Big Star
"Sister Lovers"
Released: 1978
"Sister Lovers" (or "Third Album") was recorded in Memphis in 1975/75. Big Star released two
albums in the early 1970s before falling apart. However, the main-man,
Alex Chilton, and the drummer Jody Stephens recorded a new bunch of songs with
the help of session musicians. But no album was released. Not until 1978, which made it a
"posthumous" release. It's a rather weird album and the overall feeling is that of darkness
and despair. A bit like Lou Reed's "Berlin", really. Not surprisingly, there's even a Velvet
Underground song on it, "Femme Fatale". And still there's glorious pop in between, such as
"Jesus Christ" and "Thank You Friends". What's quite strange about it is that there is no
"correct" sequencing of the songs, which means that not two releases of the album are the
same. Different releases also have more or less songs on them! Darkest moment? "Holocaust".
Big Star's two first albums, "#1 Album" and "Radio City" are terrific too. And if you like those
you should check out Badfinger's "Straight Up".
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