Hmmm...Stewart's post has unleashed a bevy of thoughts. 1. Alex Chilton's solo records -- quite a mixed bag. I dig the 1970 album that was reissued (or was it never issued and finally put out in the '90s? Too lazy to look). And there are a couple other keepers, though most of it is pretty mediocre. 2. That being said -- is there anything wrong with expecting a record called Big Star to sound like Big Star, as opposed to something more in line with Alex's solo stuff? Stewart seems to imply that there is something misguided about that -- I'm not so sure about that. However, what I've read about the disc is what I did expect. I honestly didn't think Chilton would get back to writing pop songs. 3. Insofar as Chilton rewriting "September Gurls", that point is well taken. But then the question becomes -- how many good songs has he written since the original end of Big Star? Seriously -- his output as a composer post-Big Star leaves a lot to be desired. 4. In that regard, I didn't include the excerpt, but Stewart notes Chris Bell's contribution/influence on the Big Star sound -- basically stating that it's the dominant part of the sound of the first two albums. This gets to the big question -- had Chris Bell not passed on years ago, would Chilton get as much credit as he does for Big Star? Could it be possible that Chilton is really a modestly talented fellow who found his mojo with Bell, and then watched it dissipate over the years? 5. If this is the best Alex Chilton material in 20 years, do I really need it? Mike Bennett --- Stewart Mason wrote: The fact that I seem to be one of the > very few > Auditeers who finds much musical value in Alex's > post-Big Star work -- > as opposed to those folks who consider it some kind > of personal insult > that he hasn't stuck to writing "September Gurls No. > 238" -- probably > means that there's going to be a very large subset > of folks around > here who are bitterly disappointed, but so far, I > like it a lot. Chicago Pop Show Report on Yahoo Groups: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/chicagopopshowreport/?yguid=162827291 Music reviews: http://www.fufkin.com My Space blog: http://blog.myspace.com/mrhonorama