Customer Reviews

#1 Record/Radio City

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The first two seminal Big Star albums come to SACD with terrific sound full of nice details. Just a warning, though, both albums are presented in remastered stereo (done by Fantasy staff engineer George Horn)but not in 5.1 Surround Sound. It's possible that the tapes the final stereo masters were drawn from are too badly damaged to do a 5.1 mix, or Fantasy just didn't want to bother. Either way, it's something to be aware of when purchasing this terrific twofer.

There's nothing in the way of new information in the booklet. The liner notes from the 1992 CD release are used again. There's less photos. The original booklet had copies of the front cover of both albums. This one doesn't. Curiously, the cropped picture on the cover of the band shows up twice. The second time they flipped the negative evidently to make it look like it's a different shot.

What can one say about two power pop classics that helped define the short lived heyday of the genre? As important as Badfinger and The Raspbarries seminal releases the optimistically titled #1 Record allowed the band to put all the goods on the table. Brilliant songs, performances and guitar riffs abound all over the first album. Although many folks give the first album 5 stars, I'd have to differ. Some of the music hasn't aged quite as well as it should have. The second album is, in my humble opinion, the better of the two despite not having Chris Bell's direct involvement. Alex Chilton sings as if his life depends on it.

There are no additional bonus tracks or rarities included here (although there are probably some that exist). It's a pity that Fantasy chose not to dig into the vaults and pull out additional material for this re-release to make it worthwhile for the small, devoted core of music fans that will purchase this SACD.

First and foremost both the individual albums - #1 Record and Radio City are stellar albums epitomizing or rather considered to be originators of the concept of "power pop"

Liner Notes begin by quoting Encylopedia Britannica - Big Star: American band that during its brief existence in the early 1970s helped define power pop, a style in which bright melodies and tunefully boyish vocals are propelled by urgent rhythms (Encylopedia Britannica).

Incidentally, Rolling Stones recent listing of Top 500 albums of all times gives due credit to Big Star by putting in all 3 studio albums ever released by the band at # 403 (Radio City), # 438 (#1 Record), and # 456 (Third/Sister Lovers). Very few bands have indeed 100% of the catalogue in Top 500 listing. (Incidentally, Nick Drake's all 3 albums make it to Top 500 albums - would love to get them on SACD versions).

# 1 Record and Radio City differ in style due to Chris Bell's departure in second album (though he contributed on a few tracks but was not credited). Notable songs from both albums are Feel, Ballad of El Gordo, In the street (which was recently covered by Cheap Trick for TV series That '70s Show - hate the version by Cheap Trick! they had their moments at Budokan but this was not their moment), and notable September Gurls. ST 100/6 is a great track - under one minute and just breathtaking! Alex Chilton is superb and Chris Bell is equally great at taut compositions and great vocals.

Kudos to Stax / Fantasy for putting this album out (along with others such as Leo Kottke - 6 & 12 string guitar, Issac Hayes - Shaft, etc.)

The sound is simply unbelievable. I have a reasonable collection of Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs, SACDs, DCC and other audiophile recordings and this recording is just stellar for the era it was recorded in. The transfer to SACD is beautiful and i am awaiting for the Third / Sister Lovers to be out on SACD to be able to hear Kanga-Roo (notably covered by Jeff Buckley - orginally by Alex Chilton from the third album)

Simply awesome sound! and beautiful music! stellar combination!

While scouring reviews for this album (in a different version), I read somebody classifying two different ways to listen to Big Star: As what they are, or a band that's so great and important that, if you don't like it, your obviously musically retarded and can't appreciate good music. And they certainly were important. Big Star was a major influence on a___load of artists like R.E.M. , The Replacements, Tom Petty, Cheap Trick, and more. With all that in your mind, which road should you take (alright, that's the stupidest question I've ever asked).

Well, take the first one. Music snobs will tell you that this band is the best, but that kind of hampers the experience. When hype comes and bites you, your probably under quite a bit of pressure to come to their conlusions. Besides, concentrating on the musical influence would probably just diminish the real impact of the music, and how great the music is on it own (if it's great). So, with mindset one in mind (actually, I never really gave two _______ about who they influenced when listening to Big Star), that was the one I chose when listening to the music of this band.

For individual reviews of each album, see Radio City and #1 Record, and you'll know why I wrote about each album separately.

Did I, once deciding on whether or not these guys are good (Oh, it was SO hard, ha ha ha!), look to see their mark? You got me. But the bands that I give a damn about, the ones that are influenced by Big Star, really don't sound too much like them. Who am I kidding, those bands really sound a lot different from Big Star. Which is a testament that Big Star really is a good group. Namely, they don't sound like a weak, prototype for the bands that influenced them. And no group can do their songs like Big Star, every single group has done a pretty awful job at covering their music, save for Cheap Trick. Example, take Wilco's cover of Thirteen. They just had to slaughter it with sappy strings, and who was singing? Sounded AWFUL. Proof that many bands can't pull off songs like this, ever. Indeed, no matter what, Big Star will never be replaced, or never be imitated (the bands influenced by them stand out and don't sound like knock offs of the band).

Really, when you pretty much get two albums remastered, well, to me it goes to a five star average, and since that you get both albums for the price of one, it really makes the deal even sweeter. So yeah, get it.

9/10

I needed help, bad. I got this Big Star disc after reading so many great things about this band: the inventors of power pop, working at Stax. The guy from the Box Tops. Beatlesque. Cassic Depression album.

Now if you are me, a hard core music guy, the question is not if you buy such a band. The question is, how many small children do you steer clear of driving to the CD shop.(You still had those when I got this in 1994) Reading all the seemingly unconnected

discripters of Big Star was the hook: what the hell could this music SOUND like?

And without becoming a baby killer, I got the CD home and played. I liked it, but I didn't really get it: it sounded like good old rock and roll, but what was the fuss? The Byrds, the Beatles, Badfinger and the Rasbaries had all done stuff like this. So I put the CD on my ever growing "get back to pile" and through the end of Ciinton up until Obama was sworn in, it sat--with lots and lots of company.

Then when the pile caved in, this popped into my hand, and I played it, and low and behold, got it. Going back to mid-60s pop as a musical source in 1972, when Yes and King Crimson ruled rock, was quite an amazing move.

But it was not just that. By the time Big Star came 'round, rock was a much louder and more dirty beast than it was when the Beatles and Byrds and Hollies were kings, and Big Star shows this in aces. The

guitars are louder, the voices have a grit to tame for 1965 AM but just right for 1972 FM--FM never picked up the guantlet, but if they had wanted, Big Star would have sat beautifully next to Ziggy Stardust and T-Rex's "Jeepster."

But it was more still: what kept Big Star from being just the Rasberries or Badfinger was that they were not just using "pop" as music for sinlges, but overarching concept. They were taking songs that threaded together for albums, and talking about their lives: drugs, depression, and teenage love as irony, not top 40. Add to this a more amplified rock world--that the Beatles helped create--and yes, you have a whole new type of music.

Some call it power pop. I call it the power OF pop.

After reading about "the greatest band I've never heard of" in Rolling Stone, I decided to check out Big Star's first two albums. The verdict: this band should have ruled the world. Today, while the music of many of their early 70's contemporaries sounds cheesy and dated, Big Star's sounds are absolutely timeless.

Let's talk about "Numer 1 Record." For pure groove, "Feel" rivals Led Zep. "The India Song" is a retro, hippie-dippie slice of the Byrds, while "Watch the Sunrise" is as good of a George Harrison song as George Harrison ever wrote. "Thirteen," is simply one of the purest, most innocent love songs I've ever heard. Yet none of these are my favorite track on the album; that honor goes to the inspired "Ballad of El Goodo." As a lyricist, Alex Chilton will never be mistaken for Leonard Cohen; on "Numer 1 Record" he sometimes tends to fall into the "mad/sad/glad" school of writing, but it simply doesn't matter. His voice is sweet and soulful and gorgeously wounded, and the hooks and harmonies are pure joy.

And "Radio City" is better. This album isn't as consistent as "Number 1," but the variety is even more pronounced and the high moments are simply other-worldly. This album is sortable by sections. The first two tracks "O My Soul" and "Life is White" are a complete departure from "Number 1," and echo the Mephis boogie-woogie of Chilton's roots. "Way Out West" is a brilliant nod to the best of 50's style pop ballad writting - innocence yet lined with desperation - with the ringing guitars of the 60's Brit. bands folded in. "You Get What You Deserve" is a complete one off; it sounds like it was a Steely Dan song written long before Steely Dan was even thought ot. On "What's Going Ahn," "Mod Lang," and "Back of a Car," indie rock springs fully formed out of the side of Alex Chilton's head. After hearing these tracks I could absolutely see why Rolling Stone said bands like the Replacements and Pavement would have been unimaginable without Big Star. By the time "She's a Mover" rolls around the album has built to almost unbelievable heights. This song sounds like a prime cut off of "Rubber Soul" or "Revolver." The icing on the cake is "September Gurls." The Replacements once wrote an awesome song titled "Alex Chilton." The chours goes "I'm in love/ I'm in love/ I'm just in love with that song." My thoughts exactly.

Simply put, this is some of the best pop-music ever. Chilton was on the level of Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson. The fact that Big Star remains so unknown almost makes it sweeter. I never thought I would be able to hear pop songs this good for the first time again.

Alex Chilton and Chris Bell are the genuis behind this phenomenal band and its unique sound. Big Star was a musical group light-years ahead of its time. I venture to say they are the benchmark of the pop music sound, the progenitors of Indie Rock. It seems trite to acknowledge their work as seminal to the future direction of rock music, post the mid 1970s. Each song on this two record set is a gem; each is unique in its own melody and musicality. Even though Chilton and Bell go their separate ways, Alex's genuis continues to guide the group into new musical vistas. It baffles the mind that Alex was 16 when he sang and recorded "The Letter" with The Box Tops, an important period of Chilton's musical career that fits into any discussion of his work with Big Star. From my perspective, any understanding of the musical genuis of Big Star has its roots in Chilton's previous work. The Best of The Box Tops: Soul Deep (1996) holds ten of the top 100 hits the group produced. For me, the latter album is tantamount to a fourth Big Star recording because in it is the seeds of the future; it is the precursor to one of rock 'n roll's most unique and influential groups who are the unsung heroes for future generations.

Two things that can usually doom a listening experience is to be drowned in "this is the greatest album ever" hype by well-meaning but overzealous fans; the other is to get the academic treatment as in "this band influenced blah blah blah, and blah blah music or band couldn't have existed without them." To consider the first claim, this is a really great rock & roll album. It won't save your life, bring back that girl/guy who dumped you when you believed you were soul mates forever, and it probably won't clean your gutters either. As to the second, sure, it was an influence on lots of bands, but so were the Beatles, Byrds, Stones, etc., and with all due respect to Big Star, I'm pretty certain that Cheap Trick, Petty, Replacements and all the other bands that obviously found some inspiration in these records would be with us, even if these records were not. So, honestly, ignore the hype, these are both great albums, and if you like most of the bands I've mentioned, then yes, you are a perfect candidate for Big Star.

I didn't pick up on them until the 2cnd album (Radio City) showed up in the record store I worked at. I remembered really liking the album cover of #1 Record that I saw in a record shop a couple years before, so I cracked it open. First track "O My Soul" is pretty decent, funky white boy soul, and while it's playing I start reading (well, looking at) the back cover. Alex Chilton! I really liked the Box Tops, and especially Alex's voice, but this didn't sound like that Alex. Only later do I find out that that voice from "The Letter" was affected to sound older and blacker. No problem, his "real" voice is wonderful too. The second track "Life is White" plays, and while I'm looking through the Phonolog to order Big Star #1, a customer comes up and asks what album this is. Oh oh. By the third track I knew this was a keeper and we only had the one copy. I told him he had to wait until it was over, but being that this was a record store I felt that, if I turned somebody on to something, I wasn't going to tell him to go home empty-handed. Actually we kind of bonded over it, and when side one was over, he wanted to hear side two. We actually got to know each other, so see, Big Star will win you friends and influence people.

I ended up having to wait a couple weeks for a new copy, but as luck would have it my order of the first album showed up the same day, along with three copies of the new one. OK, here's where I go into hype mode, sorta. I listened to both albums every day for weeks after, finding that they only got better. I've never been without copies, and for a nearly 40 year old album, it is quite a remarkable feat that it still sounds fresh and vibrant now. No moss gathered on these albums.

As great an album as #1 Record was, I have to give Radio City the nod, by a hair. That said, my favorite two Big Star songs are on #1 Record. "Feel" is as good an opener as I've heard, and "Thirteen" just melted me when I heard it. If I could have written a song to a girl when I was in junior high, this would have said it all, but it still makes me smile today. Chris Bell is not involved (a couple writing credits) on Radio City, but Alex, Jody, and Andy don't miss a beat. If anything, it sounds even fuller than the first. Somebody once said (Zappa?) that writing about music is like dancing about architecture, so let's just leave it at this; it's beyond power pop, it's far more inventive and melodic than most "alternative" even though people often tie them to one of those forms. It's just damn good.

This is an SACD, and it sounds fabulous, but one of the really nice things about Big Star was that both records sounded beautiful back in the 70's. The interplay between the acoustic and electric guitars is so perfectly balanced you'd think it was recorded in the 90's, but the drums give it away as 1970's. They aren't limited to death, or augmented by dead sounding electronics. If you already own these albums and want an upgrade, you'll be a happy camper. If you're just curious about all the hoopla, get any version you like, but don't saddle them with unfair expectations, and put it on some speakers, not an iPod (at least for your first listen.) This album needs to move air, not bytes. It might turn out to be your new favorite album. And that would be a good thing.

I'll keep my review short: Forget about any other album that calls itself "The Blueprint" (Jay-Z...pluheese). THIS band was, and still is, THE blueprint for modern (and I hate the term) "alternative" music today. Sure there's a few others out there that come to mind (Young Marble Giants, Modern Lovers), but this is definitely in my Desert Island collection and a landmark album. RIP ALEX!

I will not go on as to how exceptional the two albums on this CD are; there is already much comment to their praise on Amazon. I will say that if you are not familiar with Big Star, and you are a fan of The Beatles or any of the musically inspired music of the 70's, you will absolutely love these guys. I have both the original vinyls and CD of this release and if you own a SACD player this is a must have. Positively brilliant!