There are few albums that break your heart for the first time in High School and then, with a few years’ maturity under your belt, manage to break your heart in an even more complete way.

Chris Bell’s I Am The Cosmos is actually a compilation of the former Big Star member’s 1977 demos and singles rather than an actual album. While Alex Chilton garnered most of the credit for being Big Star’s songwriting mastermind, Bell was a promising solo artist on the rise. Unfortunately, his dream would never be realized. He died tragically in a car crash in 1978 and these 15 tracks were “lost” for 14 years. Finally released in 1992 like an antique diamond ring found in a time capsule, they sound a bit dated, sure, but a diamond, no less.

In the opening track “I Am The Cosmos” Bell immediately defines the soul of his work in one line: “Every night I tell myself I am the Cosmos/I am the Wind/But that don’t get you back again.”

All of the heartache themes are available here for Bell to utilize. He is all too familiar with deception, adultery and suicidal tendencies. But while other artists would beg you to commiserate with their struggle, Chris Bell is too busy trying to locate his own strength and pull himself up by the bootstraps. The fact that he never quite manages to do so but isn’t entirely convinced that it’s an impossibility keeps this album from slipping into sentimental terrain. In “Better Save Yourself,” Bell shrugs, “Its suicide/I know/I’ve tried it twice.” In “Get Away,” he admits, “Whenever I feel like sinking/You make a beautiful scene.” The most he can hope for is that this person will at the very least, come around. Even if it is to make a beautiful, and probably destructive “scene.” It’s masochism, it’s suicide, but Bell is nothing but charitable with his sullied truth.

There is a very real spiritual influence throughout Bell’s work. Most notably in “Look Up,” where Bell’s voice actually sounds like it’s soaring, and “There Was a Light,” a song I could see fitting in well with anything Lennon wrote in his solo years. “Make a Scene” and “I Got Kinda Lost” are two exuberant throwbacks to the Big Star sound.

”You and Your Sister” is one of the most beautiful love songs never heard. A less accomplished artist could have penned the lyrics and there’s nothing sophisticated in its arrangement. But the delivery kills me every time: just an acoustic guitar and Bell’s voice sounding like he is singing in the middle of the night on his front porch, making up the words as he goes along. “All I want to do/Is spend some time with you.” Bell sings with a profound urgency that challenges the simplicity of these sentiments. There’s an intricate story beneath the minimal text and Bell is talented enough to convey it just by varying the inflections in his voice. Interestingly, Alex Chilton sings back-up vocals on this track, adding to its hauntingly sweet quality. The original single is here as well as two alternate takes, including an acoustic and country version that are both brilliant.