The merits of Big Star can hardly be overstated due to the band's lasting influence on soooo many artists - an ABRIDGED list might include Tom Petty, Cheap Trick, Replacements, R.E.M., Game Theory, Bangles, Teenage Fanclub, and Jimmy Eat World. Of course, with most of these bands becoming MUCH more well known than Big Star, the influence is diminished somewhat because the original is heard AFTER the followers. Regardless, Big Star's 1st 2 albums create an essential release made even sweeter by the 2-for-1 deal encapsulated here and the tunes still sound fresh listen after listen. Along with Badfinger, Big Star is the absolute touchstone for melancholy pop songs that should have been huge hits - forming the basis for every power pop pretender to the throne. Like almost everyone, I didn't hear of Big Star until long after their demise. In fact, I didn't hear the group until I had heard some of Alex Chilton's solo records, around about 1986. If you started out, as I did, knowing that Chilton was the singer at the helm of pop/soul hit machine The Box Tops, you cannot have been prepared for these two albums steeped in Zombies, the more melodic aspects of The (original) Small Faces and perhaps another obscure delight, Honeybus. This music is so unexpected for anything from Memphis, that it was probably buried for that reason alone.Since other folks seem to be more readily drawn to the first album with Chris Bell's pleasing work, I'll champion the edgy brilliance of Chilton's accomplishment with "Radio City." First off, there is the lengthy almost stream-of-consciousness rock n roll of "O My Soul." This performance is a fantastic showcase of Chilton's prowess on guitar and a very cool one-song lesson in how to take formerly familiar mid-60s British melodic hard rock and make it new simply by throwing it up in the air and playing it in the order that it falls back down. The entirety of "Radio City" has a great sloppy feel applied to straight-out terrific rock/pop songs. It is this odd sloppy/classic juxtaposition that so many groups have since imitated. This is no accident; the first album proves that the band could turn out perfectly polished gems if they were so inclined. Chilton must have had incredible self-confidence to release a record like this in 1973, the era of over-blown multitrack productions from the mainstream groups.Do you love the sound of classic rock guitar, both acoustic and electric? Then treat yourself to this fine release. It really doesn't get better.
