Review Summary: More aggresive than #1 Record but equally enjoyable.
In their debut #1 Record, Big Star sings songs about India, their baby when she is beside them, going to rock n roll shows and #1 Record was a naive and melancholic record with acoustic guitars. In their second album Radio City they sing aggresive songs with dark lyrics due to their situation while recording it. The departure of Chris Bell from the band was obviously effective on the nature of Radio City.
Musically, Radio City contains powerful songs such as O My Soul which can be boring sometimes due to its length, September Gurls which is a fine example of a classic song by an influential band and Life is White which has a great harmonica solo. Radio City also contains some naive and melancholic songs which could easily be on #1 Record such as What's Going Ahn and Way Out West. On the other hand songs such as Mod Lang and Back of a Car explain us why Big Star is generally consideres as a proto-punk band in addition to being the pioneers of power pop.
Nearly every song on the album is a great one from catchy You Get What You Deserve to minimalistic Morpha Too but lyrically Radio City is not as great as #1 Record with its simple lyrics about being lonely and resigning everyone.
Finally, you should listen to Radio City if you love Big Star and thank them for creating an album which is different from their debut so their music may apply to your different moods.
