Reviews (page 2 of 8)
Alex was a great songwriter, but the album just didn’t connect with me how I hoped.
Big Star again? Okay, I'm cool with this. Big Star were surprisingly influential to the development of alt-rock despite not seeing much success during their original tenure. I thought #1 Record was really cool and had some great moments that I loved. How do I feel about the band's final album from their original run, Third? It's good, but I don't like it quite as much. I do still like it a good deal though, just in a different way. #1 Record was a foundational release for power pop, but Third here is far too depressing for me to suggest that it has any power or pop behind it. I mean, it is still technically power pop, but it's skirting that line a little, you know? But you know what? It works. Many of the best albums have feelings of anxiety and sadness behind them, and this album uses those well. I do think that the album as a whole is a bit slow for my liking, but it still has moments where it gets you. "Holocaust" is the song that embodies this the most. It's very slow and lumbering, but that just makes the emotions hit harder. Great song. Other songs still have some energy behind them like the delightful "Thank You Friends" and "Kanga Roo." Alex Chilton's voice and writing give the album this sense of intimacy that gives the album its emotional weight. There's a pretty good Velvet Underground cover on here. Third is a nice album. I can't call it the best Big Star album I've heard, but I still liked it a lot. Light 4/5.
Nice, and you can see where lots of people got their inspiration. Can't say I'll play it again though.
Big Star - Third/Sister Lovers (1978) Enjoyed most of this although the first track “Kizza Me” wasn’t a great start. Solid album once it got going although it was tricky to find the definitive track listing so I think I listened in the wrong order. Standout track : Femme Fatale ( VU cover!) A strong ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fully unexpected gem. To my shame, I had never heard of Big Star. I went in expecting a forgettable meh album, then Holocaust hit. It haunted. The rest of the album was extremely versatile. This is just a quality record. Obviously music nerds are well aware of this, but this deserves wider recognition. Maybe the band is bigger in the USA than Europe where I am from (NL) Anyway, I am going to check their first two albums too
Хороший альбом. Рок с элементами альтернативы времен её зарождения. В целом довольно разнообразно, местами размеренно и лирично, местами движ. Треки: Kizza me как самый задорный Holocaust как самый интересный из оставшихся (теперь будут говорить что мне нравится холокост...) В целом 6.5/10
Очень тяжело слушалось, разбил на 3-4 захода, местами ещё более менее, но в среднем отстой. Иногда напоминает британцев того времени, но большую часть времени напоминает посредственность. Прочитал, что в момент выхода альбома он был оценён довольно низко и группа после этого распалась. Неудивительно. В топ-1 хотелось бы положить Femme Fatale, но оригинал the Velvet Underground настолько лучше, что пожалуй не буду. Топ-2 - Thank you Friends
Album molto particolare, molte tracce con stili diversi e tempi diversi. sicuramente con un trascorso dietro che vuole raccontare qualcosa. con Wikipedia ho capito che ci sono stati dei problemi che bisogna approfondire per apprezzare al pieno. Orchestrazioni molto belle
I'm confused by all the different song selections and running orders of the releases. Besides that, nothing that really sparks me or stays in mind. 2,5
Just awful.
Meh
This dude really spiraled and you could hear it as the album went. That can make for great music. It didn’t.
7 / 10
I don't think I recognize this artist or any of these tracks by title. So I'm basically going into this blind. I'm just not feeling this. It's not awful, but I don't have much of anything positive to say about it either.
Solid but mostly solemn psych rock. There's a lot of fleeting soul in this record, and reading about the band and Alex Chilton was interesting. I would sit back down with this again.
the worst version of femme fatale ive heard yet. vocals where exhausting and annoying at times. theres just better music around which spot they took...
2/5
Kizza me и Till the end of the day – хорошие. Все остальное – скучное, примитивное и незапоминающееся
No se en que género habría que encasillar a estos…pero tienen un buen cover de here she comes de VU y libel la original de holocaust de tmc. Me gustó pero me cansó
Great album from a great band. Criminally not more popular
Poor man's Beatles. Painful dirge and wannabe feel to this. No thanks.
I remember listening. I do not remember liking. But I also do not remember not liking.
Kind of generic. Nothing really jumped out at me.
esse é vibes
2 e meia
Such a weird record. It’s the band putting something together that seems partly like they don’t even want to make it and partly like they’re lamenting where they are as a band. The fact that it wasn’t even really fully released until years later and only because the producer put it together only helps cement that fact. Big Star is such an interesting band and they should’ve been much bigger than they were
Didn’t blow me away, but there is a timeless quality to the music.
I can hear a good album here, and perhaps with more listens I could love it, but it sounds incomplete and sort of half baked. Sometimes the singer sounds apathetic and indifferent to their own material. Sometimes they don't. A hard one to rate.
Ok
Spooky sad rainy fun
3 stars
While I am a huge fan of the power pop genre, Big Star for some reason just really doesn’t connect with me. It’s not bad, by any means, but I just don’t find myself wanting to return to these albums.
My favorite album of the three.
why do americans have the need to compare their personal suffering to the holocaust?
Bien
horrible shrum shrum
Not my cup of tea
Didn’t enjoy the covers
Standard 70s rock.
This is such a strange and beautiful album. It wasn't even supposed to be an album and, in reality, it's more of an Alex Chilton solo album. I love the diversity and melancholy nature of so many of these songs. My favorite songs are "Thank You Friends," "Holocaust," "Kanga Roo", "Jesus Christ," and "Blue Moon." You can really hear how this album was formative to artists such as Elliott Smith and Wilco. The two earlier albums, "# 1 Record" and "Radio City" may have been more cohesive and straightforward power pop, but this one shows off the songwriting prowess and dexterity of Chilton.
Must have summoned the spirit of Alex Chilton by mentioning Big Star in a review like two days ago. This does not live up to the band's first two albums, in my opinion. There are some really good songs, I like the Velvet Underground cover, Thank You Friends, and You Can't Have Me. But so much of this seems to be just sketches of songs. Didnt engage me that much, and I can't help but compare it to how great the first two records are.
It’s good, but less focused and much sadder than other Big Star records. Which makes sense, because the lead creative was losing his mind while making it.
I am not of the opinion Big Star deserved two entries in this list.
2.5 The songwriting might be there but for me, its not crafted in a way to make me want to listen again and again
I enjoyed this. Another band that I'd meant to give a listen and never got round to. I liked that you can hear the Beatles and Byrds and the Velvet Underground in there, and also the influence it will have on things like REM and Teenage Fanclub. Nothing grabbed me hugely this time but I'll probably give it another listen. I suspect I'd enjoy other power pop stuff too.
I didn’t expect this to be so down-beat, not a bad thing but its not really for me
Really liked Jesus Christ and the Femme Fatale cover, didn’t quite hold my interest across the sheer bulk of tracks, though I hear the influence in so many artists i love
Feel like this is trying a bit too hard to be both the velvet underground AND nico For you was nice but I didn’t think much of the rest of this 2.5
"Stroke it Noel" was nice enough, if a little muddled with its instrumentals. lyrics were also quite uninspired, but definitely not the worst way to start an album. Despite being 1978, it has a sound that precedes it by about a decade; "Just For You" was better for me than the opening track. Especially liked the chorus with it's backing string section. The instrumental was pretty kick-ass on "Kizza Me", with it's fuzzy guitars and snarey drums, but the vocal delivery felt off on this one. The random piano jangles was a bit of a strange choice though. So far, it seems they are missing the mark in one way or another on each track. Finally, "You Can't Have Me" had it all for me, especially the grimey wobble on the Bass that I've grown to love whenever it appears in songs (thanks to Thundercat, no doubt). The use of harmonica here was also really fun. With "Nightime" I couldn't help but solidify a thought that I had right from the get go with this album: it's relatively experimental music, but trapped within the confines of a 'commercial wavelength'. Its a huge shame, considering that it probably could have been so much more if they dared to learn more into producing something far less accessible. For the record, I enjoyed "Nightime". Others songs I enjoyed: "Blue Moon", "Femme Fatale", "O, Dana", "Thank You Friends". Overall, a pretty cool album with some decent ideas, but ultimately falling flat under the weight of the pressure of commercial expectations for it, perhaps?
All time greatest. It's like watching a rock band disintegrate in the best way, songs like Holocaust or Kanga Roo. This album makes me feel things.
Oh boy.
Foi ok
wow.
Half the album unavailable, I guess due to rights. Starts out rock-ballad-y and then as each track gets progressively slower in rhythm/timing (until the last 2 tracks), it morphs into a sort of medieval/renaissance sound, à la… Donovan? 1.5/5 but I’m being nice going with a 2.
What did I just listen to? A broken pig? Little fun fact: There is only one album title in the book that belongs to more than one album. And that is: Third! And it belongs to three albums. (Big Star, Portishead, Soft Machine)
Ugh. This list blows.
This is such a 3-star album that it's almost a 2-star album. Almost docked it a star for being 19 songs long.
just so bad
So many songs on this album are close to being classics but they just miss the mark.
A lot of this sounded vaguely familiar but I don’t think I’ve ever actually heard any of it before
At first I kind of dug this. I heard a lot of Beatles influence in many of the songs but it was a little bloated and not every song worked for me. Still a good listen.
1.75 - Not bad, it just didn't grab me.
Really running out of things to say for these types of albums. They all sound very similar and unmemorable
Uniek en tijdloos: die Big Star vibe
Really enjoyed a 3rd of the album.
Surprised how much this sux
easy listening easy forgetting album sympa, peu abouti, mais avec des idées 2.5+/5
“I never travel far Without a little Big Star” Paul Westerberg
Es ok
Another album that required additional listens to get past that initial reaction. Kinda sounds like a guy who doesn't fit into the world, just a little bit off in every way and it creates this unsettled energy that is constantly challenging you as you listen. I think the slow songs tend to have more to connect with but the more power pop styled songs at least aren't the same sound you usually hear on other 60's-70's rock albums. Feels like there's still more beneath the surface but I'm going to leave this here for now.
It gives cultish vibes
Need to give this a fairer shake, another album that I think needs more digestion than a 24 hour period. I’ll have to think and come back. I really liked it.
I'm sorry, but I've never heard of "Big Star," so I'm skeptical about the "big" part. Okay, maybe it was more popular in the US, I don't know. The album and the songs don't really make a big impression on me. The singer's voice is really weak, and I don't know, more like detached. The song "Downs" on the album is simply awful. The "cult album" status, as Wikipedia calls it, completely escapes me. But oh well, that's the nice thing here: you get to know unknown bands and artists, hear new music, and even get to rate it. In conclusion, I'll give it one star for the attempt at recording an album.
Nothing special, I really don't understand why it on this list. The cover songs don't make it any better, they just demonstrate how bland and middle of the road the experience was.
This is not really the third Big Star album. It feels more like the first Alex Chilton album, or perhaps the record left behind after Big Star had stopped being a functioning band. What amazed me was not the weirdness. It was that the weirdness never replaces the songwriting. Underneath all the fractured arrangements, loose performances, strange production choices and stream-of-consciousness lyrics, Chilton keeps returning to melody. That seems to be the one thing he still trusts. The album feels wildly ahead of its time, but not in a self-conscious way. It is visionary by accident. Nobody here sounds like they are trying to invent indie rock. It is more like a series of bad days in the office that somehow left behind a map for half the music that followed. You can hear traces of future dream pop, slowcore, Elliott Smith, Radiohead, The Replacements, Pete Doherty, This Mortal Coil, even bits of British art-pop. Not because those things are being predicted, but because Chilton keeps making decisions later musicians would recognise as permission. The arrangements are extraordinary because they keep choosing what not to do. There are so many obvious ways these melodies could have been accompanied, and he swerves most of them. Kanga Roo turns guitar into weather. Dream Lover is full of lovely holes. Holocaust is almost unbearable because the cello and slide guitar seem to expose the fracture rather than decorate it. Blue Moon is woody and tender, gone before it can become sentimental. Take Care is loping and ungainly, like a torn butterfly’s wing. Even the roughness is carefully handled. The record is full of sounds that should not work but do: a gorgeously rotten piano, an off-kilter sax, a guitar on Till the End of the Day that sounds like it is being played down a telephone, yet sits perfectly in the band. This is not bad engineering. It is character placed exactly where it belongs. The lyrics often resist ordinary sense. O, Dana, You Can’t Have Me and Downs drift into associative, fragmentary language. I do not mind that. Bernard Sumner has made a career out of parataxis when it works. Here, the words often behave less like narrative and more like another instrument. You stop trying to solve them and start feeling the shape of the thought. The key track for me is probably Holocaust. Not because it is enjoyable. It is not. It is almost too much. But it proves the album’s central point: this is fracture, not collapse. The melody is intact. The beauty is intact. The person at the centre sounds damaged, but the song still stands. That is what makes Third so powerful. It is not a perfect album, and it is not coherent in the tidy sense. But it is emotionally coherent. It wanders, lurches, jokes, aches, remembers pop, forgets itself, finds beauty again, then ends up somewhere strange and ragged. A should’ve band made a shouldn’t album, and somehow it became a source code.
Sometimes with influential records, you say, oh yes, I can hear how this was an influence on the much better music that came after. This is not like that.
A pretty good album, I liked Femme Fatale, For You and Big Moon the most.
Decent, bonus point for Nature Boy
That was pretty boring, actually. The music kept reminding me of other bands, only not as good. Toward the end of the album, there were a few tracks that I liked better and wanted to listen to a second time. Maybe I should listen to it more often after all. 4/5
I've only ever heard Big Star's debut so this was a bit unexpected when I thought I'd be getting a folkier sound. I thought it was quite good, bit of an alt-rock style mostly but some tracks had a 60s vibe as well I thought. Actually slightly adjusted my impression when I realised it was from 1978, not 1985 when it was reissued, so it was probably a bit ahead of its time Not many tracks really stuck in my memory so probably 3*
this is not good
Better than I thought it might be but it still didn’t overly wow me.
Рок и шансон и кавер на VU понравился. Слушал несколько раз.
I've never heard of this group or this album. So classic late 70s it felt like something I should have heard before. Definitely the kind of thing I'm going this project to hear
This album was alright in my opinion, I just don't really think that this is my cup of tea. Some of the tracks stood out to me more than others, but what I noticed most prominently was the instrumentation. I think the instrumentals were lovely throughout, but every now and again, they just started feeling too similar, which made a lot of the album feel bland to me. I was very thrown off by the track 'Jesus Christ', not knowing if it was meant to be some kind of Christmas track or not... but judging by the lyrics 'Jesus Christ was born today', it kind of made me think it was. If that is the case, it felt very randomly thrown in there... and even if this wasn't meant to be a festive song, it even then feels as if it was randomly thrown into the album. Stand-outs: Thank You Friends Oh, Dana Take Care
Meh, this album seems pretty bland. Not terrible, not remarkable.
Olvidable, ¿Qué me hiciste escuchar?
Cool.
Great album and a reminder that we all should be listening to Big Star more often.
There was nothing wrong with this but nothing memorable either, and I can’t be bothered to listen again…
I have no idea what the proper tracklist for this album is, because I found at least three different ones, but the one I went with worked well. This is my first Big Star record and I enjoyed it quite a bit, but I definitely need a couple of more listens to judge it properly. I loved the subtle build-ups on a lot of these tracks as well as many of the album's experimental production flourishes, but there were definitely a couple of songs that missed the mark on a first listen, the cover of Femme Fatale being the most obvious example. The mood is overall struck quite well, though. It's obviously a depressing listen, but not in a burdening kind of way (with a couple of exceptions). Favourite track: Holocaust
Prefiero el primero, pero cualquier disco de los Big Star es bienvenido. Aquí inventan el indie de los 90 solo que 20 años antes... Menos eléctrico y más melancólico pero igual de bueno
Listenable but nothing special.
Great!!
I cannot see what the big deal is about this bamd. The ainger has a great voice and the music is fine but I dont get they hype. Stipe and REM love Big Star as does Adam Durwitz and The Replacements. This sounds incomplete and like auch lesser version of Cheap Trick. Its not bad but the reputation way outcedes the album and the band.
Me gustó mucho, versátil en sus diferentes interpretaciones durante el álbum Entiendo que la banda se cataloga como Synth Pop pero eso fue lo menos que se percibió y la verdad que está bien, esa nota experimental les quedó bien Kanga Roo fue mi favorita del álbum, tiene una vibra muy particular El álbum como un todo da muy buena sensación, siento que si se escucha más de una vez se le adquiere todavía más gusto Me parece una propuesta bien interesante, recomendada
A difficult listen. An album that was apparently recorded during the collapse of this band and a nervous breakdown of its singer. That tension is palpable throughout in an album that is often as ugly as it is beautiful and as emotional as it is dispassionate. It is unsurprisingly kind of a mess and kind of inconsistent quality-wise, but there is plenty to like here
Some decent stuff here. I’d probably listen to this again. 3.5/5
Decent. A bit dated for me.
I never got the hang of this band, it's OK at best.
Wow, another stellar 1001 discovery. And the first US band I’d never heard of. Apparently this is something of a cult classic. It could fit in with 90’s indie rock but came out 2 decades earlier than that. The cover of “Femme Fatale” was one of those tracks I had to turn the volume all the way up for. Will definitely be revisiting this one.
Dark, weird, textured pop
Big Star gets a little more introspective than their usual power pop reputation with mixed results. Nothing terrible but nothing amazing.
I was familiar with Alex Chilton from his hit with The Box Tops, which I've always enjoyed. This was my first listen to anything by Big Star. There's some good energy to a few songs, but there are way too many sleepy ballads... some songs just sound like different verses of the song before. None of the singing and songwriting is on the level of The Letter, which is pretty disappointing ten years on. I did like take on Femme Fatale... but although the general sound is nice enough, there's nothing here that's going to leave a lasting impression.
Thought I’d like this more. It’s ok but the hooks are not there yet for me
A big mix of multiple feelings - intimate vocals, heavy strings, happy raucous rock. Really fantastic. Favorite Track(s): Nightime, Take Care
This album was just fine though at times I felt as bored as Chilton must have been.
5/10
2.0
hm
Loved rhe first Big Star album so was intrigued to see this one come up. Some great tunes on this one also. Does have an unfinished/demo feel to it. But it’s still decent. Amazing how they never made it.
Love this band, but not my favorite record of theirs.
No idea why this is on the list
Good album. Kinda messy, but great.
It was alright but nothing really remarkable. Didn’t hate; didn’t love it. It just was.
I struggled to listen to this album in one sitting today and I think breaking up into smaller chunks hasn’t aided the listening experience of it, but what o did hear was fairly pleasant at least. Femme fatale remains a lovely song and this cover does fair justice to it. Other songs, like ‘blue moon’ are decent and suggest this might be one to revisit and give a repeated listen to properly absorb it.
What is this mess? Sure, Big Star eventually make some nice music, but none of it is on this album. Is this a collection of demos or a production release? Blimey! Hated it. 1 star.
I’ve always thought I should be into Big Star, assured as I’ve been that they belong to one of my favourite lineages (Byrds, REM, Teenage Fanclub, Belle and Seb), but it’s never quite clicked. The mad choice to open this record with its worst song, Kizza Me, didn’t inspire much hope that this was about to change (minus one point for that alone). But, whaddya know, I mostly love it. I’m so down for scrappy eclecticism on the edge of collapse.
nah thanks
Not a bad album, it was alright leaving it in the background. Nothing too exciting, but it is a fairly old one, so it must've been a lot better then than it is now.
The cover of the Velvets sounds like Belle & Sebastian which I liked a lot. The Holocaust one was a bit of a bummer. Feels like these songs would set the stage for the super personal indie albums of the 90s that I love so much but it felt like a slog to get through these.
My 3rd fave Big Star
Album #109, Third/Sister Lovers, Big Star ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I have very strong feelings towards Big Star. I reviewed #1 Record exactly two weeks ago and gave it five stars. I said in that review that I genuinely think they should have been one of the biggest bands of all time, or at least one of the biggest bands of the 70s, if it wasn’t for the distribution issues with their record label and the fact that hardly anybody heard their records at the time. They should have been huge, but they were a horribly mismanaged band. Despite this album not getting five stars, this actually might be my personal favourite Big Star album. It’s a funny one, because I don’t think this album should exist, at least not in the state that we hear it today. It’s essentially the sound of Alex Chilton having a mental breakdown or at least losing interest in his own music career, due to their lack of success. It has a pretty mad Wikipedia page, and it’s debatable whether it was ever even supposed to be a Big Star album or more of an Alex Chilton solo album. But for all intents and purposes, this is the third Big Star album. It’s a fucking unfinished mess, no doubt about it. Totally all over the place tonally and atmospherically. You can hear that the ideas were never fully realised, and I think the band were drifting away from the more commercial sound that should have made them successful in the first place. This is far from commercial music. It’s clear they were going down some kind of baroque pop or chamber pop route. There are string sections all over this album and they’re absolutely gorgeous throughout most of it. It’s very far removed from the power pop sound people usually associate with Big Star. You can also hear the influence from the sweeter side of The Velvet Underground, which is obvious considering they cover Femme Fatale. It’s a really beautiful record in a lot of ways, but not necessarily a beautiful sounding one. It’s lo fi, rough around the edges and often feels fragile, but the strength of the songwriting stands on its own. Some of the songs on this thing are unbelievable. Stroke It Noel, Nighttime and Take Care are all beautiful songs. The most beautiful song on the album for me is probably For You. I genuinely think it might be one of the simplest love songs ever written lyrically, but the string section is staggering. Any of their heroes at the time, especially The Beatles, would have been proud of those arrangements. Then you’ve got little rockers like Kiss Me and Thank You Friends, which are much closer to old school Big Star, but still feel different from their earlier work. This album really doesn’t sound like any of their other records. It’s not a five star album because not every song works for me. I think Holocaust is basically an exercise in writing the most depressing song of all time. That doesn’t necessarily make it a great song. It probably is one of the bleakest songs I’ve ever heard, but it just doesn’t emotionally connect with me. It almost overdoes it. And tonally, it really is a total mess. I also think if you came to this album completely blind, you’d probably wonder what the fuck you were listening to. I think you almost need to know the story behind it to fully appreciate it. It’s a cult album through and through. As I said though, it’s a personal favourite of mine. It’s just a real shame that this band didn’t get the chance to make more music together. They should have been huge.
Dull Star. +1 for covering The Kinks.
eh
Ei oikein täysin sytyttänyt
Favorite track(s): For You, Nightime, Take Care, Big Black Car, Holocaust, Thank You Friends
This was my first experience with the band Big star and I personally enjoyed the atmosphere that was created with this project, but even with that I feel like it can go on for too long. Most of the lyrics don't stand out to me but the performance and the recording are the real star of the LP in my opinion I really liked the feeling of songs like Big Black Car and femme fatale. All though it has some shortcomings that hold it back I still see it as a soild record with some interesting songs. Fav tracks: Thank you friends, Big black car, Femme Fatale, O'Dana and Take care
Some good tracks on here that are interesting. I hear some Beck and Radiohead in here (obviously having influenced them vs. having been influenced by them). It suffers from the usual issues with relatively unknown bands - the singing isn't very good. Overall, the album is somewhat forgettable - I won't remember any of these songs. But it was a nice listen.
Magic
Como para pensar, relajarse, está bien
I was in a terrible mood when I listened to this, so I’m trying to temper my reaction. This is more adventurous than ‘#1 Record’, which I appreciate, but I liked the breeziness and quiet brilliance of that one more. This one sounds like they’re trying their hand at a sort of ‘Sgt. Pepper’ era, and it only sometimes works. The more straightforward rock songs (“You Can’t Have Me”, the “Femme Fatale” cover) come out stronger. I guess I should think it’s cool and exciting, but I don’t know, it feels unfocused and forced. Maybe I’ll revisit when my miserable asshole disease isn’t flaring up.
I cannot believe that this band did not have a huge career.
Dosta lejm. Očekivala sam čak nešto jer je iz doba koje obično vrijedi, but guess I was wrong. 2/5, 3/10
Pas mal du tout j'ai apprécié l'ensemble je suis pas loin du 4 mais ça manque de fulgurence pour ça
I was a little disappointed to be honest. This band was quite hyped up. Too many songs. Felt like homework. Willing to try again tho
it's mildly interesting, but I dunno really. I'm sticking with it for the moment, can't see myself listening again.
Alright. This one is complicated. If you look on Wikipedia, you'll notice that there are a number of different versions of this album, all with different track sequences. That makes a lot of sense to me because most albums obviously change depending on how the songs build on each other and flow together. But "Third" really lives or dies by this. Because - There are two ways I think you can view this record. One, is that this is a lost masterpiece of 70s pop-rock, from a band that deserved so much more than to be a footnote in rock history, known primarily now as the writers of the theme to "That 70's Show." It is a document of a man's slide into depression as his band falls apart, his girlfriend leaves, and the success he feels he deserves slips away. The other way to view this record is as a failed solo album from a guy who had been chewed up and spit out by the music industry and was now venting his spleen on tape. Listened to in a certain order, you can easily reach either of these conclusions and you'd be right. I think the story of this album is actually more interesting than most of the music on offer. The experimental stuff like "Kanga Roo" is great, but also sounds incredibly amateurish, as does the cover of "Nature Boy." The pop-rock songs are fine, but several of them are just blatant rip-offs of The Kinks or The Who. While I understand the "lost classic" narrative, and I find it appealing, it is not convincing to me after sitting down and listening to this thing all the way through. I'm sorry, it has to be just - THREE STARS
Hard to track down. Kinda changes vibes throughout
Holocaust is the only thing on here worth listening to
It sounds like this album was shelved because it sucked and the band was falling apart. Then someone decided to release it years later. Shelving it was the correct thing to do. This album is half bad and half terrible. 1.5
Listened a couple times an got something new out of it each time
There's a sense of melancholy and prettiness to this one. And beautiful instrumentation and production to boot. Nothing that I really love though, but every song is at least decent. Faves: Femme Fatale, Holocaust, Nature Boy
Listened to the whole thing yday morning and can't remember much. Not a bad listen but not memorable by any stretch.
Cute. But boring
Imagine that, more crappy, forgettable pop/rock. You gotta cut this shit out, Dimery.
I can't even remember what it sounded like, but I think it was okay.
A pretty average album. 3 stars or C.
Es una mezcla entre los beatles y led zepellin. Tal vez alguna banda mas que ahora no se me viene a la cabeza. Pero no es de mi estilo. Solo por este ultimo punto le doy 2/5
Barely hanging on, threatening to fall apart at any minute
It sounded very good! If it was a little bit more polished, I would say that it's a sound ahead of its time. But it's good
It answers the question, “What if a birth defect was in musical form.”
A sprawling, sometimes schizophrenic record, sounds maudlin frequently. I prefer their first two records, there are more structured, melodic, poppy songs on them, and here there is more of an unfinished feel coupled with some punk influence on the faster songs and some lo-fi experimental songs. They cover the Kinks on one song and Lou Reed on another. In turn, Yo La Tengo has a cover of the tender Take Care. It feels like maybe this was the alternative rock of the late 70s.
Velvet underground, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Belle & Sebastian. 6/10
Just sounds nice and dreamy. 4.5 bumped down to 4.
I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll bump down to a 4. Not too much to say after listening. It’s just a bit dreary. I really like the instrumentation here, and I think the lyricism is good, but I’m left with the same feeling I had after listening to “Sea Change” by Beck a while ago. It didn’t wear me down as much, nor do I think it’s too long, as the 41 minutes (the last 4 are bonus tracks, so I didn’t listen to them) go by well enough. It’s just got very little levity behind it, and that lack of levity can just sort of drain the mood over time. I think this album can feel lovely with its lyrics, especially on something like “For You” or “Blue Moon”, but the vast majority of it feels bitter or numb, as on “Big Black Car” or “Holocaust”. I understand this album is meant to be a reflection on the band’s sense of commercial failure as well as their mental states borne out of love, and while I admire the honesty that went into crafting these tracks, it’s just hard to get through as a full album. At this album’s best, it strikes the right balance between great lyrics, peppy rhythms & good orchestral work, and it bats pretty close to that balance for at least half the album. When it’s not batting close to it, there’s just moments of stagnancy or repetition that weigh on the tracks in a way that doesn’t flow as cleanly as it could. That messiness is part of the album’s appeal, but it can only carry it so far. Hence, a 4.5 that I’ll bump down to a 4, though as with “Sea Change”, it could get up to a 5 someday. It’s certainly worth being on the list, and if this is them at more of a low point, I’m intrigued to hear the power pop side of it all for whenever we get “#1 Record”. I think I’ll really enjoy that, especially if the songwriting here is married with a more fun energy overall.
long and bloated. But, what's long and bloated, are songs, that despite not being every of them bangers, have the sensibilities and sounds of songs a decade later. They were far ahead of the time, and that's surprising. On the beginning, after some time, there are good songs, but many feel like mediocre 90s songs. idk
A bit too long and unfocused to be a 5, but very much my kind of sadboi music. Excellent choice of Kinks cover too.
Very cool! Can’t believe I hadn’t heard it before, and it’s restoring my faith in this list.
Holocaust was the favorite for me on this album. I didn't like this as much as I expected to, considering one of my favorite bands wrote a freakin' amazing song in honor of Alex Chilton. I was expecting ... something else.
3/5
"Holocaust" is the most-played song on this album!? I've never loved Big Star but this just seemed... bad? Too energetic or not energetic enough, jangly strings when they should be harder, weak voice. And I love covers, but those here - Till the End of the Day, Nature Boy, Femme Fatale, are worse than the originals. I'm not sad I've kept BS off my list all these years.
Alright
I thought these guys were a country band. And isn’t that album cover the same as a 2000’s band? I don’t remember who. Who am I talking to? Don’t answer. I’m going with a classic like from me for this one. It has a Bowie sound to it. Not a bad thing but I also don’t always love Bowie. I’m not as moved as I want to be either this one. It’s mid
Not my thing, I'm sure it's good though
#113/1001 🇺🇸⭐️ I'm not sure what the definitive version of this record is. In my first listen i found it good in parts but a bit disjointed, then after reading wikipedia I can see its been reissued a number of times with differing track listings. I found the first track on the spotify version a bit annoying but it gets better. A suprise cover of Femme Fatal went down and there are some fairly sad songs which are the ones that appeal most. I love Alex Chilton's voice and have only previously hear their debut album. I'll definitely listen to more on the strength of this. Best Tracks: Holocaust, Blue Moon, Nature Boy.
This was extremely boring.
i was pretty surprised by how lowkey and soft the music on this album is. i had this preconception of Big Star as a loud and fast, but still hooky power pop band, but this sounds a lot like mid 90s Radiohead to my ears. the singer also absolutely has a clocky tgirl voice which is worth +5 points. i do find a lot of the songs lacking impact though, so i found this a pretty middling experience overall. deserves to be one of the 1001? maybe? maybe swap it for Radio City? maybe keep Big Star to just #1 Record? i dont knoooooooooow
Not sure if I'm... missing something here. Sure, they can play, and there's definitely some good stuff in here but the production is painful. I like the baroque elements, I like how chaotic and messy it is, but this is not the album i wanted from the talent clearly on show.
Ompas kyllä hempeetä kamaa. En oikein osaa sijoittaa, missä ja milloin kuuntelisin tällaista.
Eipä oikein suurta sanottavaa, paikoitellen tuntui suht modernilta aikaansa nähden, mut valtaosin perus seisari/kasarin taitteen poppiarokkia. Ei paljoa liikuttanu suuntaan tai toiseen
Hard to see what box this one ticks to get on the list. Some interesting orchestral arrangements maybe? But aside from that it’s totally uninteresting. Annoying vocals, bad lyrics, some really cringey songs. Especially the Jesus one.
Started badly, improved then got worse.
I didnt like it much. Horrific covers of Velvet Underground and the Kinks were the highlight which says it all.
A very emotional album with soul. Perhaps it’s my weakness for this kind of music, but this album really resonates with me. It is diverse, fresh, authentic, and above all filled with a wide spectrum of emotions. Additionally, it is not very well known. 7/10
poppy-rocky-whatever you want to call it. this album was hard-ish to find, i don't know why. i had to listen to it on dailymotion out of all places. maybe because of the two different names! it's more of that same jangly power sound i've heard plenty of times in the past, but it's another album where it's done quite well. i like it when power pop artists channel their inner beatles instead of just wailing and whining in the microphone. some other people might rate it lower but i found it rather classy.
A dark, messy album, dissolute and cracking up, incoherent at times. Some high points, lots of breaking down to see how far apart things could fall.
Na. just a bit 'light' no meat on it
I long had this album in my wishlist being as acclaimed as it is in music circles but I had never gone around to listen to it. It is probably one of the best albums that I had not listened to before from this list 9/10 [KEEP]
This got challenging down the stretch.
Om jag inte misstar mig så var det The Posies förtjänst, direkt eller indirekt att Big Stars trea slutligen kom ut på riktigt 92. Posies var stora stora Big Star fans och lät sig tveklöst inspireras, kanske lite väl öppenbart ibland. Teenage Fanclub är ett annat band man måste nämna i det andetaget. Det här svårbedömt och jag förstår inte varför denna är med, de två innan är ju betydligt bättre och distinktare. När den karaktäristiska sprödheten får blomma är det bra men det blandas upp med den förhatliga 70tals rocken oxå, värre här än på de två innan skulle jag säga. Låtarna är ganska anonyma men ett visst mått av skevhet och känsla av ärlighet gör ändå att det behåller nån slags intresse uppe. Extra homage för integriteten att inte vika sig för skivbolaget som vill ändra låtlistan utan hellre inte släppa plattan. Ju mindre rock desto bättre, stark tvåa
Det här låter som ljudet av ett band i upplösning. När man läser om plattan verkar inte medlemmarna ens själv veta om de fortfarande är med i ett band eller inte. Alex Chiltons parhäst/trätobroder Chris Bell hade hoppat av. Deras två tidigare skivor hade floppat. Det är lite skitsamma-känsla över de här inspelningarna. Förvisso några stråkpålägg och körer här och var, men många av låtarna känns som råa outtakes som ingen orkat ta om. Och det gör skivan intressant. Det blir oborstat, skört och lite stökigt. Jag har bara hört deras första tidigare, som är betydligt mer producerad. Det här är klart bättre. Jag har lyssnat på både 1992 och 1978 års låtordning och tycker albumet kommer bättre till sin rätt i 1978-versionen som inleds med supersnygga Stroke it Noel och likaledes For you. Fler låtar jag fastnar för: Kizza me, med sitt vilda piano, Take care, Jesus Christ med lite töntig refräng men grymt saxsolo, Femme Fatal slår väl inte direkt VU men ett bra försök, Holocaust, Kanga roo och Thank you friends.
Big star har ett ganska fint anslag. Det finns något unikt (svårt att sätta fingret på vad) som ändå gör att urskiljer sig från poprock band från tiden. Gillar överlag det jag hör även om det är lite spretigt.
Det har en charmig skevhet. Musiken liksom haltar fram. Plus för Can’t have me, Nightime och O Dana. Föredrar låtordningen så som den presenteras på Discogs. Stark trea.
Not for me
Yawn.
A low 3 for me. Not offensive in any way but it just doesn't stand out from other 70s pop/rock.
there's something a little underwhelming about it, but there's some cool sounds and fun ideas. favorite song is Thank You Friends or O, Dana. solid 3
Rating: 6/10 I can definitely admit that I don’t get this on yet on first listen, it’s like old school pop rock but also a little bit weird and feels like a precursor to the production styles low budgeted indie music would take on. Wasn’t my favorite but I’m interested in revisiting Big Star
Technically qualifies as rock music and I'm sure it's historical and influential but this album didn't do much for me. It was decent, didn't love anything specific about it 5.8/10
Good
Every single track is bad in it's own way, which is actually really impressive.
you could make a career out of Kanga Roo, and Wilco still is. good for them! it's a very funny arc that Big Star had one less member each album until they were down to two at the last one. this album rocks.
I definitely underbaked the last Big Star review I did. Should have been a 4, maybe a 5. Hadn’t heard enough awful albums for comparison yet. This one was great too, but this band is maybe a rare case where I prefer when they’re a bit tighter/more focused. Overall, Big Star rocks though.
I remember not really liking this album back when I first heard and I still kinda don't. I'm ok with not seeing another Big Star album from this point on. Favorite track: Jesus Christ 2.5/5
Meh, it was fine I guess but kinda boring
Sometimes you get an album that matches your requirements for the day when it's assigned. Worked well for me on this occasion, although on listening for a second time I realised this album starts noisy but becomes relaxing and contemplative. I liked the latter. Not exceptional though, but will listen to some of these tracks again sometime
This did very little for me, but I can’t offer any particular criticism. It was fine in the background, just not something I’ll be returning to in a hurry
It's OK
Yet another album to add to the "whole lot of nothing brigade" which is gaining new members at an unenviable rate! One of those albums which, you can tell, thinks it's smarter than its peers, but ultimately lacks any kind of sauce. Painfully middle of the road at best, a bit crap at its worst, I gave up halfway through as that provided more than enough of a sample size.
It was ok. I can't say it was bad, but it was nothing memorable.
This should resonate with me more than it does. I really like it but I don't really love it. It seems like a complicated release by Chilton considering the various versions available. Indeed the wiki cites a certain mental state he was in and it really shows up in the lyrics. Regardless of the version, as a collection of Chilton/Big Star tunes it's still a solid output.
This held no particular charm for me.
Allemaal leuke covertjes op deze. Leuk.
I could have died without ever knowing who these guys were, let alone listen to this hot mess.
This album was so mediocre that even the band didn’t have an interest in seeing it succeed. It was recorded in 1975 and wasn’t released until 1978. This was also the last album by the band who broke up after its creation. As for the music, it’s high school garage band level at best. Every song is the same dull composition with different boring lyrics that repeat incessantly on topics that no one cares about. This album has no business being on this list of 1001.
After my initial listen, I could only assume that I must have missed something, so I forced myself to listen to the whole album again with complete and total focus to arrive at an accurate review. Here’s what I came up with: What the actual fuck? Someone in this band must have horribly incriminating nude photos of the book’s author and the willingness to use them. There is no other explanation as to why I was subjected to this twatwaffle and his brooding, sophomoric bullshit … twice.
70s version of radiohead. Oddly enough I disliked this less than I dislike radiohead.
This one caught me off guard in a good way.
not that bad
Not bad. Not particularly noteworthy. It's not anything really. I can't imagine feeling strongly about this album in either which way. "Til the end of the day" was good enough to add to my daily playlist.
I wish I enjoyed more songs from this album.. Maybe I'll like it more after a second listen?
1978. Third studio album after two unsuccesful albums. Documents the band's deterioration as well as the singer's declining mental state.
Kinda all over the place here. A few songs stood out to me "Thank You Friends" "Jesus Christ" "Holocaust" and "Blue Moon" were all good, but the rest felt like it disappeared into a very same-y mush.
If only spotify wasn't missing half the tracks
1001 albums to hear before you become a big star dust 70# So surprised this wasn't too of a pop rock album and more like a spacious ambient folk album with rock instrumentations. I already knew Big Star's hit song and wasn't expecting them to have this interesting sounds and arrangements up their sleeves. It feels so spacious and roams, dark at times clearly felt on the song Holocaust. They've mainly got quick songs and it didn't feel like they we're incomplete... well, maybe a bit, but the songs to culminate in something grandiose, it's just that feeling of melancholy and dread..? Kanga Roo feels like it's all falling apart. Find it interesting that the lyrics of it ('i first saw you, you had blue jeans, your eyes couldn't hide anything, i want you like a kanga roo') would feel so different in a pop rock ballad than on this sparce, erratic instrumentations, full of whining guitars and loose or slack drumming. It has some songs that don't connect though.
This was a cute little album. apparently the duo that leads the band is from Memphis, but you can hear the beetle influence; I swear at some point I heard British English phonology in his singing. Maybe it's just the twang in his voice, but the British invasion influence is very prevalent. There were still some qualities of this that were uniquely American: some folk influence, I got notes of the band America, and twangy guitars. Most notable was the inclusion of strings on most songs. I'll admit I wasn't listening too closely, but it was mostly a pleasant listen and also not very spectacular at the same time.
I was glad to see this one pop up, both because I like Big Star, and because (even though I own it - on CD, with bonus tracks), I've tended to ignore this one, because I have a couple of other Big Star CDs (and 1, in particular) that I gravitate toward more often, so have tended to overlook this one. Maybe/probably because this one is not so listener-accessible. Which is why, though it's a little tempting to give it a 5, I'll give this one a 4 (4.5?). Big Star never received the popular success they deserved, but famously launched/inspired a thousand other indie bands, or so the saying goes (something like that, anyway). And, yes, as Ray remembered, your great Uncle Gary (and his band) met Big Star at Ardent Studios in Memphis in the early 70s, while Gary's band and Big Star were in the studio at the same time, or something. Except that there was a more specific connection, I think with Big Star member Andy Hummel (he -- or maybe his brother? -- was Gary's friend, maybe? - at Centre College, I think, where Gary later met Debbie).
The main vocalist is a weakness which I think explains their lack of popularity. The songwriting is good and the band too. I would probably give it a 7/10 but I'll bump up to 4 stars because I'd like to listen again. There was a sick cowbell solo on "Kanga Roo" I listened a second time. Less impressed. It has its moments, but I think it's the type of thing to be overrated by music nerds. Solid but I wouldn't go higher than 7/10
An album that I think could have easily been thrown out with the bath water. I think the sound here is ahead of it's time and it's hitting that same niche as the Velvets but in a more intimate way. There's glimpses of new wave here and some interesting production and hiqh quality songwriting. I'm glad this album is getting some recognition looking back on it.
Totally generic late 70's pop music. Not sure why this is on here at all. Its extremely average. It's not bad but it's not at all memorable or interesting. I think "Til the end of the day" might be the most interesting song on here and it's just a Beatles/Kinks inspired whatever.
can't find this original record on streaming easily which is annoying. otherwise it's big star and even their worst record is still better than most.
Why should I listen to something that the band wasn’t even interested in making?
I guess you have to be deep in the alt-rock industry to understand why this guy gets the love he does. Many artists with far more talent claim Alex as a large influence in their music. Consequently, the critics buy the logic and anoint his work as extraordinary and important. And he ends up on this list too. Really? His song writing pales in comparison to his adoring peers. I don’t know… maybe he was a fun guy to hang out with? Out of respect for Paul Westerberg, I’m going 3 stars.
Gear: 64 Audio Duo Artwork: 👙⭐📸 Production: 😐👍🆗 Music: 😒🎢😯 Rating: ⭐⭐⭐/5
This was solid. A little disconnected at times, but track for track I enjoyed it.
RIP Alex Chilton
I know why this is on here & I know why #1 Record is on here and I know why Radio City was left off but...Radio City is the best one. Third's reputation as a total scattered mess is completely true despite it being an assemblage of good-to-great tracks. The Chilton solo-ness of this one really sticks out, especially once you've listened to Like Flies on Sherbet. This is like a handshake between Chilton off-rails and the studio, it's still a spun-out werido rock album though it's a little bit of a case of the story of the album overshadowing the album itself. The story's good & I've listened to this album multiple times with different track arrangements & different set-ups, it's still stuck in Chilton Purgatory for me. Favorite Tracks: Kizza Me, Jesus Christ, Femme Fatale, Stroke It Noel, Kanga Roo
Bueno
Fine
Bit of a weird album considering it doesn’t exist anymore on the artists page. I don’t mind the sound of the band and enjoyed Holocaust’s dark feel.
Really interesting 4/5
This is the worst of the three Big Star albums
Why the fuck is this here?
this is just so boring
Most depressing music ever
Third is the bittersweet soundtrack of a dying band. It's too bad Big Star wasn't more recognized in their time, but theirs is also a tale as old as rock and roll itself. Thankfully the power pop icons live on through music.
If you’re going to talk about a Big Star, you’re going to talk about Len Houmous. 2.5 12/19 Nightime
Sejt. Fra 70'erne og noget af det lyder sådan. Men noget er skramlet som Velvet Underground, støjende nærmest som Psyched up Janis og andet er mere strømlinet Stones-agtigt.
Not on Qobuz. Listened to a selection of their other material instead. Can understand why they see so we’ll thought of but not really my bag
Quirky, string laden, and at times beautiful. This one is a grower. Chilton sure can sing….such a wasted talent.
The epitome of "you're making this really hard for me to care about this album in any form". I've probably forgotten I listened to it by the time you're reading this.
The same sad song over and over again with 1 being a little different. This ist NOT an album you have to listen to before you die.
I liked this quite a bit. Had heard of these guys, but never listened to them. This turned out to be an excellent album for traversing the wastelands of NW Texas.
There are too many songs that pass by in a blur to give this a 5, but it's a very enjoyable record with some great songs. I've liked this band since college. I have Counting Crows *gasp* to thank for introducing me to them. I saw CC play an outdoor festival in Chicago and Adam Duritz, in a moment of immature fame rejection at the height of his fame, changed the lyrics of Mr. Jones to say he wanted to be Alex Chilton instead of Bob Dylan. I did some research and suddenly the Replacements song titled Alex Chilton made more sense. I eventually got to this record from that moment. Thank You Friends is fantastic. I love Big Black Car and O, Dana. I have Jesus Christ on my Christmas Mix. The VU cover is good, but not great.
The many Big Star songs that I love, I love as much as anything. But there are too many clunkers on this for a 5. Wondering a bit about calling this an "album," since I think it's a clump of two albums that may have had some release weirdness. With this pair on the list, I hope we'll see #1 Record/Radio City too.
5/5 - Big Star fanboi here ever since I saw Nothing Can Hurt Me -- almost 15 years ago, wow. If you're familiar with REM, you can't help but hear constant echoes from the Big Star albums. I think Jeff Tweedy may have listened to Kanga Roo maybe more than a few times. The melancholy mood here is absolutely my jam.
Fairly boring…nice to recognise Nature Boy from Moulin Rouge but otherwise, not much going on. Improved with a second listen but didn’t capture my imagination.
No arranca mal. Pero se vuelve reiterativo y muy largo. Por qué tan igual y extenso? Termina cansando. 5/10
oh well, I was to crazy about this. The sound design sounded really oldfashioned, with plenty of space.
Totally unfamiliar with this band. Sounds surprisingly contemporary.
Chill. Easy listening
My god this might be one of the most droning, boring albums I’ve had to listen to. Whoever the vocalist is, let’s just say it’s in Liam Gallagher territory in terms of how annoying it is. Struggled to find anything redeemable here.
Kohutavalt igav plaat. Vokaal on nii imal, lodev ja lõikav. Siin on mõni üksik käik, mis mulle meeldib. Aga muidu on mul seda C-duuri sitta ikka suht ebamugav kuulata. Julgen sellele panna 1.5/5
I had to listen to this a ton, started as a high 2/low 3. Kizza Me is a rough start but after a few listens I appreciate the swings taken. Mid/high 3
I don't really get the hype behind this one. They do sound like they are pioneering a sound that wasn't commonplace in the 70's. However, it's not necessarily an advantage, as someone who is mostly a fan of 60's and 70's sound and less so what came after. They have excellent choice in what songs they cover, but I'd rather listen to the original versions. Rest of the album sounds very unfinished, a kind of first take and done kind of business. Where is the energy, where is the joy?
I had heard the other albums but not this one. I really dig it. A couple of tunes will go on playlists for sure
It was okay, so it's getting three stars. It wasn't amazing though, and the covers weren't fantastic.
Not bad
Don't know If I'll revist this, but it was an enjoyable listen. Good songs throughout, no skips.
I must be missing something. How is this band a cult classic? At times it’s cheesy pop and other times run-of-the-mill music. Side note, the name made me believe they were a country act.
Listened a few times but not much really grabbed me. I quite liked the Kinks cover but thought the femme fatale cover much weaker than than the VU original - the vocals way inferior to Nico. There were some interesting songs - like Stroke it Noel - which sounded way ahead for 1978 and clearly influenced many later bands. Some nice moments but lacking in killer hooks/moments.
Third *_The version I listened to on Tidal is the 1992 Rykodisc edition, but I ignored the bonus tracks_. This is a bit of a funny one. Without context it all feels rather ramshackle, slipshod and slapdash, and not really like an album at all, more a collection of demos and sketches. Whereas if you are a fan of Big Star and if you like their first two albums it makes much more sense in light of their disintegration and Alex Chilton’s declining mental state. With that in mind it certainly does achieve moments of genuine transcendent brilliance, and it clearly has all the ingredients and circumstances to be a cult record, but as its own listening experience I’m not convinced it stands up _that_ well - if it wasn’t by Big Star I doubt it would be remembered, and it would be unlikely that you would have to hear it before your die. Its influence on 90s lo-fi is very palpable though, not least on two recent albums we’ve had, Pavement and Mercury Rev, and the cover of Femme Fatale traces a neat line from the late 60s through the 70s and then through that influence on to the 90s. For a hit of Big Star I would nearly always reach for #1 Record or Radio City, but this definitely an interesting album, although I do think the ratio of context to quality is a little out of balance, so I’ll go 3. 🌠🌠🌠 Playlist submission: You Can’t Have Me
Whichever permutation takes your fancy (1978 and 1985 included), it never really hits the mark for sustained periods. 'Kizza Me' is a highly forgettable opener; indeed it could be 70s soft rock, and similarly 'You Can't Have Me'. This Todd Rundgreny style works best on 'Thank You Friends', which leans more in Chilton's melodic skills. I struggle with this in comparison with Radio City. It feels like a potentially misunderstood cult album. But there's a lot that needs to be generously inferred (e.g. this is an innovative bridge between power-pop and slacker rock). With its incosistent attempts at chamber-pop melodies, it begs the question why do we need this when we have 'Odessey and Oracle'. It's messy. No-one knows how to order it properly; I think it just falls short of a four, but mainly because it has confused me, and it's one to revisit in future to check if I am right.
There's nothing like reading the Wikipedia description and seeing that the album was unfinished partly due to the band's own lack of interest to get you excited about listening - and I say that as someone who likes Big Star. There are some tracks here that make it a bit too clear that this was a band in the process of falling apart, but there are enough woozy bangers and moments of loveliness to make me glad someone tried to salvage it.
Was excited to see this one pop ip because I know how influential this band was for so many other bands I love. But I’d never really listened to their material before. Maybe this isn’t the best album, or maybe it’s just not as good as I’d hoped. It’s ok. Might grow on me over time too and there were a few tracks that caught my attention but In general I was underwhelmed.
I wasn’t familiar with Big Star, and I’m not sure if that was a loss. Their album *Third/Sister Lovers* is okay and reasonably varied. But you’ll mostly search in vain for any truly brilliant ideas here. “Kizza Me” and “Femme Fatale” are probably the closest things to being original. And again the question: is “OK but unexciting” a 2/5 or a 3/5?
Had some high expectations for this given how much I like their first couple of albums. Kizza Me and Thank You Friends is classic Big Star. The cover of Femme Fatal is perfect. The rest is super meh. I hope the other albums make it on here
The songwriting on this album is great and overall it was a big surprise given I'd never heard of the band. It's inventive, raw, and very honest, creating some lovely songs that I really enjoyed. The album also has a real haunting quality to it - the acoustic guitars, vocals and string arrangements all combine to create a wistful tone. The only minor issue I have is that whilst the production is the reason the album sounds so raw, there are moments where it feels off and just a bit poorly put together. It doesn't take away from the songwriting but can be slightly jarring at points.
When I started listening to this I was just NOT into this whatsoever. It was heading straight to a 2 star, but it really picked itself up by the time the B-side started. I suppose I just started to understand it a lot more. I didn't like the first couple songs which reminded of the wimpy rock whiny vocals aka Led Zeppelin's first two albums. It has a really nice variety of songs, which I appreciate a lot. I suppose the lesson I learnt from this album, is that you should believe in the album as much you can and keep an open mind always. Especially even if you're on a semi-bad album streak. I feel the album is just right on the cusp of the 4 star, but I believe 3 star is closer to what my heart wants. Highlight Song/s: "Blue Moon" and "O, Dana"
Top 5 Albums of all time
I thought it was bland and slow.
After hearing all the high praise big star gets, I expected this to knock my socks off. It was alright
Pretty good just kinda slow
3.5 but rounding up cuz they’re awesome and I can’t wait for #1 Record
This is a 3 but gets the Big Star Boost
Actually pretty good
Quite like this
Big Star is great but I tend to lean towards #1 Record or Radio City.
Doesn’t have the power pop majesty of the first two albums. Some decent songs though.
Nope. This album had me cringing at some of the vocal lines. I know the album was meant to be downbeat, but this became too much. I also found that the lead vocals did grate a bit. I guess I just didn't get it, but in the end I was pleased when the album finished.
I’m tired boss
What the hell was that?
Okay.
This album seems like one I should know, but I never heard of this group. It sounds like what it is, early 70s alt rock, with familiar influences and a foundational sound. Really good stuff. I’ll come back and listen again for sure.
Decent, but not their best. 3 star.
5. All Big Star Is Awesome. Period.
I needed to give this a couple of spins before I felt I could rate it. It certainly demands the attention. I also had to go and listen to some earlier Big Star albums to understand why this felt like such a departure. I'd say this is much more appealing to me than their debut. It's raw and unpolished, chaotic in the best way. Occasionally despairing, then uplifting. A little too much sometimes. I'm not sure these guys were alright in the studio and I feel like I want to help them. I honestly think its unfinished status is to its benefit, if these songs had been smothered in slick mid 70s polish it would sound dated. As it is, if you had told me this was recorded in the 90s I would have believed you. I'm giving it a four, but there may be room for it to grow.
I love me some Big Star like everyone else, even if this an Alex Chilton solo album in all but name. Interesting, good but not something that stuck out. I imagine it needs repeated listens...
If this fell off the list I would be OK with it. Not my thing. Best song on the album is third from the end, Til the End of the Day. It sounds like something from 5 or more years earlier and is a bouncy poppy song.
Didn't entirely connect with me, but this cult album is dripping in emotion
it sounds nice but i felt absolutely nothing listening to it
Strange band.
no
Listened 12 hours ago and already can’t remember it, left no impression
Meh.
Harmless enough but failed to set my pulse racing.
Man. OK I think this guy was going though something, but it did not make for an enjoyable listen. By the time I finished the album I felt miserable.
Another influential album where I would rather listen to the stuff that was influenced. Give me the Replacements any time. I like Chilton's singing, but the production sounds tinny and dated. Quite a number of short same sounding songs. I've been writing this as I listen, and towards the end I am more into it, the feel of it overcame the sound which was initially off-putting. The best songs are the saddest songs, which is normal for me I guess. 4 stars, glad to listen to it.
Yeah this was great