Released: 1991

She Hangs Brightly is the debut studio album by American dream pop band Mazzy Star. It was released in 1990 on Capitol, after the demise of David Roback's previous band Opal. The first track "Halah" was also released as a single. It announces the band's trademark effect with haunting guitar work and lyrics, and Hope Sandoval's disengaged vocals. David Roback's Robby Krieger-inspired psychedelic blues slide guitar style can be heard on the song, "Free". "Ghost Highway" is another psychedelic rock track, with a fast rhythm. This song dates from the band's days as Opal and was initially slated to be the title track of Opal's second album. While not a commercial success, this album did establish Mazzy Star as a unique band with a unique sound. In a review for Rolling Stone, Gina Arnold gave She Hangs Brightly a star rating of four out of five and called it "coldly beautiful". Allmusic's Jason Ankeny rated the album with three stars out of five. He described Hope Sandoval's vocals as "more sultry" than those of Opal's Kendra Smith. He praised "Halah" and "Blue Flower" but criticized the album's lack of focus, calling the remaining tunes "unmemorable". In A History of Rock Music: 1951-2000, Piero Scaruffi described the album as "a melting pot of acoustic folk, Delta blues, oneiric acid-rock and laconic lounge jazz." Kurt Cobain listed the album at number 49 on his list of his favorite albums. Read more on Last.fm.