The Crossing (Big Country album)


The Crossing is the debut album by Scottish band Big Country, released in July 1983. The album reached number three in the United Kingdom; overseas, it hit number four in Canada on the RPM national Top Albums Chart and number 18 in the United States on the Billboard 200 in 1983. It went on to be certified platinum in the UK and Canada. It contains the song "In a Big Country" which is their only US top 40 hit single.

Background

In May 1982, Big Country signed a recording contract with Phonogram and soon began recording what was supposed to be their debut album with producer Chris Thomas. However, the entire recording session would eventually be scrapped when Big Country felt Thomas was not fully committing to the band due to other production commitments. Three songs were salvaged from the sessions – "Harvest Home", "Balcony" and "Flag of Nations " – and released as the "Harvest Home" single in September 1982 through Phonogram's imprint Mercury Records, reaching number 91 on the UK Singles Chart.
With new producer Steve Lillywhite, the band recorded the single "Fields of Fire" in early 1983, which became a UK top ten hit. In May, on the back of the single's success, Lillywhite and the band proceeded to record The Crossing, which would include a re-recorded "Harvest Home".
Stuart Adamson and fellow guitarist Bruce Watson used the MXR Pitch Transposer 129 effect pedal to create a guitar sound reminiscent of bagpipes. Also contributing to the band's unique sound was their use of the EBow, a hand-held device which, through the use of magnets, causes the strings of an electric guitar to vibrate, producing a soft attack which sounds more like strings or a synthesizer.
The album has been remastered and reissued on three occasions. The latest version released by Universal in 2012 in advance of the album's 30th anniversary includes a second disc of previously unissued demos. Also included in the set are tracks produced by Chris Thomas from the first abortive attempt to record the band's debut album. The demos include the earliest recordings done by Adamson and Watson, some of which were recorded on four-track prior to recruiting either a drummer or bassist for the band.
The set also includes a booklet with interviews by the journalist and author Tim Barr. Lyrics for all of the key songs are also included, and the album was remastered by Paschal Byrne from the original master tapes. In total, ten previously unreleased tracks were included in the deluxe, digitally remastered edition.

Music and lyrics

The songs on The Crossing deal with topics including loss, separation, dehumanization, and the 1745 Jacobite rebellion. Many of the songs are characterized by Mark Brzezicki's highly-compressed drums and the heavily effects-treated, layered guitars of Adamson and Watson. The music often demonstrates a clear influence of Scottish traditional music, particularly obvious in the pipe-band rhythms of "In a Big Country" and "Fields of Fire" and the swirling, Gaelic guitar intro to "The Storm". This caused the band to be categorized as a Celtic rock band, which sometimes led to unfavorable comparisons with other bands such as Thin Lizzy.

Reception

In a glowing review for Sounds, Johnny Waller found that Big Country had developed their own "uniquely recognisable" musical style and said that their "spirit and determination... have a ring of truth and integrity", concluding that his "slight reservations about The Crossing are ultimately cut through with the lionheart vigour of a major new band only slightly in too much of a hurry." Writing that "Stuart Adamson always manages to use his taut vocals to good effect", Simon Hills of Record Mirror considered The Crossing, "if a little one dimensional", to be "a worthy debut album" and "all in all sterling stuff".
Kurt Loder commented in Rolling Stone that Big Country "blows the knobs off all the synth-pop diddlers and fake-funk frauds who are cluttering up the charts these days", with "an air-raid guitar sound that's unlike anything else around, anywhere". "Like the Irish band U2," Loder noted, "Big Country has no use for synthesizers, and their extraordinary twin-guitar sound should make The Crossing a must-own item for rock die-hards."

Track listings

All songs written by Stuart Adamson, Mark Brzezicki, Tony Butler, and Bruce Watson, except as indicated. On the US vinyl LP, the songs "1000 Stars" and "Fields of Fire" are in reversed order. The US CD release keeps the same order as below.
;Side one
  1. "In a Big Country" – 4:44
  2. "Inwards" – 4:36
  3. "Chance" – 4:26
  4. "1000 Stars" – 3:50
  5. "The Storm" – 6:19
;Side two
  2. "Harvest Home" – 4:19
  3. "Lost Patrol" – 4:52
  4. "Close Action" – 4:15
  5. "Fields of Fire (400 Miles)" – 3:31
  6. "Porrohman" – 7:52
;Additional tracks
  1. "Angle Park" – 4:08
  2. "Fields of Fire " – 5:19
  3. "Heart and Soul" – 5:13
  4. "In a Big Country" – 6:19

''Wonderland EP'' (US, 1984)

  1. "Wonderland" – 3:56
  2. "All Fall Together" – 5:05
  3. "Angle Park" – 4:07
  4. "The Crossing" – 7:04

''Wonderland EP'' (Canada, 1984)

  1. "Wonderland" – 3:58
  2. "Angle Park" – 4:08
  3. "All Fall Together" – 5:16
  4. "Chance" – 6:10
  5. "Heart and Soul" – 5:13
  6. "The Crossing" – 7:10

''Wonderland EP'' (US only, 2002)

  1. "Wonderland" – 3:58
  2. "All Fall Together" – 5:16
  3. "Angle Park" – 4:08
  4. "The Crossing" – 7:10
  5. "Chance" – 4:37

1996 re-issue bonus tracks

  2. "Angle Park" – 4:08
  3. "All of Us" – 4:09
  4. "The Crossing" – 7:09
  5. "Heart and Soul" – 4:33

2012 30th anniversary deluxe edition

;Disc 1
  2. "Balcony" – 3:55
  3. "Flag of Nations "
  4. "Angle Park"
  5. "All of Us"
  6. "Heart and Soul"
  7. "The Crossing"
  8. "Tracks of My Tears"
;Disc 2
  1. "Angle Park" *
  2. "Harvest Home" *
  3. "We Could Laugh" *
  4. "In a Big Country"
  5. "The Storm"
  6. "Big City"
  7. "Fields of Fire" *
  8. "Lost Patrol" *
  9. "Inwards" *
  10. "1000 Stars" *
  11. "Lost Patrol" *
  12. "Inwards" *
  13. "Close Action" *
  14. "Fields of Fire"
  15. "1000 Stars"
  16. "Ring Out Bells"
  17. "Chance"

Personnel

;Big Country
with:
;Technical
  • Steve Lillywhite – producer
  • Will Gosling – engineer
  • Steve Chase – assistant engineer
  • Mike Nocito – assistant engineer
  • Julian Balme – sleeve
  • Paul Cox – photography

Production notes for deluxe edition bonus tracks

;Disc 1
;Disc 2
  • Track 7 recorded at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, for BBC2's Riverside; broadcast on 17 January 1983.
  • Tracks 8 and 9 recorded by John Brandt in May 1982 at Phonogram Studio.
  • Tracks marked with an asterisk are previously unreleased.
  • Tracks 4–6 and 14–17 were previously released on Rarities IV, 2003.

Chart performance

Album
Chart Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart21
Canadian Albums Chart4
Dutch Albums Chart11
New Zealand Albums Chart8
Swedish Albums Chart17
UK Albums Chart3
U.S. Billboard 20018

Singles
YearSingleChartPosition
1982Harvest HomeUK Singles Chart91
1983Fields of FireUK Singles Chart10
1983In a Big CountryBillboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play37
1983In a Big CountryBillboard Mainstream Rock3
1983In a Big CountryBillboard Hot 10017
1983In a Big CountryRPM 50 Singles 3
1983In a Big CountryUK Singles Chart17
1983ChanceUK Singles Chart9
1984Fields of FireBillboard Hot 10052