Track Listing

1. Kizza Me
2. Thank You Friends
3. Big Black Car
4. Jesus Christ
5. Femme Fatale
6. O, Dana
7. Holocaust
8. Kangaroo
9. Stroke It Noel
10. For You
11. You Can't Have Me
12. Nightime
13. Blue Moon
14. Take Care
15. Nature Boy [*]
16. Till the End of the Day [*]
17. Dream Lover [*]
18. Downs [*]
19. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On [*]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38613 in Music
• Released on: 1992-02-21
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered

Amazon.com
By the mid-'70s, Alex Chilton's glistening pure-pop group Big Star had hit the rocks, ignored by the public and beset by internal problems. Chilton, backed mostly by session musicians playing both rock and chamber-music instruments, responded with this wracked, bizarre collection of deeply personal songs, venting oblique visions of terror (the much-covered "Kanga Roo" and "Holocaust"), sarcastically envisioning an imaginary circle of supporters ("Thank You Friends"), and covering the odd rock & roll classic in his messed-up teen-idol voice. The album was eventually abandoned and released in unfinished form years later, but the weird gaps in its arrangements make it even stranger and more powerful. --Douglas Wolk

From the Label
Finally, the definitive version of the stunning THIRD album from this seminal band; resequenced to Alex Chilton's and producer Jim Dickinson's original intentions, with two previously unreleased tracks.

Until THIRD, Big Star's sound was a hybrid of Anglo-pop and rough-edged '60s soul, the antithesis of the "progressive rock" trend of the period. Big Star distinguished themselves by foregrounding their dark side without sacrificing their pop appeal. Not only were they melodic, they were often disturbing.

Though THIRD (also known by the band's original title SISTER LOVERS) was released as a Big Star album, it is largely regarded as Chilton's solo effort. With Jody Stephens and producer Jim Dickinson, Chilton successfully conveyed to tape his wracked mental state -- torn by a girlfriend, abused by the music business, and doubtful of the future. It is an album of poetic depression, deservedly lauded for its honesty and brutal emotion. The album has appeared in numerous forms over the years, with confusing changes in song content and running order.

The rerelease of THIRD finally reconciles all of the album's material and sequences it with the use of the producer's notes from the sessions. Two cover tunes are unearthed for the first time: Their version of The Kinks' "Til the End of the Day" is a nod to Chilton's punk roots, while a cover of Nat King Cole's "Nature Boy" points in a very different direction. Excluded from many previous issues but solidly situated here is "Dream Lover," a lengthy and challenging track that Dickinson has called "the whole point of the album."

Customer Reviews

The kids just don't understand...
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.

the expressway to Alex Chilton's soul (circa the mid '70's)
My love for this record forces me to make my trivial comments...
It's a big fat messy masterpiece of tortured genius. It's likely that the lack of Big Star's commercial success (and the growing possibility that this album would never be released) gave Alex Chilton the perfect venue to pour out every emotion. Music ,especially in one concentrated album, gets no darker than this. It's spiritual brother is Tonight's the Night by Neil Young. Through the darkness stroll beautifully eerie songs like "Nightime" and "Blue Moon" or the Velvet Underground cover "Femme Fatale" (long before it was cool to cover their songs). That darkness,evident in almost every song, is born of disapointment and pain. You can feel it sure as day. Raw and self defeating, it inspires some of the most personal music ever recorded. The studio noodling only adds to the drama. "For you" is a personal favorite that will never grow old and the individual high points are really too numerous to mention. I only hope the gloominess will not scare you off(after all,if you don't like sad songs you'll be pretty disapointed ) but there are some equally good and not so downcast songs that help give the album a certain balance. The music (and story) of Big Star and it's leaders-Alex Chilton and Chris Bell-is well worth your time. The fact that they were overlooked in their prime is one of modern music's true travesties. If your tastes run anywhere near the adventerous, give this album a spin. The desolate soundscape and sprawling canvas run counter to the other 2 original Big Star records (which are also must own's and are more "accessable") but the mini-universe Third/Sister Lovers creates is a unique and amazing place to visit. I remember finding one of the chopped up versions on cassette, in a cutout bin, before the Ryko re-release in 1992. I can't remember where I heard the name but I decided to take a chance. ...

wow!
I'm actually not sure if I want to recommend this album to anyone. The songs contained herein are the most powerful and tragic songs can get. Anyone who feels that their music does not do enough for them emotionally should buy this record. Big Star had two members when this album was made, and the music was essentially made by Alex Chilton and the producer Jim Dickinson. Rykodisc's release of this never-before completelyt seen album was a godsend. I know you probably think I'm crazy now, because you have probably listened to the audio tracks at Amazon and found them atonal and pathetic, but it is definitely true that one must listen to this album over and over to really get it. The album starts off happy with "Kizza Me" and "Thank You Friends" but soon enough plunges into realms of music which haven't been explored before or since. "Holocaust" is disasterously perfect, and "Blue Moon" (not a cover, an original) is the most moving song I have ever heard. The odd lyrics I can not interpret or even sometimes hear, but I wish I had written them anyway. The instruments also chime in perfectly to match the moods, from the beautiful strings in "Strike It Noel" to the chorus in "Thank You Friends" to the instrumental at the beginning of "Jesus Christ". Music for my darkest hour.