An extremely rare original 1975 Ardent Records test pressing of Big Star's third, unreleased album. After the band's first and second albums sold very poorly, Ardent's distributor Stax Records declined to release the Big Star's third album (the band at that point was just singer Alex Chilton and drummer Jody Stephens.) Ardent Records head John Fry believed in the record and the band, and pressed up a few hundred test pressings to try to find a label that might be interested. He ultimately failed, and the 3rd Big Star album became the stuff of legend. As the years passed, Big Star's reputation gained and critics celebrated them and their legendary unreleased album. In 1978, Jem Records finally made a deal to release a resequenced version of the album as "Sister Lovers." It has since been re-released in various configurations. This is one of a very few original Ardent test pressings to have survived, and presents the album with the sequence originally envisioned by the band and producer Jim Dickinson. It has the Ardent/Stax matrix number STXS-1078-1 AS-0014 L.NIX (on side A), and is in Excellent condition. These test pressings were originally housed in a plain white inner sleeve, but this copy came in a now tattered Ardent Records fold-open 12" square folder, with the title written on the front. As with the few other copies we've seen, there is a very light bit of surface noise in the quietest moments, likely a result of the pressing. An extremely rare and highly sought after album. And a profoundly great one. (Also included is a copy of an information sheet found in another copy of this rarity.)