Big Star
Nobody Can Dance

Over the span of three albums in the early '70s, Big Star carved out a legacy, if not a career, with their stunning power pop. Worshipped by critics and ignored by consumers, the band dissolved amidst low sales and interpersonal conflict, ultimately becoming famous for who they've influenced as much as for what they've created.

Big Star acolytes will likely devour Nobody Can Dance, the band's third live collection, with the zeal of Oliver Stone unearthing an alternate take of the Zapruder film. But what they'll hear in the straight-off-the-soundboard intimacy of these eight studio rehearsals and seven live performances from 1974 isn't Big Star: The Myth. It's Big Star: the unbelievably gifted, gratifyingly raw garage band.

And about time, too. Aside from a heartfelt acoustic turn by Alex Chilton, Big Star Live, released in 1992, is a muddled document of a 1974 radio performance. Columbia: Live at Missouri University chronicles a 1993 reunion show, in which two members of grunge-pop band the Posies accompany Chilton and original drummer Jody Stephens. A remarkable simulation, but I prefer the classic lineup, thanks.

Nobody's studio sessions, superior in sound quality and clarity to any of the band's previous live releases, showcase Chilton's chiming guitar chords and sinuous leads. Bassist John Lightman -- at the time a new addition -- flubs a few entrances, but winningly holds his own on such classics as "Oh My Soul" (RealAudio excerpt). During the live portion of the album, recorded at an outdoor show a few months later, Chilton's singing assumes a rasping, ragged quality, rendering such tunes as "You Get What You Deserve" (RealAudio excerpt) even more Lennonesque. The world-weary 22-year-old even revisits his teen-age glory, ripping through "The Letter" (RealAudio excerpt), the song that brought him pop fame as the 16-year-old singer for the Box Tops.

Two complaints: Four songs from the studio session also appear in the live set and Nobody Can Dance lacks the informative liner notes of previous Big Star reissues. But that's OK; this time around, the band's playing says it all.