Here's an unlikely one: Big Star Third/Sister Lovers
While the first two Big Star albums could arguably be considered forward-thinking in the specific way they looked back to the early Byrds and Beatles (something to be fully resurrected in the pop underground of the 80s), I think Third might be the first great imploding, orchestral pop album. Guitars fade in and out, notes are missed, percussion is erratic, noise sometimes dominates over melody. There are genteel string parts that threaten to elevate the proceedings beyond the context of rock and into saccharine pop, but something falls apart, and the cracks show.
In many ways, it paved the way for albums like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and The Soft Bulletin, on which pop songs are decked out in florid arrangements, but the weight almost seems too much; the cracks show through and everything threatens to collapse in on itself.
In fact, since the first time I heard "Misunderstood" from Wilco's earlier Being There, I've always assumed it was their attempt at re-writing "Kangaroo." YHF is less indebted to Third in composition than this song, but the spirit runs through it.
While the first two Big Star albums could arguably be considered forward-thinking in the specific way they looked back to the early Byrds and Beatles (something to be fully resurrected in the pop underground of the 80s), I think Third might be the first great imploding, orchestral pop album. Guitars fade in and out, notes are missed, percussion is erratic, noise sometimes dominates over melody. There are genteel string parts that threaten to elevate the proceedings beyond the context of rock and into saccharine pop, but something falls apart, and the cracks show.
In many ways, it paved the way for albums like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and The Soft Bulletin, on which pop songs are decked out in florid arrangements, but the weight almost seems too much; the cracks show through and everything threatens to collapse in on itself.
In fact, since the first time I heard "Misunderstood" from Wilco's earlier Being There, I've always assumed it was their attempt at re-writing "Kangaroo." YHF is less indebted to Third in composition than this song, but the spirit runs through it.
