Reviews (page 6 of 8)
2.3 Got pleasently surprised by "Thank You Friends", then the album fell off. I can't give this 3+ stars cuz it cosplays as sophisticated music, but fails miserably. Not worthy to listen to a second time imho, but neither trashy enough to go into bottom (gear) tier. Solid is only the boredom I got from this.
Forgot i even heard this one day after
Yeah I don't really get this one much. The string instrumentals are kinda nice I guess, but the whole thing feels very amateur and unpolished.
Only okay.
this was fine. might listen again.
So that was something. I usually like the rock genre but i had to kinda force myself to finish this one. I haven’t heard of them before but my first impression was that the album was boring. Some songs like femme fatale, were okay.
Doesn’t stand out much for me from every day rock , did enjoy the femme fetale cover
Just a bore
2.5
Meh. Could have stayed unreleased and the world would have moved on. Nothing to excite. Just drags. Not sure what this inspired.
It was okay
Intressant die Musik. Kann Sie nicht einordnen und habe keinen Schimmer was das ist. Intressant, Nun ja, Nicht mein Style
Slow, melancholy rock that is ultimately a bit forgettable. I like the raw emotional vocals but the songs just didn't quite hook me in. Femme Fatale was a standout but maybe that's just because I remember the original Velvet Underground version.
Didn't grab me as much as their other output. Could be because I'm sitting at work and not paying a huge amount of attention.
4.5
This album I find to be incredibly infuriating. I’ll explain, the vast majority of the album does nothing for me. It’s too slow and the songs don’t get my attention in anyway. Honestly if it wasn’t for three specific songs I would’ve hated this album, easily would’ve given it a one star. But then there’s the three songs I really liked which were “Kizza Me”, “O, Dana”, and “Downs”. But the problem with these tracks is they do the opposite of redeem the album, they indict the album. The songs show how they could’ve made something I liked but instead went in an entirely different direction. “Downs” especially is so wildly different from everything else on the album and shows some crazy creativity and talent. It just really highlighted how much I hated everything else on the album.
Big Star is cute this album was fine
Meh. It's a pretty easy album to listen to, but it's also pretty easily forgettable too. It doesn't really stand out much. 'Big Black Car' really really droned on. It was ridiculously stripped back, slow and depressing. Same with 'Holocaust' which to be fair had a slightly redeeming creepiness to it. It wasn't all bad. 'For You' was decent enough and I thought 'Femme Fatale' was actually a pretty beautiful track (which I've just found out was actually written by Lou Reed, so that is another negative for this band and album). I will say however, comparing the two, I actually slightly preferred the Big Star version. It's beautifully sung. Everything else I would say was pretty generic easy listening soft rock music. Wildly inconsistent, and it wasn't all on Spotify, so I decided if it was good enough, I'd seek our the missing tracks. Spoiler alert: I didn't seek out the missing tracks.
The first time I heard "September Gurls" was the Bangles' cover on Different Light. "In The Street" is the theme song to That 70's Show. "Thirteen" is a classic and I really like the song "Feel." So, I understand the influence of Big Star. However, those songs are all on the first two Big Star albums which were packaged as a double LP and, quite probably, purchased at a discount. However, Third/Sister Lovers contains no songs of note and should not appear in anyone's top 500, 1,001, or 5,000 albums.
It's fine, I guess.
Let out a huge sigh as this started, wasn't ready for more white guy rock. Not sure how much that impacted the experience but did enjoy a couple of songs on the back end. Fav tracks: Nightime, Blue Moon Saved a song: Y RYM: N
Didn’t draw me in, didn’t listen to the whole thing.
Wildly inconsistent. Feels like an odds and sods collection. A couple of good tracks.
Too many dragging tracks on this to really recommend it, but there’s a handful of songs that are worth it.
Rating: 5/10 Meh.
What in the world is this? I could see why there could be a big cult following for this band, but I didn't feel it. Some weird covers, some other tracks that are okay on its own.
I’m not sure what to think of Kizza Me, at times it sounds good, especially the guitar, at others like musicians banging away on out of tune instruments. Jesus Christ! Is an apt response to Jesus Christ. Lacking of any lyrical progression or anything to actually say. My apple music seemed very reluctant at times to play some of the tracks and to be honest that was a blessing. Not a fan of the vocals or most of the music here but struggling to pinpoint why.
I have absolutely nothing to say about this - it was that boring.
It's probably a bad sign that the two songs I liked best were covers. And yes I can see how Big Star influenced R.E.M., but frankly I'd rather just listen to R.E.M.. It's fine, just nothing really jumped out at me musically other than Down which I didn't like, but is absolutely bonkers. Lyrically, parts are really not good listening to this in 2025 (calling a song about a dying parent Holocaust, is... yeah, just no). 2/5
Not for me
Solidly mid for me, started off a bit discordant but the back end was for more interesting to me. Odd as I usually like this sound.
I enjoy some of Big Stars stuff…. This wasn’t it
Long run time combined with really monotone material makes for a rough listen.
Much like Big Star's debut (also on this list), I don't get anything out of this record. It just comes across as run of the mill Pop Rock to me. Maybe it's so influential that everything now that sounds like this comes from it, but I'm not sure that's true. Key tracks: Blue Moon
Titte-ut-av-vinduet-på-bussen-musikk (på et middels minus nivå)
It’s a weird artifact of a band on the brink of collapse. It’s really… all over the place - Velvets and Kinks covers, and uhhh, drug-fueled musicianship? Reminds me of Skip Spence’s Oar.
I endured listening to all the tracks, but it wasn't easy. There was no consistency, just some unfinished and unproduced sessions thrown together. It's like catching a fish by hand: you try to grasp it, but it just slips through your fingers.
It was quite a miserable dirge at times
I don't usually listen to albums multiple times but I did here leaving me a much longer review... First listen I was super confused...this album was all over the place and it felt completely disjointed. The first two (Kizza Me and Thank you Friends) weren't bad but then we went in weird directions with (Holocaust). So I did some research to figure out why this album was included and it gave some context (but I am not sure it was enough to save it). So there first two albums were failures and they blamed their record company and this one was shelved for not being commercial (not a shock). They were trying to be sarcastic but it sounded so sincere. They were breaking up as a band, fighting with each other, and breaking up with a girlfriend (and they removed a lot of her vocals from the album). It felt like maybe this was a dumpster fire that they tried to fix by giving the remaining people more creative control which just kind of made it worse. Second and third listen...sure, there were some bits that were nice and I can see the creativity behind it. I can see how this album set in motion more room for more alt type sounds that were not mainstream pop or rock. It also really captured some emotional intensity behind a band breaking up and feelings of failure and anger with a melancholy dissonant sound. However it ultimately left me confused on and unfulfilled as an album. It left this album to sound like a bunch of half finished songs they were workshopping to try and find the band's sound.
I’m a huge fan of sone of the bands that drew inspiration from Big Star, so I’ll always have time for them. This kinda seems like a spectacle, though. Part of the album is good (maybe great), other parts are phoned-in filler.
Not into it... Turn him down in my headphones
Nothing special here
Boring music for boring adults
Super confused about all the different versions of this album. Third (Ardent Music, 2016) is what is on Deezer, so that's what I'm listening to. 18 tracks, total length 00:51:40. I like the strings and drums. The wailing vocals on these slow songs are killing me, though. Listened before? N Saved to library? N Favorite track(s): Thank You Friends, You Can't Have Me ⭐⭐: Didn't like it, didn't hate it. Saved no tracks.
had potential was just horribly mixed and recorded and it sounded like just noise a lot of songs but like 2 good songs. starting to be less strict with my ratings so it gets a 2
Innocuous non descript album. Ok background music but not exciting or worth seeking out.
Sometimes you need to know the history behind an album for it to be at all interesting in concept, and maybe gain some appreciation for it. An album being written and developed while both the band and individual members are falling apart is an interesting idea. Unfortunately the music shows this; discordant, unbalanced, barely melodic.
Why does this have so many versions. Not too big on this one Will I listen to again: 0%
Easily forgettable.
Not my style.
I love #1 Record, it was completely new to me and was one of my early great discoveries. This, however … this is just a bit shit. It’s unremarkable and unmemorable, and nowhere near the high watermark of #1. Disappointed.
Alex Chilton influenced many bands we like…some great riffs but uneven.
2.5
Didn't love this album. Nothing notable or memorable for me
#676. A handful of painfully average hippy songs. 2/5: meh
femme fatale
it was okey
well this is a bummer - i liked the other Big Star album we had on this list. but this is so limp and watered-down i had to double-check and make sure it was the same band. i didn't vibe with this at all. maybe i'm being harsh, but it's only because i know how much better they can be!
this album makes me sad. alex chilton and big star came out swinging with their first album, radio city had some bangers, and then they just kinda slowly ground to a halt. most bands' downfalls seem to be due to a sudden event like a breakup, the label dropping them, or whatever, and the ones that fade away start showing cracks well in advance. i wasn't there due to not being born, but this one feels like we're watching the car crash happen in slow motion. these songs are pretty much all slow, depressing dirges that really convey the mood of alex and the band crumbling around the studio as they record takes. it's hard to watch and i don't think any of the tracks hold a candle to what they've done before. it's sad. favorites: for you, nature boy, till the end of the day
Thought for sure this band was British and this was another example of this list's British bias. Surprised to find out they're American and now even more confused why this is on the list. Altogether pretty mediocre and not much to note. 3.5/10 (1.75/5)
So I know like two songs from this band (none of those songs are on this album) but their story is interesting. They had little to no commercial success, to the point where this band was basically nothing, however years later, to the mid 80s to 90s, a lot of alternative bands like REM and The Replacements were very influenced by them and that made this band finally get a cult following. With that cult following came retrospective reviews of their catalog and made them realize that Big Star is much better than once received. But imma be honest, I have mix reviews for this album. It's not bad, but I don't think it's that good. The songs I thought were good come once in every 3-5 okay and "not the best" songs. Maybe #1 Record and Radio City are better, but this album is definitely something. Also, there's like 6 different versions of this album for whatever bullshit reason, only one version was available and it wasn't this one. Maybe if I had this or one of the other fucking 5 I would think differently.
There was a time, about 15 years ago, when I was listening to the first Big Star record a lot, just really into the jangle pop vibe and the catchy melodies. Third is nowhere near as good and often feels like a slapped together random mess. As with a lot of albums on this list, if they think this is essential listening, ok I guess I'll take your word for it but I'm not hearing it.
2.5 - Meh
This isn't even a good album, period, let alone a good Big Star album. #1 Record and Radio City are much more put together than this. I find it very ramshackle, rife with lowlights, and instantly forgettable. 2/5 because even though it isn't good, it's not exactly offensive.
This was not very good in my opinion.
Second album proposé par le générateur. Il n'est pas plus intéressant que le précédent (noté 2/5). Pas désagréable mais rien de mémorable non plus. Les reprises par 'This Mortal Coil' (pas dans la liste !) de 'Holocaust' et 'Kanga Roo' sont vraiment meilleures que les originaux. =>2/5
I absolutely love #1 Record by Big Star but this album was so boring and hard to get through
Fine I guess but very disjointed. I was too harsh on the other Big Star album and should relisten and maybe re-rate.
There are some good songs on here that kind of capture the old Big Star magic, but there are also a lot of slow, depressing ones. It’s probably too long for what it is, and it often sounds unfinished. That kind of thing can be interesting — raw, even beautiful — but here, ‘Third/Sister Lovers’ just ends up sounding flat and, well... depressing.
First time hearing this album in its entirety. Let's GO! These are decent pop/rock songs. I'm not sure there is anything overly special about them. Maybe they were ground-breaking in some way at the time. And I'm assuming their other big album will be here, so I don't think we need two of their albums on this list. This is really just ok. 2.2/5
Not for me
Some good music, singing was a little too weird for me, overall didn't love
Warbly, soft vocals. Mixing seems a bit off, some separation. Not my fave but has a dreamy quality which is quite cool.
This just made me want to listen to Nick Drake's Bryter Layter. The strings were very close to doing it for me but the vocals and songs never really fit right for me. "For You" is the only song I really enjoyed.
Can tell their influence on Radiohead
Some points nice and mostly too much Beatles and pop. Liked string arrangements
Music is decent but album is aimless.
Na
So this album was released in 1978. I was 14. Possibly the period when I was listening to the radio, watching music tv programmes (OG Whistle Test / Revolver etc) the most, and reading the music press. Yet I've never head of the album, or the band. Listening to this I know why
Second big star album and not as initially catchy as their self titled album. Dug their cover of femme fatale but not much else going on with this.
Surprised that I wasn’t grabbed by this - I didn’t mind a few melodies but felt the songs were mostly bland. I love #1 Record and I Am The Cosmos though - maybe I’m more of a Chris Bell person
Interesting. Next?
Not doing much for me. A few decent songs but wouldn’t listen again.
I got as bored with this as the lead singer
I can really hear the pre-REM in this one. Unfortunately it's really interminable, I think if I heard a song or two I'd like them but this is too many together and they're too consistent.
Strikingly forgettable. Great start! Favorites: Big Black Car & Femme Fatale. Would like Holocaust better, and would probably name it a favorite, if it wasn’t, you know, named that. (March 18, 1978; Rock; British/English; 13 tracks; 55:13 runtime)
I really wanted to like this more than I did. I’ve heard big star songs before and really liked them. And the replacements wrote a song about Alex chilton. This album was too long, too many chill songs. I needed more pep.
It was alright. Some catchy songs, others a bit naff.
Cult album eh? Glad I didn’t join the cult. There are some interesting musical sections, primarily piano based. But otherwise I didn’t really enjoy this and I’m not sure it holds together as an album that well.
I really liked their rendition of femme fatale. I really enjoyed Big Black Car Also this band sings the intro to “That 70s Show”
Ik lees dat dit 'cult-album' een paar jaar op de plank heeft gelegen omdat het niet commercieel klonk en de band ongeïnteresseerd leek. Ik begrijp hier weinig van. De band lijkt toch echt aandacht gegeven te hebben aan het componeren en spelen. Al zijn er wat minder geïnspireerde seconden als het begin van Thank You Friends. Maar dat draagt juist bij aan een vrij toegankelijk (commercieel klinkend) geheel. Zelfs dusdanig dat ik mij afvraag wat dit nog bijdraagt. Zonde dat ze een paar jaar hebben gewacht, want na die tijd heeft het album bij de afronding nou niet bepaald de aandacht gekregen. Is dat geluid dan wat het een cult-album maakt?
Ik schreef bij een eerder album van Big Star, dat ze in vergetelheid zouden raken. Qua muziek klopt dat, ik heb geen idee meer wat ze maakten. De bandnaam kan ik wel onthouden, dus ik wist dat we ze al eerder hebben mogen beluisteren. Toen was het dus een vergeetbare 3. Waarom we ze dan nog een keer krijgen te horen, bewijst maar weer eens dat de redactie beter zijn werk had moeten doen. Ik zou eigenlijk een 1 willen geven, niet omdat het zo slecht is, maar simpelweg voor de complete overbodigheid en vergeetbaarheid van de keuze. Maar er zitten best aardige nummers tussen. En wat wel geinig is ter vergelijking met de hedendaagse tijd: tegenwoordig zou dit dus overgeproduceerd en gecorrigeerd worden met autotune en de hele mikmak. Hier hoor je gewoon nog de imperfecties van de muzikanten en dat is ergens wel sympathiek. Het hoort nog steeds in de 1001 albums die je ooit gehoord moet hebben. Laat ik het uitmiddelen tussen de vergeetbare 3 en de overbodige 1.
It's not really an album when it hasn't really been released. Nor when it's partially available everywhere.
Forgettable
kinda boring, and depressing wth!!! i was listening to it like DAMN, i feel like drinking bleach…. i liked Til The End Of The Day
Not enjoyable. Not quite a 1, but I can't fathom how anyone gave this a 5.
Right out the gate, the singing is painfully bad. The guy's out of tune and sounds inebriated. Vocals are always a potential deal breaker for me, since they can so easily make or break a piece of music. In Kizza Me, the singer here seems to have doubled his vocals quite messily, and only in some places. It's very distracting and very nearly ruins the excellent rock instrument going on behind it. This album was released around the time of the punk movement, so the terrible singing makes sense. I guess I was just hoping for a punk(-adjacent) band to break the mould. (Kind of hypocritical, for punk bands to all be doing the same thing as each other?) Nature Boy is also pretty bad, if only because a mere piano stands between the atrocious singing and the listener. The cover of Femme Fatale is passable - mainly because the original is so darn great. Big Star's version is noticeably worse for several reasons, including the weird extension of the "femme fatale" backing vocal, the out-of-tune lead, and the inconsistent percussion. In contrast, the strings in Stroke It Noel really sell the song. I'm a big fan of songs that mix up the instrumentation. The following track, For You, continues that trend, as does Take Care (with folk-European-sounding strings - maybe a fiddle?). All are strong tracks. Till The End Of The Day is an unexpected rise in energy towards the record's tail end. AllMusic gave this album a retrospective review of 5 stars, writing that it was a "shambling wreck of an album" and "the slow, sinking sound of a band falling apart". Where's the consistency? This is getting a 2 from me, and a well-deserved one at that. We have to start punishing these bands for their singer singlehandedly sabotaging the sound. 2/5 Key tracks: Thank You Friends, For You, Till The End Of The Day
Kind of a chunky album and the slower songs just reeeally don't do it for me. There's some good stuff though, just not quite as even of a mix as I'd like.
This one wasn't really my thing. The slower songs to take up most of the album, and I felt they didn't do anything very interesting in that time. At least when the pace does pick up, on songs like You Can't Have Me and Till The End Of The Day, it does get pretty good.
An interesting listen for sure. Nature Boy sounds like it was an unused track from Sweeney Todd. Bit annoying that a handful of songs are not available on Spotify.
Icky and boring
2.1 I did quite enjoy that at one point I exclaimed "Jesus Christ" and then realised they'd named the song just that. I'm guessing not out of exasperation unlike me. Cover of Femme Fatale pointless. A bit like the album in general. Just frustrating choices all round - Kanga Roo starts off non-shit and then someone thrown a cowbell into the mix and turned it up loud. Wasting my time
Ok 2/5
Felt really inconsistent instrumentally and the lyrics didn't grab me.
boring and generic to be honest. but maybe I’m in a mood
The title to the album MASSIVELY misled me. Little disappointed ngl
Previously rated: #1 Record (3/5) ******************** Another album from these guys? The lyrics were good, I guess, but they were delivered in a very boring way. Best track: Til the End of the Day
Dear album, it's not you, it's me. Goodbye. 2/5
Lyder fint men unmemorable album, lidt ligesom det sidste vi havde med dem, som jeg gav en meget generøs 4'er
I do sometimes wonder how some records end up on this list. This is definitely one of them… I just wanted it to be over.
I thought I recognized the name Big Star, so I searched back and we have in fact reviewed an unremarkable jangly 70s pop rock that was, apparently, actually important to some people other than the guy who made this list. This album is apparently also a "cult classic"? Again, this is not anything that stands out to me. It is better than their previous album that we reviewed earlier. There are moments during this album where I thought to myself they sounded a bit modern and I could definitely hear some inspiration for some 90s/2000s indie acts, and I can give them credit for being ahead of their time in some aspects I guess. But overall, the sound isn't especially forward thinking or groundbreaking, and it didn't hold my attention especially well. Meh.
Better than Coldplay
Pretentious. Not melodic. Hard to finish the back half. Otherwise, a great album!
Completely unenjoyable
Okay album. Felt a bit on the draggy side midway through.
very forgettable
5/10
One song was way too much static noise which turned me off the whole album
Solid album. The songs are constructed nicely, though as a whole they're a bit unfocused. I liked this one more than the other Big Star record.
This just made zero impact on me whatsoever. It was like listening to a mediocre collab album by George Harrison and Violent Femmes.
Maso
That was not a good album for me... Seen everything this band did from others, only better.
Would probably not listen to again, but decent music.
Includes a couple of covers no-one asked for. Meh
Weirdly sexual, boring, uninspired
Third time's the ... meh. I loved Big Star's debut (gave it 5 stars!). On Scott's recommendation, I listened to their second album and didn't like it as much. It was good, but didn't hit me like the first. This one? For diehard fans only. It plays more like a demo. Or sketches. But a complete "you NEED to listen to this!" record? C'mon, man. I know a 2 star is a little cruel, but there was nothing I loved on this record.
There’s always a debate on popular singers who don’t have beautiful voices but do have good music. (Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, etc). For the most part I like those artists. But Big Star has their lead song out of tune and it drives me nuts. 2.5/5
Overall: 3/10 I got Big Star's first album a while back and gave it a 7/10 (4 stars) but it's since became the album I've soured on the most. I decided to go with it since that was my original impression. With that being said, I don't really like this one much. I find the vocals infuriating and the music ranges from bland to insufferable. A couple of tracks were okay but there's so much great music out there and I think this could have been removed for something more interesting. The one thing I will praise is the lyrics, but they would work better as poetry. Fav Song: Kizza Me Least Fav Song: Big Black Car
This is #day223 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and... however incredibly long, it was fine for the most part. But I can’t stand when songs are blocked on Spotify, or worse, when the whole album isn't available. Then I have to switch to YouTube Music and hope for the best. I didn’t care to figure out which version of the album I was listening to and whether it was a Big Star album or more of an Alex Chilton solo project, as they say. This is a 2 out of 5. "Holocaust" is a highlight, as are some of the more stripped-down songs. Looking forward to #day224.
I just didn’t get this one. It sucks in a way that I often find appealing, but it didnt connect with me in this case. Other than a few exceptions, The songs aren’t memorable, the hooks weren’t catchy, the playing feels amateurish, the production is questionable, and the overal sound just isn’t that interesting. Not irritating but completely forgettable.
I hadn't heard of Big Star at all. Slightly raw and chaotic, with slightly ramshackle vocals and weird experimental recording techniques just poking through. But even before the Femme Fatale cover I was thinking: this does sound a lot like velvet underground with less songs about heroin, and it just gets stronger as the album goes on. Not bad, but I'd rather be listening to the real thing.
I find no redeeming virtue herein. None. Zero. Nada.
Kind of boring. Not that interesting. 2/5 Won’t listen again
😴 2/5
yeah... ok! I liked a couple of these. I could get behind this.
Dang, Third/Sister Lovers. I friggin love Radio City and #1 Record, and I have to assume those are on this list somewhere. But this one is tough. It's a sad, half-cooked mess. With Chris Bell and Andy Hummell gone, this was a different band than those two records, and it almost seemed like Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens had one foot in, one foot out on these sessions... and even they didn't exactly see it as a Big Star record at the time. There's some good stuff here, but if you didn't have the first two albums under your belt, I'd bet you'd wonder what the hell the big deal was about this band. Stroke It Noel, For You, Blue Moon, Thank You Friends, Kizza Me, these all work for me. Mostly nothing else really does, even as "difficult art". Even the semi-catchy single "Jesus Christ" is like... really? Is this a Christian band? WTF is happening here? There's nothing happy about the Big Star story, other than a) Alex Chilton was celebrated 15+ years after Big Star broke up by the Replacements, and had a subsequent reappraisal and could do some victory laps before he passed away, rather than languish in obscurity, and b) that Jody Stephens is (2023-2025) doing gigs as "Those Pretty Wrongs" and writing decent songs. But most of their legacy is based on the first two records, not this one.
Very similar style like Rolling Stones but a little bit borring.
I don't know. nothing to look at here. Move on
3/18, 17%
Wow, the first song on this album is absolutely awful. The next couple aren't great either, but it picks up starting with the Lou Reed/Nico cover and salvages it a bit. Still didn't like it overall, but it felt like an easy 1-star halfway through "Kizza Me". 2.5 stars (After listening, I realized the Spotify version is not the same as the intended album. It's close though and I really don't feel like listening to the real thing after this)
Wow. Kizza Me was really bad and then Jesus Christ was both awesome and bad and then the Femme Fatale cover makes you want to kick this guy's ass. It's like hearing Bread do VU. My day is enriched for having listened to this album but, yeah, it's gonna be a no from me, Simon
Meh
I dont get the Big Star love. Pretty dull stuff
I kind of hated this one, it sounded like half the album was a protracted fade-out. I know the history. But other reviews have called it something great. I’m going to give another listen; for now, it doesn’t work for me.
Ach, das Stimmli isch dänn dünn. Sorry, sicher gueti Musiker, aber es begeischtered mi nöd.
soo mal luegeee I want to feel you deep inside 👍 hahaha nei finds eig na cool hmm big black car und jesus christ findi langwilig femme fatale no en bangeeer OHHHH DANAA, OOOOH DANAAA hahahah joaaa d begeisterig het sich wieder gleit, spötistens bi kanga roo HAHAH wie meinsch bi you can't have me es 3 sekündigs drumsolo mitme fade-out?? take care hani jz eig nomal seehr schön gfunde ah wow scho fertig? o, dana, take care und femme fatale hani no cool gfunde, alles andere isch aber weird oder langwilig :( und luca du hesch scho au recht, weiss au nöd wiso dass das sött uf de liste sii. wiedermal es protest 2?
Third/Sister Lovers is a fascinating mess—more a document of Alex Chilton’s unraveling than a fully realized album. The songs veer between hauntingly beautiful (Nighttime, Take Care) and outright disjointed (Kanga Roo, Downs), with the production often feeling half-finished, as if the band lost interest halfway through recording. While moments of brilliance shine through, the album’s lack of cohesion and its bleak, meandering nature make it a difficult listen. There’s an undeniable rawness here, but rather than feeling like an intentional artistic statement, it comes off more as a band falling apart in real time. A cult curiosity for sure, but not an easy or particularly rewarding experience.
A hot mess of an album that would probably be good for someone whose life was also a hot mess. No real faves but Femme Fatale was recognisable.
"After two commercially unsuccessful albums, Third documents the band's deterioration... " A deterioration from the efforts that resulted in two commercially unsuccessful albums pretty much sums up this album perfectly. It's boring, aggressively unmemorable, it has an apathetic/unimaginative title and pretty crappy vocals. There's also some truly awful songs. This could easily be a 1 star album but it wasn't quite bad enough to stir up hate.
Just kind of boring
Really bored me.
Like the other albums here, there's nothing to brag about, but it could have been worse.
I got nothing from this album
Insipid, a bit dul in parts.
Kind of boring.
Not getting much from this. 2.
This was an album Personal enjoyment: 2/5 Relevance to this list: 2/5
2.5 Early blueprint for 2000s alt-indie, but just isn't there yet and not really standing out on its own.
eh
Weird sad rock, not for me.
Didn't hate it but didn't like it either
12/26/24. Just okay.
Bland but listenable.
I can see some influences on future bands I would listen to but I couldn’t really get into it, kind of dragged. Quite surprised to find a song in there covered later by the mighty The Family Cat but not sure that was a good enough reason to raise the rating to 3 stars.
Only heard of this band as they are mentioned in a Spiritualized song! I somehow pictured them to be better than this, but sadly none of these songs grabbed me. Maybe it’s a grower?
Ah, the supposed godfathers of melodic indie pop. I’ve listened to them plenty of times to see ‘if I get it yet’. While their first album is kind of OK when they do a sort of thing that sounds like a slowed down Status Quo (which has subsequently been done better e.g. Bandwagonesque). This album pretty much entirely ditched that sound and let’s be honest, this album drags. Not a great vocalist singing some quite dull songs over some dull guitars, and adding a few strings does not shine the turd.
They had lost it by this album, confused as to why it's here. Hopefully earlier stuff appears otherwise it's a travesty
Not very interesting
Listened to it, forgot most of it instantly
这声音真的，一听就杨威
I listened to this once yesterday and struggled as it seemed really bland. I now have to write a review and cannot remember a single note of it which tells you all you need to know.
Primeiras impressões é de que falta a pitada de algo no som. Falta balanço. Já nas segundas impressões, tome cuidado para não dormir... zzz.
Boooooooooooriiiiiiiing
Didn’t finish, didn’t particularly like
Power pop you say? Loved by REM you say? *fires up excitedly" Oh.
Occasionally adding strings/piano/woodwinds to crappy alternative music does very little to make the final product good. The uninspired cover if femme fatale and the fact that there are a ton of different versions of this album with the tracklist shuffled along makes me question the integrity of this as an album-listening experience. Not great. 2/5
This album didn’t leave much of an impression on me. Up until this point, I was only familiar with their song used for That 70s Show. As the album progressed, I thought wow I think maybe I like some of this slower stuff more. And by the end I couldn’t wait to get through the slower stuff. It wasn’t terrible but I’m not sure I really liked any of it.
songs mit singer/songwriter-charme, viel piano.. schlussendlich dann aber kein highlight, welches bleibt.
Not sure
I was quite disappointed by this album. Never even heard of Big Star. The first song was garbage. A few gems saves this album from being a total disaster. Looks like I’ll be forgetting this album. 2 stars for “Third/Sister Lovers”.
Bizarre christian stuff I don't get it. Also, if you're going to cover the Velvet Underground do something interesting.
Couldn’t get into this at all, slow folksy crap
Hmm. I don't know what to say about this one. I just wasn't feeling it. I listened to the version with 19 tracks, but I don't believe I'd like the shorter tracklist any better. The lyrics cheesed me out far too often. Even on the song I liked best, Nightime, we have "Glanced in your eyes and fell through the skies" which is lovely, but then there's "And when I set my eyes on you, you look like a kitty" which - blech. Enjoyed the uncredited SpongeBob feature at the end of Thank You Friends.
Melko löysä levy, en juurikaan tykännyt. 2/5
Big Star is not great. There is a reason they weren't a big band.
My reaction to this album might be negative because of other things going on in my life, bur this guy’s voice really grinds my gears.
Getting bogged down by dull lyrics and poor mixing seems like just the surface for this one. It’s full of mostly boring, generic 70s rock besides the last couple of tracks which seemingly save it a bit. Regardless of which came first, this feels like it walked so Bread and the likes could run. There’s so many other albums of this era with a similar sound that do it better.
I can see how they might have influenced a number of later indie bands and a couple of songs weren't bad, but overall no a great album.
Was ok - prob will not listen again
This album made me realize that maybe I don't like Big Star as much as I thought.
I found this album to be pretty blah! I listened to it twice just to make sure. 2 stars for nature boy (one for each listen)
Big Star's Third(/Sister Lovers) is a big mess. The behind-the-scenes drama impacted this album, and not in a good way like Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. Third lacks cohesion, like the album was shoved together recklessly. There are hints of a new sound--I guess that's in part to the experimental nature. Not a chore to listen to necessarily, but not an enjoyable listen either. Sometimes you just don't understand why an album has cult status.
This album was not hard to listen to, and yet somehow still underwhelming. The chaotic state of the band and the unwell mental state of the lead singer shows, in my opinion. Most of the album seemed to be pervaded by a general lack of interest from the band. Even though the band was falling apart, figuratively and mentally, some people seem to like this album for that very reason. Looking at this album as an art study case, I can understand the draw to this , but actually liking it BECAUSE it's a train wreck of an album seems a bit foolish.
Etwas seicht.
Jaa-a ganska forgettable, vissa bra låtar
Really boring
Heh perus setit tässö perus koiranpaskat polulla
A cut price Velvet Underground. Cruel but true.
This made for a rather slow start to my day. I liked the strings on “for you”, and there were some other flashes here and there. Based on the street cred this artist gets in some circles, I’ll give it another spin at some point and check out their first two albums. 2.5/5
Could not get into this at all. Very meh.
Kind of sounded like a Thin Lizzy rip-off for the first several tracks. Couldn’t get into it. But a dear friend of mine says I need to give their earlier albums a try. So I shall, but this record gets a low score. 2.25/5
Pretty. But I’m very bored listening to this.
I liked #1 Record but it's fair to say I didn't really 'get' this one. There are some pretty ballads and, sure, there's an audible atmosphere of stark despondency that you don't hear too often. But just because the singer was tortured doesn't make the album a work of tortured genius.
Not feeling this one
Bout a week straight of ass albums lol
Jangly twaddling. The strings on “For You” are nice though.
Eh, kinda boring and generic. I really liked "Holocaust" (for the love of God please do not take that out of context), that was a beautifully haunting song, but other than that this was really uninteresting.
Just full and uninspired
Another odd album. Mostly slow ballads with piano, but with a couple of rock songs thrown in. I wish they had leaned more into the rock stuff, I liked it a lot more.
I did not like this. Poorly executed, sappy nonsense.
I don't know... I wasn't feeling this. It felt like an overcooked noodle of rock.
Ik ben in slaap gevallen tijdens dit album. Was dat de bedoeling? Want dan was dit beter dan Shleep van meneer Wyatt. Wat is dit ongelooflijk saaie muziek zeg... Nightime vat dit album het allerbeste samen: "Get me out of here.. Get me out of here.. I hate it here" En eerlijk; ik ben het hier volledig mee eens, wat een saaie muziek en wat een saai album. 1 ster? Dat nog net niet, want het is wel gewoon muziek en niet onluisterbaar, maar wat zitten ze er dicht in de buurt! FAVO: Het dutje dat ik tijdens dit album heb gedaan
I see the connection to later music (R.E.M., maybe 'emo' like Sunny Day Real Estate) but I think my appreciation of this stops at 'influential'. This felt like listening to a hangover.
This felt like an almost less than basic rock album. I see it’s on a bunch of lists but I’m not sure why. Maybe because of it tracking the downfall of the band and singer. People love watching car crashes.
Yeesh. I think we had another from Big Star, and it was pretty good from what I recall. This one though, no thanks. Very whiny, grating vocals, music feels unfocused. I liked the cover of "Femme Fatale," the voice fit that one, did NOT like the cover of "Nature Boy," that's an atrocity compared to the likes of Nat King Cole. I don't know man, generic '70s rock from a band apparently in decline. Doesn't need to be here in my opinion. Favorite tracks: Femme Fatale (yeah, not a good look when the only song I like on your album is a cover). Album art: A bunch of ladies laying in a sort of sun or star pattern on a beach. Think this was a reissue cover too, the original is just two guys. I read that the name "Sister Lovers" was maybe a band name change they were contemplating because the two dudes were dating girls who were sisters. No idea, too much lore for an album I'll never listen to again. 2/5
Not sure about how I feel when I listen to this. 2/5
Mmm it’s just barely okay. Nighttime and Blue Moon turned the rating around for me a bit.
Uninspired, mediocre, boring, middle-of-the-road, basic, pedestrian, unexeptional... Do you get the idea? And that cover is ugly beyond words. "Hey man, what did the graphic designer propose for the cover? The ugliest fonts known to man, nice! And oh, what a great idea, yeah, let's put the same photo twice!"
Not bad but generic. 2 stars
Velvet Underground cover was pretty good - but Femme Fatale is just not the same without Nico’s pronunciation of “clown” - otherwise pretty forgettable.
I found this one largely unremarkable
Not 1001 worthy.
This was just kind of sad to listen to: a band which had such promise, recording a bunch of half-arsed covers and crap. A few shining moments but overall, pretty terrible.
Never heard of Big Star so as is usual when this is the case took extra interest when reading the accompanied wiki page. The most striking thing I learnt was that their leader Alex Chilton tragically died much too young but that he was also the lead singer of the Box Tops. I then had to give myself a verbal good kicking over the lack or gap in my musical knowledge. The Box Tops famous hit The Letter I know well but I always thought they were a black soul band. So I live and learn. As regards this album it’s very meh. Nothing new to see here at all. It’s given the title or genre of power pop which again is new to me and I wonder who thinks all these different genre titles. Anyhow it doesn’t sound very powerful at all. It’s inoffensive and if I heard it unannounced on the radio it would go through one ear and out the other without registering or disturbing the fluffy birds within that space. 1.5/5 2/7/24
forgettable
This has been on my list for a while. Not bad.
ok, aber nicht brauschend, rock, kl. gesxhw. von..
Was thinking not too bad, kinda .38 special, Foreigners vibes. Then that Jesus Christ song came on. Dear FSM. What a turd that was. Kind shifted the vibe of the whole album for me.
felt like i should have liked this one. maybe i'll revisit it some day.
Better musicians could have made these tracks shine. The folksy songs work, the power ballads not so much.
I loved the first Big Star record. This I could not make it through. So plodding and boring.
Big arse
Struggled to rate this, there's definitely something interesting and compelling lurking in there somewhere but it didn't grab me enough to keep looking. Might be better with a few more listens but I'm not sure I can be arsed.
I like one of the cover versions of Jesus Christ
Till The End of The Day is so much better than the rest of the album, which is completely forgettable. I wouldn’t miss this album at all, if I were to die yesterday
Couldn't finish
Boring and forgettable.
I hate to be that guy, but this album is a snooze fest. I can appreciate soft acoustic music but good grief this is the musical equivalent of melatonin. I've never heard of Big Star before this. I wish it stayed that way. Typically, I like to stay off my phone while I'm listening to give the music my full attention, but it took every fiber of my being to pay attention. The worst part is it didn't start this dreadfully boring. It went from mediocre in the first half to paint drying in the second. 2/10 Would I listen again? I don't think I'd be able to make it through another
Can’t get behind the lead singer’s voice. Waited for it to be done.
Mediocre, no standouts and just felt old and not very special
There were a couple good songs, but overall this was kind of a mess
I don’t know what this is… the lyrics and the vocals ouffff
Meh
Meh.
Very different to the other album from Big Star I've had, and much worse.
I like the use of string instruments in 'For You' and 'Take Care'. The other songs are unfortunately too mundane.
Power pop. Rollo. Un 2.
Kinda bland. Not their best.
mid star
I didn't find the version specified here, not sure it would have impacted the rating if I had.
2.75. Spotify version (titled “Third”) most closely matches the 1992 release.
Some decent songs but a lot of songs that sounded like the band wandered into the studio hammered and didn’t bother editing.
I agree with some other reviews I saw... meh. 2/5
This is a terrible introduction to Big Star. There are some stand outs, like Kanga Roo (Jeff Buckley’s cover of it is great too), but it doesn’t rise to the level of their debut.
- Never heard of Big Star, which probably makes sense because they seem to have dissolved before this album was released in its "proper" form. - Like "Holocaust" and "Nature Boy" (which I only knew from Moulin Rouge). The dark, moody pieces are legitimately interesting. - Unfortunately, the rest is extremely generic and out-of-sync with these tracks. I very much disliked "Big Black Car" and "Jesus Christ"...apparently those were packaged together on a single? Woof.
Meh
Worth a second listening
Did not know the band and after reading a review on it I expected something interesting. But no, it was not interesting. More boring than anything else.
4/10
Flamboyant 70s music. It’s generic and didn’t interest me
This ?pop/rock really didn't appeal on first listen, but was okay the second time around. It is quite slow and not really my style. Listens: 2 Fave Track: ? Rating: 2
The start of the album was terrible, the end was ok, but at the end of the day, it was a mid British album 4.5/10
Похоже местами на Radiohead, только, в отличии от них, это какое-то унылое говно.
What a mess. It had its moments, but most of the time I felt like turning it off.
zzzzzz
This sounds so much like a bunch of unfinished demos. A bunch of guys throwing things together in the studio, seeing what's going to work and what's not. I have a bunch of demos from bands that I _LIKE_. Doubt I listened to them more than once; there's a reason they're demos and NOT the finished product. Same for this, there's just nothing in it that was like, oooo that's a keeper. Next.
There were a couple songs I liked but didn’t like most honestly. Rating: 2.4
Nothing remarkable here - I don't get the hype. These guys are held up as one of the greatest power pop bands - whatever that means. I think it is just that Americans are not good at pop music, because this is pretty uniformly underwhelming
I think it starts strong, but really loses focus near the end. The Velvet Underground cover feels way too on-the-nose, since I find the latter half of the record to kind of sound like a drugged out stupor, akin to how I feel The Velvet Underground gets at times. I think if you're a big VU fan, this might be for you. Not so much for me. Favorite track: "Thank You Friends"
Played this twice and still don't really get it. A couple of cute covers, but the rest seemed fairly standard Seventies rock fare. Never Mind The Ballads.
Singer is talented but the melancholy is never ending.
This is the second Big Star album I've listened to on this list and I question why it's here to begin with. #1 Record is the better album but not by much.
It was just okay. Perhaps I was not in the right frame of mind.
Best Song: Kangaroo. Feels like a decent David Bowie impersonation. Worst Song: Kizza Me. Ignoring the absolutely godawful lyrics, that wispy voice is doing the already bad song no favours. Overall: The musical equivalent of a baby bird singing. It feels intensely vulnerable, but not in an interesting way like Elliot Smith, instead in a sort of pathetic way. It's never good when the primary emotion an album evokes is pity.
good - femme fatale, holocaust not a fair score cuz 6 songs are gone from spotify, but its not making me want to hunt for them anyway
Power pop. Rollo. Un 2.
Meh album, interesting listen Top tracks: Blue Moon, Till The End Of The Day
This album is deeply confusing to me. It starts off bad, then gets a little better. I don't know if I kinda like it or hate it. I'll listen to some songs again, but probably not the whole album. 2/5
A couple songs are good, a couple songs are real bad, but mostly, this is just an album of normie music.
Not feeling this one. Holocaust was a decent song, but the others weren't really my thing at all.
This album has very little direction, odd shifts in tone, subpar vocals and effects, and a few covers that are just not memorable. Each song had jarring shifts in sound style, and while changes like that would be considered unique, it doesn't really work here in an album with too many songs, and most, if not all, don't match well here. It was not very enjoyable to listen to, overall a 2/5 kind of album. Notable songs: Holocaust, For You, Blue Moon Heavily disliked: Jesus Christ, Stroke it Noel, Downs
Oddly compiled which varied from songs that delighted to songs that I felt were dreadful. The tone felt all over the place, hopping around from upbeat swing vibes to downturned sad wintery songs. The album also included uninspired covers of classics like "Femme Fatale" and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" (Have they not taken enough from Big Maybelle?). Standouts included "Holocaust", "Kizza Me", and "Big Black Car". With songs like "Nature Boy", and "Downs" being very forgettable.
Just nothing but depressing power pop. I liked the upbeat songs but man I found this album hard to get through
I listened to this through twice and both times I forgot I was listening to something.
I was like maybe this isn't bad, but then Jesus song with saxophone. Incel song Femme Fatale. Kanga roo with a, "oh last second cow bell needed here" This thing is sloppy, there is potential. I don't know anything about this band.
I much prefer the power pop of their first 2 albums.
Some of the songs I liked: "Kangaroo," "Stroke It Noel", and "Till the End of the Day". But the production quality in general seems raw and sloppy. It would have been interesting to hear what the band might have sounded like if they knew their way around a recording studio.
Ei toimi, ei edess vähää alusta.
Ei jäänyt mieleen erityisesti. Paikoin muistan ärsyyntyneen
Not the best big star...I really like the earlier stuff but could pass on most of this. 2/5
not much that i liked. pretty boring stuff. 5/10
Ett rungande Jaså!?
Why have I heard of Big Star? Not only that, I’ve heard of Alex Chilton. But I have no idea why. It’s not because they have hits. Their biggest song was the out of nowhere non-Christmas carol about Jesus? “Third” didn’t help me understand why Big Star was a big deal. It got off to an odd start with “Kizza Me,” “Jesus Christ felt so out of place, “Holocaust” was a weird and dark mood killer, and they followed that song with one called “Kanga Roo?” The album is all over the place, but there are some signs of life and potential. “For You” and “You Can’t Have Me,” despite their contradictory titles, were the best songs on the album. “Til The End Of The Day” was great and I wish there was more like it. But apparently it wasn’t on the original “Third.” There have been several different versions - this seems like it was the 1992 version? Most of the “bonus tracks” are awful except for the Kinks cover “Til The End Of The Day,” so this version reflecting the bands “original intentions for the album” was best left on the studio floor. But at the end of that day, I’m left with one question above all to ask - why does Chilton sound British when he sings?
Ah, the post modernist irony of picking a more-or-less unreleased album from a band that was in the middle of disintegrating as an album that should be heard before you, yourself, disintegrate. There are a couple of listenable tracks on here. There are significantly more that are uninspired, unfinished or just plain bad. Personally, I don't give a hoot about the meta of this album. I'm far more concerned about the fact that I wanted to turn it off before it finished of its own accord. You can wax lyrical about the meta if you like. Sure. Get yourself off on it. I'm sure you also enjoy Syd Barrett's solo album, you ghoulish poser. I'll put this in the bin, where both the record label and the band wanted it to be.
Reminded me of the Byrds. Really did not enjoy the first track, but the rest was ok. I feel no compelling need to come back to it.
I understand its cult, but its bland cult
Very meh.
Nothing interesting
Meh
it was fine