Chris: I've read that Alex has said he's amazed and a bit amused at all the adulation given to the Big Star era of his career. It almost seems like he's gone out of his way here to 'not go out of his way', like: "They want a Big Star record? We'll I'm just going to do what I always do - to do 'what sounds pleasing to my ears' (his '70s WLIR interview quote)... The songs on the 2nd half of the record are so much like his solo stuff, Ken Stringfellow (if it's him) even sounds like the guy who played bass on High Priest... They're enjoyable, in that trashy R&B/garage bag of his - just not what I would've expected on a Big Star record. The other 3 guys are definitely in that mode, though, and I'd have to say I like their 4 songs best, along with Alex's "DONY" and "Wait 'til Summer's Gone"...

Was the bassist on "High Priest" Rene Couman (sp?... the guy from the Iguanas?) or Ron Easley ... or both?

At any rate, I haven't heard the CD but I wanted to comment on the above comment about Alex's "trashy R&B/garage bag of his" since what I love about all of Alex's stuff...INCLUDING the Big Star stuff...is that even at its best production levels it still sounds as if it could all fall apart at any minute. And that is precisely what I love about Alex regardless of his band configuration/moniker. Even on the Big Star LPs I got the sense that the musical dynamics are so fragile that at any given point someone could lose the groove just a fraction and everything would descend into chaos. And noise. If that is trashy R&B/garage, so be it...and I bow down to it on my already calloused knees.

I'm not disagreeing with Frank, just saying that - at least to me - without that element of "fringieness" nothing could be a Big Star recording...or any other Alex recording.

By the way, having attended many an Alex show (and having booked Panther Burns...aieee!) back in the 80s, I can attest to the "falling apart" concept. Even when songs fell apart, though, it was still great to be wherever he was.

You go S.X., I totally agree with you! And god bless the Panther Burns while we're at it...

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Replying to:

Was the bassist on "High Priest" Rene Couman (sp?... the guy from the Iguanas?) or Ron Easley ... or both?

At any rate, I haven't heard the CD but I wanted to comment on the above comment about Alex's "trashy R&B/garage bag of his" since what I love about all of Alex's stuff...INCLUDING the Big Star stuff...is that even at its best production levels it still sounds as if it could all fall apart at any minute. And that is precisely what I love about Alex regardless of his band configuration/moniker. Even on the Big Star LPs I got the sense that the musical dynamics are so fragile that at any given point someone could lose the groove just a fraction and everything would descend into chaos. And noise. If that is trashy R&B/garage, so be it...and I bow down to it on my already calloused knees.

I'm not disagreeing with Frank, just saying that - at least to me - without that element of "fringieness" nothing could be a Big Star recording...or any other Alex recording.

By the way, having attended many an Alex show (and having booked Panther Burns...aieee!) back in the 80s, I can attest to the "falling apart" concept. Even when songs fell apart, though, it was still great to be wherever he was.

I feel I must weigh in, as I coincidentally put the album on minutes before checking the messageboard. Am up to track 5 as i type. On this board, i gushed about the news of this album's release a while back, and my anticipation has been high. I'm coming a perspective of backward discovery: R.E.M. led me to the dB's and Big Star (with the Replacements in there somewhere too). And have collected Chilton's solo material pretty religiously, and seen him play once. So: what did I expect? I suppose i was hoping for a fairly "serious" record. Funny, i heard Elliott Smith's version of "Thirteen" in the movie THumbsucker last night. What would a sequel to that sound like, 30+ years removed. I was expecting Auer and Stringfellow to add a little, if not structure, quality control. (I keep reading how Nigel Godrich pressured McCartney to toss out weaker songs for his new disc.)

"Aria, Largo" has just come on and it sounds VERY MUCH like a classic beautiful ramshackle Big Star number. An instrumental.

Anyway: Wasn't anticipating any "Oogum Boogum"-type tracks, but "Love Revolution" is definitely in that mold, a couple others too, and, you know, they're fun.

I guess when my heroes return, i just want them to be solid. Not embarrass themselves. For life-shattering epiphany, well, i'm more likely to find that with new bands, new music, new voices.

I was very excited to get home and tear the cellophane off the new Big Star disc--and how often do i get to feel that way? It's a solid, enjoyable record, with enough true "Big Star" moments to make me smile.

I hear you Jack. Sort of the way I felt when Brian Wilson finally released "Smile". I haven't heard the Big Star album yet - but am looking forward to it.

I've listened to it every day this week. I like it. It sounds right, even if it has some clunkers ("Makeover" comes to mind first). The production is crisp, the band sounds tight, and the songs are among the strongest collections I've heard Alex Chilton release. It's not Radio City (my personal fave), but it's very enjoyable overall. Even though many of the songs have a loose quality about them, they're not haphazard; their arrangements are well-thought-out (maybe the QC of the Posies comes into play here). It's been 30 years since "Third" was recorded, and Alex has a different sound now. I wasn't expecting him to forget everything he did in that time; I'm just surprised how much he remembered of the Big Star sound. I thought the band did a great job of tightening up songs like "Mine Exclusively" and "Love Revolution."

However, I'm probably wrong.

I'd give it three stars out of five. I think the album opens really strong, so strong that the rest of the disc is a bit of a letdown-- "Dony" is just a great pop song, the way the hook isn't between-the-eyes obvious but says it all just the same. And "Lady Sweet" is as good a Chris Bell song as you're going to get without him being around (though I'm guessing the Posies wrote that one on their own). As a lot of people have said, from there it's close to what you'd expect on a typical Chilton solo album-- I can live without the Beach Boys pastiche and the instrumental. Love Revolution is a nice idea but it goes on too long and occurs too early on the album. I do think it livens up on Mine Exclusively (shows off their vocal blend real well) and I think Makeover is weird enough to work.

As a whole it's a fun, summery disc, no embarrassment, and I'll probably enjoy it over the years. But the first couule songs at least indicate to me that it could've been something more profound if they'd pushed a little harder.

on a related note...Did anyone else hear or like the Box Tops album from a few years back?

Funny, i almost made some crack about "now we wait for a Box Tops reunion" in my post, when i remembered, the Box Tops HAVE played around. Hadn't heard of a recent-ish disc, though! Poking around on the internet, i'm guessing it's "Tear Off!" from 1998? Any good??? Sigh. I'm gonna have to track it down

Hey Chris,

Just got it yesterday. After a couple of listens I think it's pretty good - better than I thought it would be. It's certainly not Radio City but it sure is great hearing Jody sing again.

BTW - I'm going to see the Posies tomorrow night so I guess I'll be seeing half of Big Star.

It has definitely grown on me. I too like Alex's stuff from all phases of his career -- Like Flies on Sherbert being a particular fave -- so it not being a "Big Star" record, and containing musical elements of Alex's much longer post-Star career is not surprising. A very egalitarian effort, eh?

Hafta second that on Jody singing. Really nice!

Spoke to Jon Auer last night at the Posies show. He opined that he was the only one of the four actually trying to make a "real" Big Star disc. Dunno about that - I think Jody's songs are great.

Veering off topic as these things tend to do, I just saw the Posies myself last night.
One of the best shows I've seen since... well, the dB's shows in Chicago.
I was given the honor of playing/holding Jon's guitar during some mid-song running around in the audience, then got to witness him smash the guitar to bits on their last song (either for pure showmanship or out of frustration that one or more of the strings broke... probably both).

Anyway... Big Star.
I like it. But needless to say, it's not REALLY Big Star. And so it doesn't REALLY sound like a Big Star album. Of course every band is going to be a product of the musicians involed, and considering the musicians involved in this case that's a good thing.