Big Star, Radio City

Impressions: I’ve made no secret of my worshipping at the altar of Big Star and their picture-perfect first album. It’s too bad their legend has mostly swallowed up their songs, but let’s put this one on and do the best we can… That funky, attention-grabbing guitar opening for “O My Soul” almost has an r&b sound. The herky jerky all-over-the-place drumming from Jody Stevens makes the tune feel like it’s in danger of spitting apart at the seams, but somehow it still stays together. On the surface, most of these songs sound basically like the hooky ’60s inspired guitar-pop and shining melodies of #1 Record but it’s as if the music has become a little curdled with a dollop of ’70s cynicism. Without Chris Bell to offset Chilton’s sourness, this album loses a shade of the compulsive listenablity of their debut, but, in other ways, becomes more fascinating. The pressure to make hits, the record company frustrations, and Bell’s defection started to make Chilton sound a little, uh, unstable (although not as completely out-there as Third/Sister Lovers.) Songs like the weird, stomping “Life is White,” the off-kilter piano “Morpha Too,” and the druggy guitar drone of “Daisy Glaze” are both catchy and unnerving, and display a band at odds with itself.  Still, this album came out before Chilton completely went into his shell, so it dutifully features his last stab at writing hits with perfect pop should-have-been-singles like the ringing “Back of a Car”, “You Get What You Deserve”,  and the titanic classic “September Gurls.” A rollercoaster to be sure and ends with the simple, fragile acoustic ballad “I’m In Love With A Girl,” almost as heartbreaking as “Thirteen,” but ends so abruptly and points to the band moving in a even more unsettling direction on the Third/Sister Lovers album.

Starred Songs: “O My Soul,” “Back of a Car”, “You Get What You Deserve”, “September Gurls”
Sneaky Track: “Way Out West”
Should this be on the list: Yes
Will You Listen To This Album Again: Yes