I Am the Cosmos


I Am the Cosmos is the only solo album by the American musician Chris Bell, posthumously released in 1992 by Rykodisc. It was produced by Bell and recorded in the 1970s. Bell had previously been a member of Big Star. Many of the songs reflected his embrace of Christianity.
In 2009, the album was remastered and re-released in a deluxe two-CD version by Rhino Handmade with alternate versions and additional tracks, and three songs by Bell's pre-Big Star groups, Icewater and Rock City. Some copies included a bonus 7" single of "I Am the Cosmos"/"You and Your Sister", a replica of the original single.
The booklet notes for the album were written by Bell's brother David, who also took the photographs used on the cover and in the CD booklet. The cover features a picture that was taken near Nendaz in Switzerland, it shows the opposite side of the valley with Ardon and the south flank of the snowy massif of Les Diablerets in the back.
The 2017 Omnivore Recordings edition comprises 35 tracks, including eight previously unreleased tracks and two that appear on CD for the first time. Three pre-Big Star tunes that appeared on the 2009 edition are omitted; these are now found on Omnivore's Looking Forward: The Roots of Big Star.

Critical reception

Newsday wrote that "the playing on Bell's tracks is often hit or miss, the production erratic enough to qualify as something of a comfortable kids' vanity recording... But Bell clearly had talent, and just as clearly lacked the self-confidence to develop it." The Los Angeles Times concluded that "the singer-songwriter's obsession with the spirit of the Beatles seems so complete that he all but turns himself over completely to that spirit." The Orlando Sentinel deemed the album "lovely and terribly sad with a Badfinger-esque structure." Trouser Press likewise labeled it "a beautiful and disturbing Syd Barrett-by-way-of-Badfinger album of erratic, haunted pop music".

Track listing

All songs written by Chris Bell.

Rykodisc CD, 1992

  1. "I Am the Cosmos" – 3:46
  2. "Better Save Yourself" – 4:25
  3. "Speed of Sound" – 5:11
  4. "Get Away" – 3:26
  5. "You and Your Sister" – 3:11
  6. "Make a Scene" – 4:09
  7. "Look Up" – 3:14
  8. "I Got Kinda Lost" – 2:42
  9. "There Was a Light" – 3:19
  10. "Fight at the Table" – 3:41
  11. "I Don't Know" – 3:22
  12. "Though I Know She Lies" – 3:35
Bonus tracks
  2. "I Am the Cosmos" – 3:40
  3. "You and Your Sister" – 2:56
  4. "You and Your Sister" – 2:53

Rhino Handmade 2CD, 2009 (bonus tracks)

  2. "Looking Forward" – 3:39 by Icewater
  3. "Sunshine" – 1:45 by Icewater
  4. "My Life Is Right" – 3:08 by Rock City
  5. "I Don't Know" – 4:18
  6. "You and Your Sister" – 3:03
  7. "I Am the Cosmos" – 5:07
  8. "Speed of Sound" – 5:13
  9. "Fight at the Table" – 4:11
  10. "Make a Scene" – 4:11
  11. "Better Save Yourself" – 4:29
  12. "Get Away" – 4:21
  13. "You and Your Sister" – 3:00
  14. "Stay with Me" – 2:49 with Keith Sykes
  15. "In My Darkest Hour" – 3:01 with Nancy Bryan
  16. "Clacton Rag" – 3:30

Omnivore 2CD, 2017

Disc 1
  1. "I Am the Cosmos"
  2. "Better Save Yourself"
  3. "Speed of Sound"
  4. "Get Away"
  5. "You and Your Sister"
  6. "I Kinda Got Lost"
  7. "Look Up"
  8. "Make a Scene"
  9. "There Was a Light"
  10. "I Don’t Know"
  11. "Fight at the Table"
  12. "Though I Know She Lies"
  13. "I Am the Cosmos" *
  14. "You and Your Sister"
  15. "Look Up" *
  16. "Untitled Acoustic Instrumental"
Disc 2
  1. "I Am the Cosmos"
  2. "Better Save Yourself"
  3. "Speed of Sound"
  4. "Get Away"
  5. "You and Your Sister"
  6. "Make a Scene"
  7. "Fight At the Table"
  8. "I Don’t Know"
  9. "Speed of Sound" *
  10. "Stay with Me"
  11. "In My Darkest Hour"
  12. "So Long Baby "
  13. "Fight at the Table" *
  14. "You and Your Sister"
  15. "Get Away" *
  16. "Better Save Yourself" *
  17. "I Am the Cosmos" *
  18. "Untitled Electric Instrumental" *
  19. "Though I Know She Lies" *
  • previously unreleased

Personnel