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]
For other uses, see The Crossing (disambiguation) §Music.
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]
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.
Nelson, Bill (March 2012). "Skids: The Singles Collection 1978–1981 / Big Country: The Crossing 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition". Classic Rock. No.168. pp.104–105.
Defendorf, Richard (12 October 1983). "Big Country, The Crossing (Mercury 812870-1)". Orlando Sentinel.
Rea, Steven X. (2 October 1983). "The Big Country makes debut record". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Hills, Simon (30 July 1983). "Riff 'n' ready". Record Mirror. p.16.
Loder, Kurt (15 September 1983). "Big Country: The Crossing". Rolling Stone. No.404. Archived from the original on 29 March 2007. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
McGee, David (1992). "Big Country". In DeCurtis, Anthony; Henke, James; George-Warren, Holly (eds.). The Rolling Stone Album Guide (3rded.). Random House. p.58. ISBN0-679-73729-4.
De Lisle, Tim (21 July – 3 August 1983). "Big Country: The Crossing". Smash Hits. Vol.5, no.15. p.23.
Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN0-646-11917-6.
"RPM 100 Albums". RPM. archived at Library and Archives Canada. 39 (11). 12 November 1983. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
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