Alex Chilton/Big Star

Was just rereading this exegesis of Alex Chilton's career, with special attention given to the first three Big Star albums. For those impatient with rhapsodic, discursive, quasi-academic writing about rock and roll (cf. Greil Marcus), avoid at all costs. But otherwise, I find it useful if densely-written. This guy has listened to these records deeply, loves them deeply, and writes convincingly of what makes each of them unique and great (in pop music terms).

And of course, if you haven't heard these records and have any love at all for the records that inspired them (by the Beatles, Move, Byrds, Who, Kinks, Badfinger, Velvets) or that these records inspired (by Cheap Trick, the Raspberries, the Posies, Teenage Fanclub, the dBs, REM, the Replacements...), for God's sake check them out. You won't be disappointed.