Just started listening to the three disc set Complete Third.  Disc one underlines the fact that Third was a snapshot in time.  And, yes, it was an insane, confused and chaotic time.  Alex was a mess at the time, but he was one of the few geniuses who could accomplish great things while being mess.  If you watch the movie Nothing Can Hurt Us you will see what kind of a time it was.

Disc one starts out with some personal demoes with Alex and the acoustic guitar.  These versions demonstrate how well thought out in advance the songs were.  Strangely, they don’t seem to have the desperate, claustrophobic and isolated feeling the final takes did.  As the disc progresses it gets more and more unhinged.  Several very drunken, disastrous and sloppy jams kind of “happen”.  Then it settles into something more comprehensible.  This begins with the band demo of “Big Black Car.”

“Big Black Car” starts out really shaky and then as the band plays on, the magic starts to glimmer.  This momentum carried through a very spirited version of “Kizza Me.”  I think Jody Stephens magnificently demonstrates what an anchor he was for Alex on their cover of “Till the End of the Day.”  Just listen to how solid and authoritatively he nails the drums!  I honestly believe he doesn’t get the recognition for being the drummer he was/is.  The drummer is the glue that holds it together (Keith Moon was exception, he pushed the band while he was all over the place.  It was the band that had to keep him together . . . ahh, but that’s another story . . . .).  Listening to Radio City provides such evidence.

The rest of the disc continues the progression showing that more and more confidence was mounting.  This release seems to be the anatomy of an album that remains the most powerful collection that almost was/is/will be in all it’s configurations.  It wasn’t really intended to be released at the end of the day, as Alex saw it, but it came out nonetheless     . . . in many configurations and with many titles.  Despite this, it is still powerful and touching.  Each song and performance is such an intense snapshot of the moment that its like taking a clear picture of someone but distinctly showing their aura (and a ghost or two hovering in the background).

To be continued . . . .