 To listen to it is to be " plunged into a maelstrom of conflicting emotions . Songs are drenched in strings and sweet sentiment one minute , starkly played and downcast the next . No pop song has ever bottomed out more than " Holocaust " , an anguished plaint sung at a snail 's pace over discordant slide @-@ guitar fragments and moaning cello [ ... ] On the up side , there 's the delicious pop minuet " Stroke It Noel , " the anticipatory magic of " Nightime " ( " Caught a glance in your eyes and fell through the skies , " Chilton rhapsodizes ) [ ... ] Big Star 's baroque , guitar @-@ driven pop reaches its apotheosis on songs like " Kizza Me , " " Thank You Friends " and " O , Dana " . [ ... ] Without question , Third is one of the most idiosyncratic , deeply felt and fully realized albums in the pop idiom . 
