Like A Phoenix From The Ashes, indeed...
226. Chris Bell "I Got Kinda Lost"
Alex Chilton was not the only genius in the cult legend power-pop act Big Star. Bandmate and fellow songwriter Chris Bell was pretty damned gifted in his own right. Bell, the scion of a wealthy Memphis family, suffered from severe depression throughout his life and was also a closeted gay man (according to some reports it was unrequited love for Chilton that caused Bell to leave the band) and a born-again Christian. As a result, Bell was something of a tortured soul.
But what I hear on this opus from his solo album I Am The Cosmos is the sound of someone emerging from a dark place ready for action. The crashing, leaping drums, slashing guitar chords, Dixiefied-Beatles vocals and excellently crafted hook all sound positively triumphant to these ears. Sadly, that triumphancy was short lived. Bell perished in a car crash in 1978, at age 27.
Alex Chilton was not the only genius in the cult legend power-pop act Big Star. Bandmate and fellow songwriter Chris Bell was pretty damned gifted in his own right. Bell, the scion of a wealthy Memphis family, suffered from severe depression throughout his life and was also a closeted gay man (according to some reports it was unrequited love for Chilton that caused Bell to leave the band) and a born-again Christian. As a result, Bell was something of a tortured soul.
But what I hear on this opus from his solo album I Am The Cosmos is the sound of someone emerging from a dark place ready for action. The crashing, leaping drums, slashing guitar chords, Dixiefied-Beatles vocals and excellently crafted hook all sound positively triumphant to these ears. Sadly, that triumphancy was short lived. Bell perished in a car crash in 1978, at age 27.
