History has seemed to brush Australian band
The Church aside. The dream pop band emerged in the 1980s with a collection of fantastic albums and songs like 1985's
Heyday. The record, which saw them scale back the use of keyboards and incorporate more strings and horns, became a transition album. Instead of sounding like many bands of the New Wave-era, The Church started experimenting with more traditional instruments.
Heyday was also a record where singer
Steve Kilbey's voice dramatically altered -- it was much more brooding, grand and relaxed. He began to sing beyond his normal register and harmonize better with his band mates.
Heyday was a bold, daring move for a band that had swept their country and Europe by storm and were starting to crack in America. It could have been sink or swim, but their risk proved to be a great reward and laid the foundation for their biggest breakthrough -- 1988's
Starfish. The success of
Starfish may not have happened if the groundwork was not done with
Heyday.
