I Am the Cosmos

Description

Product description File: BIG STAR Classic solo album from former member of Big Star. Issued by Rykodisc in 1992. From the Label Big Star co-founder Chris Bell was recording this solo album at the time of his death in 1978. Previously unreleased on any format, this "Great Lost Album" clarifies Bell's role in the band's sound and secures his own place in pop history. Bell died tragically in a car crash in 1978, and only one single ("I Am The Cosmos"/"You And Your Sister") was released in his lifetime, on Chris Stamey's tiny Car label. Both single sides are included here, along with newly-discovered alternate takes. The fifteen tracks highlight Bell's ethereal vocals, his uncanny sense of song structure and insightful, melancholy lyrics, all of which illuminate his often-overlooked contribution to Big Star. I AM THE COSMOS features rare photographs and liner notes by Chris's brother David Bell. Recorded all over the world (including sessions at the famed Chateau D'Heurville and Air studios), I AM THE COSMOS is a haunting pop masterpiece ripe for discovery. Review: ... and he always will be the cosmos. - Chris Bell was, along with Alex Chilton, one of singer/songwriter/guitarists of the seminal cult band Big Star. He left after the band's first album, the audaciously-named "#1 Record", flopped. In the six years he had left to live, he released one single, "I Am The Cosmos" with the "You And Your Sister" B-side, but continued recording. He died in a motorcycle crash in 1978. Over the next 14 years, his stray recordings were gathered and put out on this 1992 release. There are 12 original songs on the release, with the addition of a slow version of "I Am The Cosmos", and country and acoustic versions of "You And Your Sister." All of them are good. The two songs from the single also appear on the "Keep An Eye On The Sky" Big Star box set; that set also includes a live and a demo version of "There Was A Light" from 1973, Chris Bell's version of which appears on this release. The songs are mostly good, and sound very Paul McCartney-esque (Chris apparently once met Sir Paul in France, a truly big star, after Bell's Big Star days were done). The CD opens with its powerful, hoary, spooky title track, then gets into the gloomy, sludgy "Better Save Yourself." "Speed of Sound" is an acoustic, drumless strummer that sounds like it was lifted right off a Big Star album. Later on there's some light percussion and a really weird keyboard sound. "Get Away" is a jaunty rocker with some truly bizarre drumming. "You And Your Sister" is a beautiful song, although maybe a bit overproduced with bleating "woah woah", and a grinding cello. Happily, the country and acoustic versions delete these, the arrangements getting sparer and sparer as they go along - the acoustic version is the best. "Make a Scene" is a groovy, catchy pop-rocker, but a little dull. "Look Up" is another cosmic song, full of sweet melodies and light acoustic guitar. "I Got Kinda Lost" is a sweet rocker with a good pace and simple lyrics. "Fight at the Table" is a groovy rocker with a cool bass sound, juke joint piano, and scorching vocals that roar like Paul McCartney's on "Oh! Darling." Ditto for "I Don't Know", which sounds like it would have been at home on either of the first two Big Star albums. Closing song "Though I Know She Lies" is a sappy tune that, unfortunately, sounds more like the mellowest of Chris DeBurgh ballads (ew[...] Nice solo, at least, and later in the song Bell wrings some powerful emotion out of his sad lyrics. But having this song at the end of the list doesn't sour the album, since tacked onto the end are still the alternate versions of "I Am The Cosmos" (which comes in a "slow" version - as if it could be any slower than the original) and "You And Your Sister," still the real winners of the release. Other bands have recorded Chris Bell songs, in particular the two from his single; This Mortal Coil recorded both of them, and Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson did "I Am The Cosmos", but of course none of them sound very good at all, a testament to the strength of the original. Review: A Must Buy for any Big Star Fan...Period! - How am I supposed to write a review for this and do it justice? I hardly think my descriptions could cover the greatness of Chris Bell's music. Let me put it simply. If you are looking at this then I presume you are a Big Star fan. So just get the album, you will love it. Are you still reading? The button to buy is up top. Still reading? Ok fine, I'll give some additional feedback. The brilliance of this album is that you can really hear Chris in it. Duh, it's him. But what I mean by that is that you can hear exactly that sound that he brought to Big Star. Not knocking Alex Chilton because he was great too, but Chris had that sound that I think defined the foundation of Big Star. Like, you add jelly to peanut butter, not the other way around. Chris was the PB. Alex was the jelly. So here you get an entire album of just peanut butter. Ok, admittedly this analogy sucks but whatever. I told you to hit the buy button long ago and you didn't. What I praise about the album: The songs are fantastic. His guitar work is superb, and the various sound he creates for every track is unique and has quite a range of style. The added song versions because it is the "Deluxe" are actually really good. They aren't just another take that is barely different, they are Chris playing with options at what best captures the song. Sort of like looking at his notes or something. Each one is great in it's own right. In fact, I have a hard time deciding which version I like better sometime. Lastly, the album really catches the emotional highs and lows (and very lows) that Chris went through in his life. I hate to say it is beautiful because of the pain you can feel in listening to him, and knowing the tragedy that is the non-success of Big Star, then of his solo career, and ultimately the early ending of his life. But in the end it is like watching a shooting star. Quick, shining, and beautiful. But in reality it is meteor burning up in the atmosphere. The only critique of the album is that it really isn't an album. It is simply a release of the recordings that were made before his death. So there is no "design" to how the songs play out or that perfection that was the standard on #1 Record. But that hardly matters. I have found myself listening to it on repeat, on random, or mixed with other Big Star greats. Just go buy the album now...