Big Star
#1 Record/Radio City [reissue] - Ardent/Stax
FILTER Grade: 91%

Big Star’s failure as a bankable entity upon the release of their 1972 debut, #1 Record, is a high crime in popular culture—up there with a syphilitic, suicidal Van Gogh and the cancellation of Freaks and Geeks. The group was 10 years too late for a British Invasion cash-in and 10 years too early to lead a jangle pop revolution. The trade-off? They’re the most influential cult guitar band outside of The Velvet Underground. “Why?” you ask. This is pure, adrenaline-driven, hedonistic rock and roll that dives deep into Memphis soul and comes out with fistfuls of songs that continue to resonate. #1 Record offers up glossy, glammy rock and soul on “Feel” and predates Wes Anderson’s Stones/Kinks acoustic nostalgia on “Thirteen.” Radio City rocks harder but with fist-pumping hooks (see “You Get What You Deserve” and “September Gurls”). This single-disc re-mastered reissue of the band’s first two albums, though featuring two unreleased single mixes and new liner notes, isn’t really anything new…but hey, without this you can’t really blame generations of bands for thinking harmony, guitars, and the desperate sound of post-adolescent passion could be fused in under three minutes.