Best Boxed Set This Year? Keep An Eye On It...by poughkeepsiejohn

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November 14, 2009: Like The Stooges and The Velvet Underground, Big Star was either ridiculed, villified or just outright ignored in their lifetime but when that lifetime was over, people realized how great the band really was and their popularity only increased with the passing of time. It's been a long time coming but Big Star finally got a boxed-set out called, "Keep An Eye On The Sky", which is a must-hear for those who wonder where groups like R. E. M. and The Replacements (just to name a few) got the idea to make aching, all-too-personal ballads. And the edgy, near- collapsing rockers? Well, let's just say that bands like Nirvana learned something from that as well.

This Southern-based band was led by two brilliant singer-songwriter-guitarists. One was Alex Chilton, who got a good taste of fame with The Box Tops; his song "The Letter" went to Number One when he was 16 years old. The other was Chris Bell, a talented musician who struggled with conflicting emotions and substance abuse. They shared one thing in common---even though it was the early 1970's, they loved British Invasion bands of the 1960's. Yet, when they formed Big Star, it was clear that their music was not only catchy, it was fiercely heartbreaking at times.

The set features every song off their first two excellent albums, "#1 Record" and "Radio City" and it's amazing how the songs seem to zig-zag between the gorgeous ("Thirteen") to the furious ("Don't Lie To Me"), from the yearning ("Try Again") to the hopeless ("Give Me Another Chance"). When Bell left the group after "#1 Record", Chilton seemed to throw songwriting convention out the window with "Radio City". Not only is the material more emotional but it's more loose musically, from the brilliant start-off of "Oh My Soul" to the beautiful simplicity of "I'm In Love With A Girl". What sunk Big Star, though, was the poor record distribution deal that Argent made with the majors and as a result, these marvelous records just came and went in the blink of an eye.

Still, Chilton managed to trudge on, even when bassist Andy Hummell left the band. What emerged after that was the often-talked about third album, which goes by a series of different titles depending on who you ask (like "Sister Lovers" or "Third"). An Alex Chilton solo album all but in name, the third record took the fatalism of the first two albums much to heart and the result was a stammering collection of songs full of sudden stops and harrowing outbursts. If you don't believe it was that fatal, check out "Holocaust", which was originally called "Your Mother's Dead". And for an even more fatal reminder, the album throws in Chris Bell's solo cuts, "I Am The Cosmos" and "You and Your Sister", which he recorded before his car accident death in 1978---but wasn't released until 1992. Finally, there is a fourth CD features a live performance of Big Star, post-Chris Bell, proving that even as a trio they still worked a great, functioning outfit. But by 1975, Big Star was history.

For those who wonder about the legacy of this band, it's important to remember that The Replacements wrote a song called "Alex Chilton" back in 1987. Now, you can hear this marvelous boxed set and see for yourself what all the fuss was about.

I Also Recommend: I Am the Cosmos.