POLL - Your Favourite Big Star Album

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by auralden, Jan 21, 2018.

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  1. Ephi82

    Ephi82 Still have two ears working

    Location:
    S FL
    #1 is just about a perfect rock/pop record, consistently very good to great, start to finish.

    Radio City is more eclectic, not as consistent, but it is much more adventurous and has some killer, killer songs

    What's Going Ahn
    You Get What You Deserve
    Back Of A Car
    September Gurls
    I'm In Love With A Girl
     
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  2. Matty

    Matty Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Forgive the pun, but I'd rank the albums on a chronological Bell curve -- #1 is great, Radio City is even greater and Third is on par with the debut.

    Incidentally, I'm in the middle of belatedly reading the Chilton biography "A Man Called Destruction." I'm aware that it doesn't adequately cover Chilton's final two decades, but the Box Tops/Big Star stuff that I've read so far is fascinating.
     
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  3. Mr. Grieves

    Mr. Grieves Forum Resident

    Voted all 3, Third's high points are some of the most beautiful, poignant, haunting and memorable in all of my music collection. Radio City is probably my favorite as a whole, great shimmering guitars but more in edge, with the music more off best and interesting. #1 Record has Chris Bell, need I say more?

    Overall, they all stick out in my mind. I love Big Star so much. Alex & Chris (may they both R.I.P.) gave us great material
     
  4. vamborules

    vamborules Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT
    And Andy too.
     
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  5. Pavol Stromcek

    Pavol Stromcek Senior Member

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    Third, of course.
     
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  6. Lemon Curry

    Lemon Curry (A) Face In The Crowd

    Location:
    Mahwah, NJ
    Radio City is a solid album with no weaknesses, so it wins on that basis.
     
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  7. Mr. Grieves

    Mr. Grieves Forum Resident

    Yes absolutely. I actually love his songs on both albums
     
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  8. Shaddam IV

    Shaddam IV Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ca
    "Radio City" because it has "September Gurls" which is my favorite power pop of all time.
     
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  9. tmtomh

    tmtomh Forum Resident

    Love all three, but I have to go with #1 Record. Watch the Sunrise is one of my favorite songs of al time, and The Ballad of El Goodo, Thirteen, and the final five-song sequence, it's just... wow.
     
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  10. FriendlyRanger

    FriendlyRanger Forum Resident

    Location:
    Laurel, Maryland
    Three different albums by three different Big Stars. All wonderful but I'm picking the album with the great Chris Bell in the line-up.

    Bell and Chilton had limitless potential. Everybody that loves music should know their names. Hummel and Stephens were pretty great, too.
     
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  11. Frosst

    Frosst Vinyl-obsessive kiddo

    Location:
    Sweden
    #1
     
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  12. #1 Record, with Third as second and Radio City last, but I love them all.
     
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  13. Sear

    Sear Dad rocker

    Location:
    Tarragona (Spain)
    Surprising result to me. I thought Third would be in the first place
     
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  14. npc210

    npc210 Forum Resident

    Radio City for sure.
     
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  15. mBen989

    mBen989 Senior Member

    Location:
    Scranton, PA
    I couldn't choose so I voted for all three.
     
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  16. sami

    sami Mono still rules

    Location:
    Down The Shore
    Love all three, but #1 is the only true Big Star record - without Bell it really become a more of a Chilton solo record of sorts.

    #1 Record is absolute genius, one of the most perfect pop records ever made, and it's the yin and yang of Bell and Chilton that makes the record. I would have loved to have seen the band grow in its original iteration over several records - I think we'd be discussing Bell/Chilton as part of the group of all time great songwriting pairs.
     
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  17. sami

    sami Mono still rules

    Location:
    Down The Shore
    The first two record on Classic vinyl are absolutely brilliant pressings.
     
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  18. Maggie

    Maggie like a walking, talking art show

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    They are one of my favorite bands, but #1 Record is so much lamer than the other two I simply can't understand why it is so beloved here. Because it's the most Badfinger-like Big Star album?
     
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  19. ReturnOfSpongecake

    ReturnOfSpongecake Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Durham NC
    And no love for In Space?
     
  20. ralphb

    ralphb "First they came for..."

    Location:
    Brooklyn, New York
    I love all three, hugely important albums for me, so I voted for all three.
     
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  21. Andrew J

    Andrew J Forum Resident

    Location:
    South East England
    Third is challenging, harrowing and asymmetrical, like a person who grew old and desperate when once they were young, innocent and full of optimism (#1 Record).

    While at a push my preference is for Third, not surprised that the prettier one gets the most votes. Isn't that usually the case?
     
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2018
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  22. Lemon Curry

    Lemon Curry (A) Face In The Crowd

    Location:
    Mahwah, NJ
    Have you finished the book? It was a tough read for me in that this was a guy truly hell-bent on his own personal destruction, which he ultimately achieved. One is tempted to think if #1 Record was a smash hit it all might have been different, but then again I think he would have ultimately blown that up, too. He spent his life chasing some kind of personal justice that only he seemed able to see. Such a tragedy - he was such a huge talent.
     
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2018
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  23. Sear

    Sear Dad rocker

    Location:
    Tarragona (Spain)
    Radio city is my least favorite
     
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  24. PJayBe

    PJayBe Forum Resident

    Wish I could vote for 2-for-1 with the first two albums on onc CD. That is my favourite!!!

    Otherwise gone for the debut.
     
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  25. Matty

    Matty Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    I wound up having mixed feelings. Yes, the details of Chilton's "lost decade" were hard to read about, and he certainly hurt a lot of people (himself included), as well as his career, with his actions. But the book's final chapters were uplifting in a way -- they helped me understand that Chilton wasn't simply pissing away his talent, or reflexively rejecting his legacy, but rather was sincerely following his own muse, regardless of whether the results were something that folks like you and me wanted to hear. I'm not a big fan of his 80s and 90s work, but I admire his refusal to pander to Big Star acolytes like myself. And in the book his reunion with the Box Tops, which I had always dismissed as a cynical cash-grab, came across as a heartfelt and oddly touching act.

    So while it's not a feel-good book, I'm glad I read it. I only wish that Chilton had agreed to be interviewed. For all his problems and contradictions, he was clearly a smart and self-aware guy, and I would have loved to read his thoughts.
     
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