Customer Reviews

In Space

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you expect this record to be of a piece with Number One Record or Radio City, you will no doubt be disappointed. Those records (and Third/Sister Lovers) were of a time and place, and the circumstances surrounding them cannot be replicated.

Chilton and Stephens have been performing as Big Star with Auer and Stringfellow of the Posies since 1993, and making a new record was a wholly logical idea for the band. And it IS a band; most of the songs are credited to the four of them; Auer and Stephens share lead vocal chores with Chilton. I think I'd describe the album as sounding like jangly solo Chilton, which makes sense. There are some pure power pop tunes-- these cluster toward the begining-- that are evocative of the Big Star sound, but also sound contemporary, and if this was a brand new band you could as easily say they were influenced by the Posies.

There are several songs that would be right at home on a Chilton solo record; "Love Exclusively" is a funkier, jauntier take on something like "Thing for You." "A Whole New Thing" would not be out of place alongside his cover of "Little GTO" or his original "Jailbait." Overall the record is tauter and more jangly and catchy than Chilton's solo work, and more ragged and R'n'B-inflected than classic Big Star.

One thing that seems to jump out from what once would have been grooves: this is four guys having fun together. And fun is generally infectious. Don't know about you, but I'm a big fan of fun.

All of this is to help you triangulate the sound, and to help you to form-- or really, dissolve-- expectations. Because free of baggage and taken on its own terms, In Space is a sheer dance-party-fun romp. Nothing more-- and nothing less. Play it loud and invite the neighbors over.

I'm a little surprised to see so much wringing of hands over "In Space" not being like the old Big Star.

First of all, the three `70s Big Star albums were really different from each other. I wasn't aware of the group until 1980, but I'm pretty confident there was wailing enough when Third didn't sound like Radio City, Radio City didn't sound like #1 Record, and #1 Record didn't sound like "The Letter."

That said, are people listening to "Lady Sweet" disappointed? That is one gorgeous piece of record-making by my ears (I'd rate it the second best track of 2005 after Sufjan Stevens's "Chicago"), and right in the Big Star style. Unquestionably worth the purchase price by itself. To gripe that Jon Auer sings lead rather than Alex is more or less to recapitulate the not-taking-quality-at-face-value problem that left the other Big Star albums selling five thousand copies in the day.

And the great shame is that this album should be loved all the more for its context. I find "Dony" great at face value, but it's the more refreshing as a signifier for authentic studio work by a combo doing real takes, not (to quote Henry Rollins from the Shatner album) "quantized, pitch-corrected, and overly inspected" like every other demo project on up in the world today. We should adore the jagged rudeness of Alex's guitar. You can't go down to Best Buy and get that.

Finally, we're all so terribly offended at the R&B content, the tongue-in-cheek disco piece, etc; is that a pleasant attitude? From a critical appraisal perspective, Alex now sits up there on Mount Olympus with all three Big Star albums in the Rolling Stone "500 Best ever" surveys, and I find it strangely inspiring that rather than wallow for a whole album in the historical triumph of "September Gurls" over "Get Down Tonight," he effectively says, "you know, a lot of other people were making some great sounds then, too, if I remember correctly."

You know what? I like "Love Revolution." And I laugh every time I hear it! And, nice horns!

Don't look for this reunion CD to reach the legendary heights of Big Star's three classic 70's albums, although it has some fun and very enjoyable moments for die-hard fans. To their credit Big Star have tried to duplicate the quirky sonics of those original Ardent Studio productions (wide separation of instruments, doubled vocals, hard compression) and most of the performances have a loose, raw yet conformable feel similar to "Radio City" and Alex's best solo albums.

The biggest problem with this CD is the inconsistent songwriting, which ranges from great to just plain lousy. Jon & Ken have tried hard to integrate their own sound into Big Star, but their own contributions wind up sounding just like Posies tracks due to their smooth harmony vocals and sophisticated lyrics. It's always a wonderful pleasure to hear them, but these songs just don't quite sound like Big Star. Still the tracks they star on like the gorgeous "Lady Sweet" are a real treat.

And just like Alex's solo albums, the guy can be brilliant, a blast, or totally embarrassing like a drunk Karaoke singer at your local beer joint. "Dony" winds up the closest to the original Big Star feel and sound. "February's Quiet" is a breezy sweet pop tune, and "Mine Exclusively" (originally done by the Olympics in 1966) is a great Box-Toppy upbeat track with a tough Alex vocal with fun counterpoint vocals and airtight drumming from Jody Stephens.

Had Big Star stayed focused on creating tight 3 minute Pop songs this CD would have been much better. But the rest is just knocked-off filler. "Do You Wanna Make It" is just another Chilton mock-soul number with some nice guitar soloing that saves it from being a dud. "A Whole New Thing" and "Love Revolution" might be fun songs to see them play live, but in the studio they wind up dumb and annoying. "Makeover" and "Aria Largo" sound like something they whipped up ASAP when the tape was rolling to fill up some CD space. These two tracks should have been wiped or dumped as UK EP tracks.

To wrap it up, I didn't expect much from this CD and didn't get much. I suggest checking this album out first on a pay music download site (EMusic or ITunes) where you can sample and then download individual tracks to save some cash.

OK, it's not the greatest rock n roll album ever made. Then again there hasn't been one of those in 25 years or so. So what do we have here? It's a treat. It's a treasure that washes up on the shore and you get to open it up and take a peek. The sound is very present and vintage at the same time. Which is the way it should be. The performances are a bit sloppy and done by real musicians - not your studio cats that never make a mistake. Which again is the way it should be. There are some real clunkers to my mind, but I've only heard it once and really should give it more time.

I'd say the Big Star appellation is maybe a bit off. This is certainly a Alex Chilton solo record, only with better playing and the best sounding recording he has ever made. But why not? Why should Alex live as the main talent behind Big Star and not get any credit for it? Guys got to pay the bills if we want him to continue to write and create music. So let him call it Big Star. And I am sure the Ryko was willing to front him some money for the recording. Another Alex Chilton solo disc? That he would probably have to finance for himself. So I am more than happy that he is "cashing in" on his Big Star name. And that is the way it should be.

Should you buy this? If you already have #1 Record, (whaaaa? you don't? That ain't the way it should be....) then you are buying this CD to pay homage to a guy that hasn't had much homage paid to him. Well maybe homage, but not much loot. Though it's certainly his own fault. You can't be known as the "difficult" or "quirky" Alex Chilton and expect to have a booming musical career. Still he has brought joy to millions and gotten precious little back.

So here's the deal. Buy it. Enjoy the sound. Little bit new, lot's bit vintage. And your little bit of cash does everybody a little favor.

And that's the way it should be.

I mean for god's sake it's most of Big Star after 30 years! We should be groveling at the feet of Alex Chilton in fanatical thanks! Those Posies are incredibly lucky and they know it.

Listen to Love Revolution again - they are cracking up the whole time. They're having so much fun with that song, how can you not LOVE IT?? I usta have a Disco Sucks tee but I've been referring to myself as Disco Fox lately.

I'm just so glad Alex wasn't washed away in his New Orleans home during Katrina - he was one of the first folks I axed my N.O. peeps about. I'm happy to hear him doing ANYTHING.

PS: There's a Love Revolution mp3 RINGTONE at this site:
http://www.funtonia.com/mp3ringtones/songs/Big_Star/Love_Revolution/
I'd love to get it but am suspicious - I assume there will be tons of hidden fees and resulting spam.... But if anyone buys it, email me and let me know if the company sucks or not. tcassin@emory.edu

How many bands have a 30 year gap between studio albums? Well, Big Star is the one and only that comes to mind. While no one could expect anything as revolutionary as the 3 albums from the '70s, this new recording has a definite charm about it. Those cynics who say this isn't really Big Star seem to ignore the fact that the last lineup of the band that recorded "Third/Sister Lovers" consisted of Alex Chilton and Jody Stevens. So the current lineup, with the addition of the core of The Posies, IS Big Star NOW, and has been since '94 when the live "Columbia" set was released. "In Space" has some of the shine of "#1 Record" and the spontaneous feel of "Third", plus a bonus; a genuine sense of humor. Every fan should be delighted that tunes such as "Dony" and "Best Chance" give us the guitar pop we would expect from Big Star, but the totally surprising "Love Revolution", which instantly put a smile on my face, just may be my favorite track here. A party atmosphere permeates this disc, something not expected from Big Star, but totally welcome. Nothing real deep, just a good time and Alex Chilton obviously in a playful mood. I'm still listening, and will be for some time, and boy, I can't wait for the tour in 2006.

A perfectly nice pop record that sounds halfway like an Alex Chilton album from the past two decades (lots of goofy R & B and garage rock) and halfway like (pick your favorite Big Star derivative: Posies, Teenage Fanclub, Velvet Crush, Imperial Teen...). Which means that it's a Big Star record in name and half its personnel only--because what made Big Star unique was that they sounded a lot more desperate than perfectly nice while cranking out the indelible hooks. So don't necessarily avoid--but don't be disappointed if what you hear sounds nothing like Radio City and only a little bit like #1 Record.

Reunion albums are often so disappointing, I didn't expect it to sound anything like the Big Star I knew. But it's remarkable how they managed to keep the essence of the Big Star power-pop sound alive with just half the members. Is it another #1 Record/Radio City/Third? Of course not. But I still would have recognized this as a Big Star album just by listening to it. And what's the point in a group making another one of their old albums? Groups that put out the same thing over and over again get stale fast. Big Star's albums and Alex Chilton's albums are all considerably different from each other, and that's how they always managed to stay fresh. If you want to hear the same albums over and over again, that's what the old albums are there for.

It was really a big ( and great ) surprise, when I read in a magazine this Spring that Big Star had been in the studio to record a new album; now it has finally been released - the first new studio album for 30 years.

Guitarist, singer and songwriter Alex Chilton was always the key-member of Big Star, but original drummer and occasioanal singer Jody Stephens is also still there. New members are guitarist and singer Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow, bass keyboards and vocals.

I was a little anxious that the album would be a big disappointment ( reunion albums often are!!), but having heard the opening track "Dony", written and sung by Chilton, on the internet, my expectations grew. This actually sounded like Big Star. "Dony" is a typical Chilton/Big Star power-rocker with great guitar riffs.

The album continues with Jon Auer's "Lady Sweet", an absolute highlight on the album; a beautiful song with great vocals ( both lead and harmonies ) that evokes memories of "Thirteen" and "Ballad of El Goodo" from the first album.

High standards are kept with Jody Stephens' "Best Chance We've Ever Had" - fine track that really sounds like Big Star.

From here the album becomes slightly more uneven. Stephens contributes another highlight with "February's Quiet" and Stringfellow's Beach Boys inspired "Turn My Back to the Sun" is quite good.

It's not that the songs with Chilton in front are bad; they just sound less like original Big Star. "Mine Exclusively" is a funky/soul number, sounding very much like a 1960's track ("Heat Wave") - great vocals from Chilton. "Love Revolution" is another very different track; a disco/funky/dance type a track, that some will love and others probably will hate. "A Whole New Thing" is a classical Chuck Berry type rocker, and though "Hung Up With Summer" is quite a good song, it sounds somewhat underproduced like a demo.

Too sum things up a little, I would say that first half of the album is mostly great ( occasionally outstanding ) and second half uneven with a few rather weak tracks. So I cannot at all say I'm disappointed, and though this is hardly a new masterpiece, it brings hope for more great Big Star music in the future; it sure sounds like the right chemistry is there within the band.

First, thank you, Alex Chilton. I'm a big fan of power pop, and the power pop sun rises and falls with Alex. Alex and his other original Big Star mate Jody Stephens are joined by Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of The Posies, who have been members of Big Star for more than 10 years. This new effort, the first in 3 decades, is a really fun collection of songs, and after listening to it for a half of a day now there are several songs that stand out with me. You've got to listen to it yourself, though, and pick your own favorites. "Best Chance We've Ever Had" is slightly reminiscent of "In The Street" and has simply awesome harmony--this is going to be a new Big Star classic. There's a nice nod to "Wouldn't It Be Nice" (cf "Pet Sounds" by the Beach Boys) at the start of "Turn My Back On the Sun" along with the vocal "ba-ba-ba-ba-ba's" throughout...this was music to my ears. "Love Revolution" begins ala Archie Bell and the Drells and has a great rhythm line...Alex sounds so great on this number, too...it's truly a great Big Star tune. "Hung Up With Summer" is one of my favorites on the disc and sounds like classic Big Star...it also really reminds me of the tune "Hurt So Bad". Again...Thank you Alex for giving us more of yourself!