 1996). ["Stars on ESP"](https://ew.com/article/1996/07/26/stars-esp/). *[Entertainment Weekly](/source/Entertainment_Weekly)*. Retrieved June 22, 2017. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Williams, Simon (June 22, 1996). ["His Name Is Alive – Stars on ESP"](https://web.archive.org/web/20000817202928/http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101001109reviews.html). *[NME](/source/NME)*. Archived from [the original](https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101001109reviews.html) on August 17, 2000. Retrieved June 22, 2017. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Josephes, Jason (August 1996). ["His Name Is Alive: Stars on E.S.P."](https://web.archive.org/web/20060102212437/http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/h/his-name-is-alive/stars-on-esp.shtml) *[Pitchfork](/source/Pitchfork_(website))*. Archived from [the original](http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/18510-his-name-is-alive-stars-on-esp) on January 2, 2006. Retrieved June 22, 2017. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Hermes, Will](/source/Will_Hermes) (July 1996). ["His Name Is Alive: Stars on ESP"](https://books.google.com/books?id=dTM_D4UWqXQC&pg=PA91). *[Spin](/source/Spin_(magazine))*. Vol. 12, no. 4. pp. 91–92. Retrieved June 22, 2017. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Christgau_6-0)** [Christgau, Robert](/source/Robert_Christgau) (October 8, 1996). ["Consumer Guide"](https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv1096-96.php). *[The Village Voice](/source/The_Village_Voice)*. Retrieved January 15, 2019. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Gladstone, Neil (August 24, 1996). ["His Name Is Alive"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130924134947/http://www.citypaper.net/articles/082296/article024.shtml). Philadelphia: City Paper. Archived from [the original](http://www.citypaper.net/articles/082296/article024.shtml) on September 24, 2013. Retrieved July 9, 2014. v t e His Name Is Alive Warren Defever Karin Oliver Lovetta Pippen Studio albums Livonia (1990) Home Is in Your Head (1991) Mouth by Mouth (1993) Stars on E.S.P. (1996) Ft. Lake (1998) Someday My Blues Will Cover the Earth (2001) Last Night (2002) Detrola (2006) XMMER (2007) Sweet Earth Flower: A Tribute to Marion Brown (2007) Independent releases Sounds of Mexico (1994) Finer Twilights (1997) Great Lakes State Blues (1997) Golden City (1998) Radio LP (1998) RMX's (2000) Rare Tracks in the Snow (2000) The Emergency LP (2000) When the Stars Refuse to Shine (2000) Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most (2001) Cloud Box (2004) Brown Rice (2005) Summer Bird (2005) UFO Catcher (2005) Livonia Strings (2006) Compilations Sings Man on the Silver Mountain and 8 Other Songs (1992) King of Sweet (1993) Always Stay Sweet (1999) Singles & EPs The Dirt Eaters EP Universal Frequencies EP "Country Girl" Nice Day EP You Need a Heart to Live EP "Can't Always Be Loved" "Nothing Special" "Happy Blues" "Write My Name in the Groove" Raindrops Rainbow EP Silver Makeup EP Firefly Dragonfly EP Related articles Discography 4AD Livonia, Michigan Mark Kozelek Marion Brown Authority control databases MusicBrainz release group --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Stars on E.S.P.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stars_on_E.S.P.) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stars_on_E.S.P.?action=history)). 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