#1 Record (studio album) by Big Star

There are some absolutely fantastic pop and rocks songs on here that demonstrate how brilliant Big Star were and show the potential they had for the future. To begin with, there is Thirteen which is not only the best song on this record but also one of the best songs of all time. It is such a beautiful track with both its lyrics and musicality. You then have more fantastic songs such as The Ballad Of El Goodo, Don't Lie To Me and When My Baby's Beside Me that bulk up the record with quality. There are a few songs that slow the record down and don't really add too much but they don't harm the album that much. There is just so much pop beauty on here that it is tough not to fall in love with it all. Overall, this album is extremely infectious and it is tough to not absolutely love the innocence and sense of bliss this record gives off.

Big Star along with Badfinger has often been called the fathers of “power-pop” - obviously mostly due to both bands´ great melodic song-writing. Big Star was led by Alex Chilton, who had already years of experience behind him as a member of the Boxtops.
The original 4 piece band also had another great song-writer in guitarist Chris Bell, and Chilton and Bell together wrote the majority of the songs on their 1972 debut album.

The fine hard-rocking opener “Feel” almost sounds like Led Zeppelin. The extraordinary beautiful next track “Ballad of El Goodo” is one many highlights - jangling guitars, haunting melody very “Byrds-like”. Another song in the same vein is the equally beatiful “Thirteen”. Two up-beat songs “When My Baby´s Beside Me” and “Don´t Lie to Me” were taken from the album as singles, but they were largely unsuccessful, as indeed was the album itself. The label´s distribution system was simply insufficient, so it´s no wonder that frustration and tension was growing within the band.

Chris Bell left the band in late 1972 with the others continuing as a trio but soon the band split up. Later they reunited to do another album for Ardent Records; original member Chris Bell were also back for a brief period of time, but it´s uncertain how much he contributed to these new recordings.

Chilton and Bell were shortly reunited ,when Chilton helped Bell with his solo-album, which was never released in his own lifetime. Bell tragically died in an accident in 1978. The blend of Chilton´s and Bell´s voices on Bell´s “You and Your Sister” is so heartbreakingly good, and this album “I Am the Cosmos” is as close to sounding like the first two Big Star albums as you can get.

https://www.angelfire.com/nv/Badfinger/BANDbigstar.html

Amazing debut record

From luigybetis 07/07/2022 02:16

A little inconsistent, but there are some true gems in here. Overall, I'd say it is a beautiful record.

Just hearing this 50 years after release. I enjoyed this and as noted by many there is influences of rock and pop - I will add the Byrds to the mix and I thought "Feel" had the rock of Led Zepplin but the vocals of The Who!

Well deserving of its cult status. Most indie rock that is popular on this site is directly inspired from the two sides of the same coin: One is the jagged guitars and angsty vocals of Velvet Underground, the other is the jangling guitars and melodic sweetness of Big Star.

This album unfolds like a Southern love letter to the British Invasion: Contents include the melodies of The Beatles, the power chords of The Who, the vocals of Led Zeppelin, the energy of The Rolling Stones and the lyrical romanticism of The Beach Boys.

It's easy to see the influence on 80's alternative artists like REM and The Replacements, who were looking to add melody, passion and substance to their music. It definitely influenced Wilco too, especially with its showcasing of the acoustic guitar. Also interesting is Christian inspiration in some of the lyrics.

Condensed to a 7" Single:
A-Side: Ballad of El Goodo
B-Side: Thirteen

Pretty good record, kinda overlooked, but I am not blown away.

I liked this Christian messages folk a bit mostly rock a little country

From VictorVale 03/26/2021 00:47

Grande clássico, merecia o pódio!

At parts it's rocking, at parts it slows down with beautiful ballads, enjoyable pop music throughout. "The India Song" stands out for me.