Alex Chilton Albums (10)
What The Critics Say
Live in Anvers documents a gig that former Big Star and Box Tops frontman Alex Chilton played in Belgium in January of 2004 with a local pickup band, which sounds pretty good given the circumstances -- they had one rehearsal with Chilton shortly before the show, and were reading some of the numbers off charts. Chilton delivers what longtime fans will recognize as a solid but typical solo set -- two classic originals; covers of soul hits by Ernie K-Doe, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, and Wilson Pickett; a few old standards; and an obscure Italian pop tune called "Il Ribelle" for the obscurists. Chilton sounds solidly professional here, with his voice in fine shape and his guitar work sharp and jazzy throughout, and the production is clear and unobtrusive. It's a solid souvenir for fans of Chilton's solo work of the 1990s, though newcomers might want to start with his seminal earlier recordings with Big Star. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Any Alex Chilton fan who's disappointed in a set of R&B and pop covers just hasn't been paying attention to his career. Ever since his comeback in the mid-'80s, Chilton has relied on covers -- from 1985's Feudalist Tarts EP on, new songs have been at a premium, and often felt like covers anyway. Maybe that's why he decided to ditch the originals for his 2000 album Set (charmingly titled Loose Shoes and Tight Pussy in every country outside of America). Set is pitched somewhere between the pop-standards album Clichés and A Man Called Destruction, boasting the feel of Destruction and its penchant for R&B, yet with a handful of traditional pop tunes. With the exception of "There Will Never Be Another You," these are read as instrumentals, but the end result is the same: It's a little ragged, it meanders, and it's listenable only to those already firmly within the cult. Set really isn't that bad, especially when its judged by Chilton's solo standards, but it isn't that good, either. In his favor, Chilton's song selections are pretty interesting: There are a handful of well-known songs ("Lipstick Traces," "Oogum Boogum," plus the standards), but he's also found some good lesser-known songs, like "Hook Me Up," "Never Found a Girl," and "You's a Viper." The problem is, he sounds like he just can't be bothered. It's not that these recordings are raw -- the production is unvarnished, but the performance is professional as can be -- it's that they're lazy. Some members of his cult find that endearing, while other listeners (and not just Big Star diehards) will tire of it after a couple of songs. It's no better or no worse than its predecessors; it simply offers more of the same. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'Loose Shoes and Tight Pussy'
Release Date 2/18/2000
Tracks 12
Label Munster
See Album Tracklist and Review
'A Man Called Destruction'
Release Date 1/1/1995
Tracks 12
Label Ardent
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Since the mid-'80s, all Alex Chilton albums are basically interchangeable. Chilton and his bar band get together and knock off a handful of mediocre new songs and several (mostly obscure) R&B and rock & roll oldies. Now that Chilton is more or less sober, his pitch is a bit better, yet there isn't anything particularly special about A Man Called Destruction, other than the delightfully corny "What's Your Sign?," where Alex sings the horoscope in an attempt to pick up a girl, even if it's all listenable. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
While Alex Chilton has shown a certain disinclination toward songwriting since his "comeback" with Feudalist Tarts in 1985, Cliches is his first solo project without a single original tune. Instead, Chilton, accompanied only by his acoustic guitar, croons ten romantic standards from the '40s and '50s, along with two instrumentals (one of which is a slimmed-down version of a Bach guitar piece). Anyone hoping to hear Chilton rock out (or serve up a pop confection like "September Gurls") is advised not to bother, but on its own terms, Cliches is a very enjoyable listen. While Chilton's approach to the vintage R&B tunes that have become his stock in trade is cloaked in so many layers of irony it's hard to tell if he likes the songs or not, on this material his delivery is warm, easygoing, and straightforward, and he seems to genuinely enjoy himself in a way he hasn't on record since the first Big Star album. Despite the occasional rough moment in his vocals and guitar playing (doubtless attributable to the fact this was recorded in a single evening), Cliches is a pleasant reminder of just how good a singer Alex Chilton can be when he cares about what he's doing. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
This album continues to successfully mine the retro-music lodestone found in High Priest, Feudalist Tarts, and similar releases of this period. Half the songs here are blues numbers of differing stripes: "Jailbait" is an irresistibly rocking song featuring prominent organ and baritone saxophone that has humorous, worldly lyrics in praise of the speaker's underaged sweetie; "Baby Baby Baby" is a fine down-and-dirty slow-tempo selection with rudimentary verses; Furry Lewis' "I Will Turn Your Money Green" is an enjoyably lazy, loping number. Other styles are showcased as well. The Chilton original "Guantanamerika" is a smooth, almost jazz-lounge-oriented ditty with ironic lyrics. A cover of "Nice and Easy Does It" reveals a fine song given as a sophisticated crooner's tune. There's also a bouncy, faithful cover of the 1960s surf-style car classic "Little GTO," on which Chilton plays all the instruments and sings all the vocals. Sound quality is top-notch. Performances are first-rate, with as always excellent solo work from guitarist Chilton and saxophonist Jim Spake; Chilton's singing is a bit strained on the high notes on "Little GTO," but is otherwise fine. This excellent release is strongly recommended. ~ David Cleary, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
1987's High Priest was Alex Chilton's first full-length studio album since the fascinatingly disastrous Like Flies on Sherbert in 1979. While it certainly wasn't the return to pure-pop form some fans were hoping for from the former leader of Big Star, it at least showed Chilton to be in firm command of his faculties again, and fronting a solid band of Memphis/New Orleans studio heavyweights. High Priest boasted only four original songs from Chilton, the best being the mildly sleazy "Thing for You" (though the just-plain-weird "Dalai Lama" has a certain perverse charm), but he dug up a handful of worthwhile covers, including the good-and-greasy "Make a Little Love" and a fine, obscure Carole King number, "Let Me Get Close to You." While Chilton's vocals betray a certain inscrutable irony, he's in fine voice throughout, and his wildly underrated guitar work is very much in evidence. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
'Like Flies on Sherbert'
Release Date 1/1/1979
Tracks 15
Label Cooking Vinyl
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Recorded in 1975 and 1976, shortly after Big Star broke up during the fractious, drug-addled sessions for their final album, the songs on Bach's Bottom were similarly left stranded at the time, although four of them did eventually show up on the 1977 Ork Records EP Singer Not the Song. Released well after the sessions, Bach's Bottom (a punning title on Chilton's first band) is a mess. As a mess, it's a less-glorious mess than Sister Lovers, which manages to sound spooky and haunted and decadent and rocking as often as not; these 15 songs mostly just sound like drunken, sneering rambles. (All three versions of the lumbering jam "Take Me Home and Make Me Like It" sound like they're on the verge of total collapse, and not in a good way.) On the other hand, that actually fits songs like "Free Again," the most obviously Big Star-like tune here, and the storming cover of the Seeds' "Can't Seem to Make You Mine," so parts of the album actually work. And of course, it has "Bangkok," possibly Chilton's finest post-Big Star single, so it's close to necessary just for that. But Bach's Bottom is strictly for the hardcore Chilton fan, as it's one of his most willfully difficult and impenetrable records. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
