Various Artists – Big Star, Small World
Big Star was the ultimate cult band, one whose music was “lost” for years before it was rediscovered and became part of the DNA of the Replacements, R.E.M., and other stars of the 1980s American rock underground. So it’s fitting that this Big Star tribute comes with a similarly checkered history. Some of these eleven recordings go back more than a decade because two previous labels folded before the project could be released, leaving it to languish for years.
Now that it’s finally out, many of the acts on it either no longer exist (Afghan Whigs, Whiskeytown) or are well past their prime (Gin Blossoms, Juliana Hatfield). The record is more than pleasant, but instead of demonstrating its subject’s modern influence, Big Star, Small World is frozen in the mid-1990s.
So you have Being There-era Wilco politely dressing up “Thirteen” with piano, steel guitar and strings, leaving you to ponder how the more abrasive current edition of Wilco would handle that one. The long-lost Whiskeytown tackles “Give Me Another Chance”, with Ryan Adams giving the song a nicely ramshackle reading. And banjo makes a great addition to Kelly Willis’ version of “When My Baby’s Beside Me”.
Of course, Big Star acolytes Teenage Fanclub and the Posies are both here. So is Big Star itself with “Hot Thing”, culled from 2003’s Big Star Story compilation. After all this time, Big Star has earned the right to pay tribute to itself.