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(TV) Still OT: major labels, the dB's, Big Star



--- Joe Hartley <jh@brainiac.com> wrote:
> Count me in as a fan of this superb album!!!  One of my biggest 
> musical regrets in life was passing on seeing them tour for this
> record for a reason I can't begin to remember now, but which
> hardly seems important in retrospect!

MAVERICKS is really nice, although it's quite different than the first two dB's
records - much quieter and understated - and that might surprise a dB's fan
expecting a logical sequel to REPERCUSSION. There's almost a decade between
those two records, and it shows. I think the second half of the record is
better than the first half, in terms of songwriting, and that also made it
difficult for me to appreciate the whole record initially.

I also have only recently discovered the two post-Stamey dB's records (LIKE
THIS and SOUND OF MUSIC), and I think both are perpetually underrated,
particularly THE SOUND OF MUSIC, which is probably my all-around favorite dB's
record. Holsapple is really in full-form as a songwriter on this disc, and
there isn't a weak cut to be found. There are a few clunky moments on LIKE
THIS, and the production is unusually dated, but it's also full of terrific
post-Stamey cuts.

RIDE THE WILD TOMTOM is a whopping collection of Stamey-era outtakes, demos,
and b-sides, and it's packed with great material, but can be a bit rough to
take straight through. I think it's a problem of sequencing
(non-chronological). Taken in smaller does, it's a very enjoyable record. PARIS
AVENUE is an album of demos recorded after SOUND OF MUSIC for a proposed 5th
album (and released 6 years later). It's got some great moments ("Girlfriend")
and (mostly) excellent songwriting, but I find it sonically a bit too 'flat' to
really enjoy it like the other four dB's records. 

Lots of people on this list will chime in about Big Star, I'm sure. My two
cents is that every studio Big Star record is worth hearing, and Ryko's LIVE is
excellent as well (an album I re-assessed after comments on this list a few
months back). The 1993 live reunion LP was fun the first few times I heard it,
but now I rarely play it. If I rated the studio records, I would probably put
them in ascending order, with #1 RECORD being enjoyable but definitely my least
favorite ("India" might be the most expendable Big Star song ever) and
3RD/SISTER LOVERS being my one of favorite records ever.

--Philip


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