All The Plans - Reception

Reception

Initial critical response to All the Plans was generally favourable. According to Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 61, based on 7 reviews.

On February 5, 2009, the newspaper Washington Square News posted the world's first review of All the Plans, giving a generally positive assessment. Kadeen Griffiths from Washington Square News wrote that: "The band's fourth studio album is both its first with Virgin Records and with Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood. The result is a cohesive blend of solid beats and fantastic harmonies. The addition of subtle, simple sounds like the tambourine on "Boy in Waiting" and the piano intro to "Change My Mind" gives the album a homey, personal feel. Tambourine and piano may not be the most innovative, but they provide a glimpse into the heart and soul of the band through their simple sounds."

On February 13, 2009, Nigel Goulds from Belfast Telegraph stated, "The band have served up another collection of heart-tugging tracks which again benefit from James Walsh's — who's based in Belfast much of the time — unique set of vocal cords. There's really nothing new to add to the Starsailor repertoire but when they produce songs of uncluttered grandeur they really are in a league of their own."

On February 26, 2009, The Guardian gave the album its first rave review, praising the quality of the songs, the emotional core, and Ron Wood's guitar work, summarizing "With no one expecting it but themselves Starsailor have delivered." PopMatters called the lyrics "a rather pedestrian litany of breakup woes" but concurred that the melodies were well-written and asserted that they, and most especially Walsh's vocals, more than made up for such flaws. They concluded "Starsailor are the most consistently good of the English pop troupes, with each of their efforts succeeding gracefully at what they attempt to accomplish."

On March 8, 2009, Dan Cairns from The Times claimed that, "What has changed is that the self-consciousness and anxiety that marred 2005's On the Outside has gone. On All the Plans, Starsailor sound like a band in love again with being a band," and added that "there is a real sense here of a band finally settling into their own skin, and rather liking the feeling."

On March 9, 2009, Andrew Hirst from the Huddersfield Daily Examiner said that, "Now nine years into their topsy turvy career, Starsailor have reached a new peak with an album of stunning elegance and presence."

On March 12, 2009, The Glaswegian named All the Plans as "album of the week," stating that, "After their last misfiring album, All the Plans can be seen as something of a comeback. It's also a return to form, as, while the Chorley lads may have lost a little ground, they've not lost their way with emotional, melodic music. The title track, which boasts an appearance from Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, could be Oasis at their most anthemic, while James Walsh's voice has rarely sounded better than it does on "Hurts Too Much." The real stars of the show are the rootsy "Stars and Stripes" and the album's penultimate track "Listen Up," which might be the best song the band ever wrote."

However, Mojo wrote a negative review, stating that, "You try to remember a single melody or hook from the record and you're found wanting", while James Skinner of Drowned in Sound went as far as to single out the lyrics to 'Change My Mind', stating that "Starsailor are so wantonly unoriginal, so brazenly mediocre on every level, it’s almost like they don’t even realise that they are and totally mean all this stuff." Entertainment.ie's review echoed these sentiments, remarking "If you're looking for any more reasons to dislike Starsailor, you'll find them in abundance on album number four, which is a continuation of the dull pub-rock sound that they've rarely deviated from during their nine-year career." Gillian Watson of The Skinny was yet another voice in this chorus, asserting that "The culprit here is frontman James Walsh, whose banal lyrics and achingly sincere vocals are a wearying and occasionally embarrassing listen."