The Church reviews: Starfish, The Blurred Crusade, Heyday and more

The Profile

The Church are an Australian rock band formed in 1980, widely associated with dreamy, psychedelic and jangle-leaning alternative rock. They are best known for the song “Under the Milky Way” and for albums such as Starfish.

From the reviews: formed in 1980; associated members include Steve Kilbey, Peter Koppes and Marty Willson-Piper; described as under-recognized internationally despite a large discography. Publicly verifiable: The Church are an Australian band formed in Sydney in 1980; “Under the Milky Way” is their best-known song; Starfish (1988) is among their signature albums.

Across 12 reviews, The Church are painted as a long-running Australian cult band: dreamy, psychedelic, and often unfairly reduced to “Under The Milky Way.” Writers praise classics like The Blurred Crusade, Heyday and Starfish, and also highlight ambitious later-era records and comebacks. Recurring themes include shimmering dual guitars, melancholy atmospheres, and a career marked by lineup tensions and uneven industry recognition.

Notable Quotes

❝ “Under The Milky Way” is more than a song, it is a dimension, an emotional state, a cornerstone of the entire ’80s musical panorama, enchanting in its precious areas and original in the bagpipe-effect guitar solo.

❝ “Perhaps it’s needless to reiterate that The Blurred Crusade is Kilbey’s aristocratic masterpiece. A first side to be passed down to posterity for its perfection, a second side that begins with 'Just for You', continues with 'A Fire Burns', quiets with the chisels of 'To be in Your Eyes', gallops with 'You Took' and closes with the early Americana of 'Don't Look Back'... behold, we named them all...”