I was first introduced to Big Star unknowingly via the gorgeous (though admittedly lugubrious) covers of "Kangaroo" and "Holocaust" done on the first This Mortal Coil album. I was 14 (the year was 1988) when I discovered that album, and being immersed in late 70s and 80s new wave and goth and all that 4ad stuff, I hadn't a clue nor a care about who the hell Alex Chilton was. All I knew was that these were beautiful covers of songs I naively presumed to be dated folk or something, and that these covers must have improved greatly upon the obscure originals.

Fast forward to college, mid-90s: a friend stumbles on a copy of the Ryko "Sister Lovers" reissue and puts "Kangaroo" on a mix tape for me. I immediately assumed it was a cover that some contemporary indie band had done recently. Interesting and oddly familiar. Then my friend tells me it's Big Star, that this was the original version, and that it was recorded in 1974. Needless to say, my jaw dropped to the floor. This song sounded NOTHING at all like anything written or recorded in 1974. The feedback, the ultra-clear, wet, reverbed-out production, the singing, etc, ... A lot of revolutionary artists were making ground-breaking records in '74, from John Cale to Roxy Music to Brian Eno to Can to Faust, but none of it really anticipated this particular sound that so many bands would ape (sometimes without realizing it) in the 80s and 90s.

I soon got a copy of "Sister Lovers" and was immediately blown away by the seminal songwriting and arrangements. It was clear that bands like the Cocteau Twins took something from mellow, gorgeous, melancholic, atmospheric tunes like "Big Black Car," "Take Care," and "Holocaust." It was also clear that "Stroke it Noel" and "For You" perfected what many call "baroque pop": pop songs centered around chamber-like, stringed arrangements, they pushed "Smile"-era Beach Boys and Love's "Forever Changes" into a whole new territory. Echo & the Bunnymen's classic "Ocean Rain" might not have been quite the same without this.

The atmosphere and overall mood, the sometimes incomplete arrangements, the desperate, sometimes bitter and sardonic vocals, suggested the sound of a band falling apart (which indeed was happening at the time). The use of space, reverb, and spare, sometimes jagged and jarring arrangements and mood swings, the sense of anger and defeat, all worked its way into so many 80s new wave/post-punk records, one couldn't begin to keep track. From Echo and The Bunnymen to the Go-Betweens, from the Replacements to Sonic Youth, few records have influenced such a wide array of artists.

What's even more fascinating about this album is how timeless it sounds. When you listen to those other "ahead of their time" records, like "Pet Sounds," "Forever Changes," "Another Green World," "VU w/ Nico," etc, it's pretty easy to tell which decades they were recorded in. But with "Sister Lovers," the sound isn't derivative of anything that was happening during its time of creation. If I knew nothing about Big Star and I simply heard "Sister Lovers" w/ out any band photos or anything lying around for contexxt, I swear I might've placed it somewhere in the 80s or 90s. That, my friend, is what I would call "timeless".

The hooks, the atmosphere, the anguish, the tension, it's all here in unrivaled glory. What's even more remarkable is how different this was from the first two Big Star releases, which were filled with tight, English-sounding, fairly conventional pop songs with straight-forward arrangements and sounds. (Those two albums, as important as they are in their own respective ways, do happen to sound a bit dated). This is an album that grows on you with repeated listens. An album where new surprises continue to reveal themselves even after you've owned it for several years. As a collection of haunting, pretty, offbeat pop, or a blueprint for countless bands and movements to come, this album cannot be overlooked.

third/sister lovers is a beautiful and brilliant, unforgettable record but it's so much more than that. excepting nick drake's pink moon and lennon's "primal scream" lp, no recording has ever captured the deterioration of hope and optimism and the cancer of fatalism like this one has.

on its own, sister lovers is full of haunting and lovely material like "blue moon," "dream lover," and "nighttime" but when listened in context, keeping in mind the innocence and youthfulness of #1 record and the "we won't give up" mentality that permeates radio city, only then does this record reveal its harrowing true colors.

take chilton's "car" songs as an example. #1 record gives us "in the street," a youth anthem in which the characters spend much of their time happily driving around town in someone's car. radio city sees this changing for the worse with "back of a car," in which the "music's too loud" and the fun is dissipating fast as the innocence and youth seeps away. here, on sister lovers, there's "big black car," painful in its sorrow and melancholy, talking about driving around as if it's only a memory in the mind of someone who can no longer enjoy any facet of life, not even that which used to give so much; "nothing can hurt me" he says, but we don't believe him, "driving's a gas, it aint gonna last."

in context, third/sister lovers may very well be the most incredible document of giving up since the advent of sound. equally jaw-dropping and miraculous as #1 record and radio city. everything you've heard about big star is an understatement.

I have owned this CD for about 6 years. And, to be honest, I wasn't prepared for it, especially after absorbing the sheer pop brilliance of the first two albums. Immediate is not the first word that comes to mind when listening to "Third/Sister Lovers". In fact, it was only a couple of days ago that I decided to give it another shot. Only then did then record finally hit me. Sure, certain songs would catch my attention earlier, the desparation of "O, Dana", Steve Cropper achingly beautiful guitar on the cover of VU's "Femme Fatale", the crunch of "Till The End Of The Day". But, once the music settles in, the rewards are there, such as the baroque pop of Jody Stephens' "For You", which brings to mind The Left Banke, and "Thank You Friends", where its hard to tell if Chilton is extending a hand, or simply a finger. (My guess would be the latter.) "Holocaust" ranks with Japan's "Nightporter" as one of the most atmospherically depressing songs ever written. Then there's "Kangaroo", which feels like watching someone lietrally walking a tightrope. Or how about the junkie lullabye, "Take Care", where Chilton incoherent offers advice to a lover/friend/child while staggering and swaying over their bed? And, yet there are so many beautiful melodies, such as "Nighttime" and "Blue Moon" (one of the few honest moments of hope on this album.) No, this is not clean, sweet pop all packaged nicely. To get to this album, most listeners have to go through #1 Record/Radio City. Its only through the darker moments of that album do the joys this album become revealed. Somewhere, in an alternative universe, where Paul Wetserberg is granted his due as a songwriter extraordinaire, where the Raspberries are dominating the pop charts, and Pete Ham continues to write pop gems, Big Star are exactly that... big stars. Of course, we might not have this very record if that was the case.

There are bleak albums and then there is "Third". There is nothing quite so unhinged in the whole rock canon (there is not even an agreed track listing for the album), so swaying back and forth between manic lows and forced cheery highs as "Third".

"Thank You Friends" is probably the best Big Star song there is, tainted with a compelling dash of bitterness. "Jesus Christ" is the best Christmas song you'll never, ever hear on FM radio. And "Holocaust" is one of those rare songs that instantly bring down a weight of foreboding on any listener. And when Alex Chilton sings "I'd rather shoot a woman than a man" it's simply unblievable that he could consider anyone but himself.

Quite simply, "Third" is the sound of depressives being forced to write happy songs -at gunpoint.

This is the best rock -n- roll album of all time.

It really is much better in the english release with the correct song sequencing, but you can approximate that excellence by simply CORRECTING THE SONG ORDER. Program your cd player for the following sequence, or remake it as a cdr and you've got it:

1.) stroke it noel

Delete or scatch through the rest of the "songs".

Enjoy!

-robin