I knew nothing of Chris Bell or Big Star before hearing This Mortal Coil's covers of a couple of their songs, and still don't know much. Seemingly very influential, but commercially unsuccessful during the 1970s, I'm afraid they completely passed me by. This was a posthumous release, 14 years after Bell died in a car crash.
The title track was one I know from This Mortal Coil, a fine song, followed by Better Save Yourself, which I really enjoyed - some great guitar work, and a very Lennonesque sound. Speed Of Sound is slower, and while a good listen doesn't have the same impact, while Get Away is a more rocky song, welcome, but it doesn't quite gel. You And Your Sister (also covered by This Mortal Coil on Blood) is a lovely acoustic number, before things liven up on Make A Scene, a catchy pop song. Look Up is a bit lightweight, I Got Kinda Lost a poppy throwaway number, There Is A Light frankly dreary, and Fight At The Table makes no impression. I Don't Know is a bit more of a solid rock number, and I Know She Lies a well constructed rock ballad.
The album concludes with alternative versions of I Am The Cosmos and You And Your Sister, which add nothing to the earlier versions.
There are some really enjoyable songs on this album, tempered by the rawness of some unfinished material, and perhaps the determination of the record company to include everything possible.
3* - a good listen, likely to be revisited.
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