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If you surf the internet for Starflyer 59 you will find more and more interviews with Jason Martin where it sounds as though he is very close to hanging it all up.  He sounds tired and bored...of everything: the music industry, being in a band, recording.

Leave Here a Stranger is to Starflyer 59 as Pet Sounds is to the Beach Boys...or so some critics would have you believe. And Martin says that Pet Sounds was the sound they were going for.  But about the only similarity between the two is that both are melodic pop ecords recorded in mono. After that, don't even bother looking for comparisons.

Musically, this album is pleasant enough, but there are more comparisons to the Beatles than the Beach Boys.  Acoustic and electric guitars and the typical droning Starflyer sound.  Lyrically, most of the songs are about music, and being in a band, and touring...and in this case, music is possibly a metaphor for life, with titles like "All My Friends Who Play Guitar," "Can You Play Drums?," and "When I Learn to Sing."  A far cry from the Starflyer songs about failed romance of days past.

After a while, all these songs start to sound the same, with the same beat running throughout.  Standouts on the disc include "I Like Your Photographs" and "Night Music."

Overall, this is not a bad album.  But it suffers in comparison to past Starflyer 59 efforts.  Maybe Martin is trying too hard and just needs to let loose and have a little fun.

Ken Mueller 7/29/2001

Some songwriters, like Terry Taylor or Bob Dylan, have a love affair with words.  Others, like Brian Wilson, place their fascination in the world of sounds.  SF59 leader Jason Martin falls into the latter category, and he exercises this fascination more obviously on Leave Here a Stranger than on any other SF59 recording so far.  The result is a beautiful record that is at points catchy, dreamy and dramatic.

This record has been described as Martin's "Pet Sounds," the beloved Brian Wilson/Beach Boys record.  It's an accurate comparison because, as the name implies, Pet Sounds was a celebration of Brian Wilson's fa vorite sounds.  The sounds that Martin favors represent a cross-section of pop music history.  What impresses is how fresh Martin manages to make this record sound, starting with his well-developed ability to write catchy guitar riffs and melodies and then orchestrating each song with detailed arrangements much as Wilson did.

Contrary to what gushing fans post on web music retail sites, Jason Martin is not a genius.  But what this record shows is that Martin is a skilled artisan of music.  While not necessarily original, Leave Here a Stranger is a luxurious listen that bathes the listener 
in beautiful sounds.

Jon Kortebein 8/14/2001

A quick glance back at Starflyer 59's career demonstrates a band which is truly a work in progress. The first album was a noisy, layered sonic landscape, with guitars everywhere. Flash forward eight years, to 2001 and the release of Leave Here a Stranger. We still have the noisy, layered sonic landscape, but what a difference time makes!

On Starflyer 59's latest outing, the band is now a four-piece, with Wayne Everett's departure, with two new faces in the group. The album takes the band further in the direction begun on the album The Fashion Focus and continued on Everybody Makes Mistakes. However, since the untimely passing of former producer Gene Eugene, Jason Martin and company. took on a similar heavyweight in Christian music--Terry Taylor--as the new producer. The result of the creative collaboration of Taylor and SF59 is an album which is simply timeless.

The influences run from surf-pop to the Beatles to--well--early SF59. The layering is intricate, and the mix is monophonic. Martin's guitar playing and vocals are well-placed in the mix, and sound good.

Lyrically, Martin comes up with his best yet, reflecting on the emptiness of the rock lifestyle and on his own struggles with faith. One of the best is "Give Up the War" where he compares himself with Paul and finds himself wanting.

All in all, this album is one which shows that at long last Martin and company have arrived as musical heavyweights in the rock world. Period. This is one album that deserves to be heard by everyone.

Alex Klages 9/23/2001