[1] The band's international breakthrough album, Starfish went gold in America and has remained their most commercially successful release.

When drummer Richard Ploog was unable to find the right feel for the song, the band played to a click track and session musician Russ Kunkel was brought in to add the drums and percussion later.

The North American leg of the tour was extensive, however, covering virtually all of May and June, another month of dates from mid-August to mid-September and still more shows in October.

On the August and September dates, The Church were paired with Peter Murphy, former lead singer of the cult post-punk/Goth band Bauhaus, now pursuing a mildly successful solo career.

[12] The fifth season of the US TV show Miami Vice featured two songs from the album: "Under the Milky Way" was used in an episode called "Asian Cut" (aired 13 January 1989), and "Blood Money" was showcased throughout "Heart of Night" (18 November 1988).

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, critic Ned Raggett wrote that "if sometimes too clean around the corners in comparison to the song-for-song masterpiece Heyday, Starfish set up the band's well-deserved breakthrough in the States," and added that the performances throughout "are at the least fine and at the most fantastic.

"[14] All Tracks: Lyrics – Steve Kilbey, Music – Steve Kilbey, Peter Koppes, Richard Ploog and Marty Willson-Piper, except where noted Initial vinyl copies of the album came with a free bonus 12" EP[7] which contained: This edition included a second disc which contained: RIAA:Gold[22]