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The Crossing is the debut album released by Scottish band Big Country. The album reached #3 in the UK; overseas, it hit #4 in Canada on the RPM national Top Albums Chart and #18 in the US 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 U.S. Top 40 hit single. Stuart Adamson and fellow guitarist Bruce Watson used the MXR Pitch Transposer 129 effect pedal to create a guitar sound reminiscent of bagpipes.^{[citation needed]} Also contributing to the band's unique sound was their use of the e-bow, 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 synthesizer.^{[citation needed]}

The Crossing
Studio album by Big Country
Released	29 July 1983
Recorded	May 1983
Studio	The Manor (Oxfordshire); RAK (London)
Genre	Alternative rock new wave folk rock Celtic rock post-punk
Length	48:24
Label	Mercury
Producer	Steve Lillywhite
Big Country chronology
The Crossing (1983) Steeltown (1984)
Singles from The Crossing
"Harvest Home" Released: 24 September 1982 "Fields of Fire" Released: 18 February 1983 "In a Big Country" Released: 19 May 1983 "Chance" Released: 1983

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 is a track 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 Bruce 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 (new in the case of the current band members and archived in the case of the late Stuart Adamson) by the journalist and author Tim Barr. Lyrics for all of the key songs are also included, and the album has been 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 ("Inwards," "Chance"), separation ("Close Action"), dehumanization ("Lost Patrol"), and the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion ("The Storm"). Many of the songs are characterized by 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.^{[citation needed]}

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Blender	[2]
Classic Rock	10/10[3]
Orlando Sentinel	[4]
The Philadelphia Inquirer	[5]
Record Mirror	[6]
Rolling Stone	[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[8]
Smash Hits	4/10[9]
The Village Voice	B[10]

Critic Kurt Loder of Rolling Stone gave the album a glowing review, writing:

Here's a big-noise guitar band from Britain that blows the knobs off all the synth-pop diddlers and fake-funk frauds who are cluttering up the charts these days. Big Country mops up the fops with an air-raid guitar sound that's unlike anything else around, anywhere ... Like the Irish band U2 (with whom they share young, guitar-wise producer Steve Lillywhite), 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.[7]

Track listings

All songs written by Stuart Adamson, Mark Brzezicki, Tony Butler, Bruce Watson, except as indicated. On the USA vinyl LP, the songs "1000 Stars" and "Fields of Fire" are in reversed order. The USA 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

6. "Harvest Home" – 4:19
7. "Lost Patrol" – 4:52
8. "Close Action" – 4:15
9. "Fields of Fire (400 Miles)" – 3:31
10. "Porrohman" – 7:52

Additional tracks (cassette release)

1. "Angle Park" (Adamson, Watson) – 4:08
2. "Fields of Fire (400 Miles)" (Alternate Mix) – 5:19
3. "Heart & Soul" – 5:13
4. "In a Big Country" (Pure Mix) (Listed as '12" Mix') – 6:19

1996 re-issue

Bonus tracks:

1. "Angle Park" (Adamson, Watson) – 4:08
2. "All of Us" – 4:09
3. "The Crossing" – 7:09
4. "Heart & Soul" – 4:33 (This version fades out earlier than the version on the 1983 cassette release)

Wonderland EP (US, 1984)

1. "Wonderland" – 3:56
2. "All Fall Together" – 5:05
3. "Angle Park" (Adamson, Watson) – 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" (Extended Re-Mix) – 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" (Jimmy Iovine remix) – 5:16
3. "Angle Park" (Adamson, Watson) – 4:08
4. "The Crossing" – 7:10
5. "Chance" (re-recorded single version) – 4:37

2012 re-issue

Disc 1 (bonus tracks)

1. "Balcony"
2. "Flag of Nations (Swimming)"
3. "Angle Park"
4. "All of Us"
5. "Heart and Soul"
6. "The Crossing"
7. "Tracks of My Tears" (Live)

Disc 2

1. "Angle Park" (Demo)
2. "Harvest Home" (Demo)
3. "We Could Laugh" (Demo)
4. "In a Big Country" (Demo)
5. "The Storm" (Demo)
6. "Big City" (Demo)
7. "Fields of Fire" (Riverside BBC TV)
8. "Lost Patrol" (Demo)
9. "Inwards" (Demo)
10. "1000 Stars"
11. "Lost Patrol"
12. "Inwards"
13. "Close Action"
14. "Fields of Fire" (Demo)
15. "1000 Stars" (Demo)
16. "Ring Out Bells" (Demo)
17. "Chance" (Demo)

Personnel

Big Country

• Stuart Adamson – vocals, guitar, piano, e-bow
• Bruce Watson – guitar, mandolin, sitar, vocals, e-bow
• Tony Butler – bass, vocals
• Mark Brzezicki – drums, percussion, vocals

with:

• Christine Beveridge[11] – additional vocals

Chart performance

Album

Chart (1983)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart[12]	21
Canadian Albums Chart[13]	4
Dutch Albums Chart[14]	11
New Zealand Albums Chart[15]	8
Swedish Albums Chart[16]	17
UK Albums Chart[17]	3
U.S. Billboard 200[18]	18

Single

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1983	In a Big Country	Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	47
1983	In a Big Country	Billboard Mainstream Rock	3
1983	In a Big Country	Billboard Hot 100	17
1983	In a Big Country	RPM 50 Singles (Canada)[19]	3
1984	Fields of Fire	Billboard Hot 100	52

Certifications

Organization	Level	Date
BPI – UK	Gold	15 September 1983
CRIA – Canada	Gold	1 November 1983
CRIA – Canada	Platinum	1 December 1983
RIAA – USA	Gold	19 January 1984
BPI – UK	Platinum	9 February 1984

References

На других языках

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- [en] The Crossing (Big Country album)

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[it] The Crossing (Big Country)

The Crossing è il primo album del gruppo musicale britannico Big Country, pubblicato dall'etichetta discografica Mercury il 15 luglio 1983.

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