Star

Alternative Press - "...Donelly's voice is pretty, but not exceptionally fabulous.....She doesn't try and make up for it with cheap stunts and diversions, and that makes her music sound comfortable and natural..." NME - "...these are pop songs....You can put the album on while you make breakfast, bounce around to it before you go out and still save it for the soul-searching moments in the wee hours..." Rolling Stone - 3.5 Stars - Very Good - "...Donelly and her mates render a haunting avant-folk-rock sound that provides sonic and psychic space for Donelly's surreal meditations on birth, mortality and sexual longing..." Q - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...erotic, funny and direct....repeatedly evokes the terror as well as the magical innocence of fairy tales..." NME - Ranked #5 in New Musical Express' list of 'The Top 50 LPs Of 1993' - "...STAR made Tanya [Donelly] everyone's favorite twisted sister, while 'Feed The Tree' became the feminist anthem of the year...." Entertainment Weekly - Rating: B Village Voice - Ranked #37 in the Village Voice's 1993 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll. Melody Maker - Ranked #3 in Melody Maker's list of the 'Albums Of The Year' for 1993 - "...Magical...." Rolling Stone (4/15/93, p.64) - 3.5 Stars - Very Good - "...Donelly and her mates render a haunting avant-folk-rock sound that provides sonic and psychic space for Donelly's surreal meditations on birth, mortality and sexual longing..." Village Voice (3/1/94, p.5) - Ranked #37 in the Village Voice's 1993 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll. Q (3/93, p.83) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...erotic, funny and direct....repeatedly evokes the terror as well as the magical innocence of fairy tales..." Melody Maker (1/1/94, p.76) - Ranked #3 in Melody Maker's list of the 'Albums Of The Year' for 1993 - "...Magical...." NME (2/6/93, p.30) - "...these are pop songs....You can put the album on while you make breakfast, bounce around to it before you go out and still save it for the soul-searching moments in the wee hours..." NME (12/25/93, p.66) - Ranked #5 in New Musical Express' list of 'The Top 50 LPs Of 1993' - "...STAR made Tanya [Donelly] everyone's favorite twisted sister, while 'Feed The Tree' became the feminist anthem of the year...." Entertainment Weekly (1/29/93, p.57) - Rating: B Alternative Press (3/93, p.44) - "...Donelly's voice is pretty, but not exceptionally fabulous.....She doesn't try and make up for it with cheap stunts and diversions, and that makes her music sound comfortable and natural..."

With their jangling, overdriven guitars and breathless, mysterious vocals, Belly suggests the hard/soft edge of electric girl groups and power pop bands like The Bangles, The Pixies, The Breeders and Throwing Muses (with a dark hint of early Lou Reed & The Velvet Underground). Vocalist Tanya Donelly, formerly of The Breeders and Throwing Muses, joined forces with the Gorman brothers Thomas and Chris (on guitars and drums respectively) and bassist Fred Abong to launch Belly.
On STAR they revel in eastern overtones, psychedelic musings and a folk-rock-styled loss of innocence, even as they chart a more modern musical course with their ambivalent love songs, pained recollections and distinctly dissonant style of lyricism. Echoes of childhood remembrances and bad dreams pepper the soundscape on STAR, such as the evocative overture "Someone To Die For", and the menacing "Angel" and "Dusted" (where the crunching cathedral chords suggest R.E.M). This hypnotic sense of rural dread, alienation and sublimated sensuality permeates every second of STAR, as Donelly's ruminations brush dangerously against the Gorman Brothers' jarring rhythms, particularly on the anthemic "Feed The Tree".
Belly was nominated for a 1994 Grammy Award as "Best New Artist".
STAR was nominated for a 1994 Grammy Award as "Best Alternative Music Album".|