Lyrics & Music Big Country - The Crossing (1983) (B0013GCF80)

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Big Country - The Crossing (1983)

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Kurt Loder, Rolling Stone, Sep 15, 1983 wrote:

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, and if their debut album promises more than the four musicians can quite deliver at this stage in their young career, what it does deliver – especially on the Top Ten U.K. hit "Fields of Fire," one of the great, resounding anthems of this or any other year–is sufficiently scintillating to preclude any extended critical carps about the group's occasional lack of focus. At this point, the big picture is clear enough.

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. Generally dispensing with power chords, the group's two lead guitarists, Scotsmen Stuart Adamson (formerly of the Skids) and Bruce Watson, whip up skirling, bagpipelike single-string riffs that, on such crackling tracks as "Fields of Fire," "In a Big Country" and the grandly martial "Harvest Home," are a nonstop, spine-tingling delight. The slightly out-of-kilter guitar lines intertwine into a trebly alarm that has all the galvanic urgency of an ambulance careening down a darkened city street–it's really something to hear.

There's more, too. Adding oomph down below is the muscular rhythm section of bassist Tony Butler and drummer Mark Brzezicki (both were featured on Pete Townshend's last two solo albums, and Butler appeared on the Pretenders' "Back on the Chain Gang" single). Brzezicki, in particular, is more than just a sideman, adding both mainline whomp and wailing fills on all the best tracks. The group's vocal sound (all four members sing) is identifiably human–a refreshing concept–and though Adamson's leads sometimes lack nuance; one suspects he'll get the hang of it. At his full-throated best, he already approximates some of the arena-reaching, emotional power of a young Bruce Springsteen, and that'll do for starters.

If The Crossing were all blast and bellow, it would still be a gripping LP. But several of the ten songs here–all blessedly free of the cheap, received decadence that disfigures so much current Anglo pop–are lyrically stirring in their own left. The brotherly, against-the-trend optimism of "In a Big Country" ("...that's a desperate way to look/For someone who is still a child") is mightily appealing in an era of witless gloom mongering, and the tenderness of the conception of "Chance," a tale of mismarried youth ("...you played chance with a lifetime's romance/And the price was far too long"), is unusual for a band of such hard musical instincts. Even when they address the common helplessness felt in the face of impending nuclear apocalypse in "1000 Stars" ("It's not between you and me/But we are losing"), Big Country aims for the heart, not mere pop hyperbole.

The Crossing is not without flaws: the tone setups cause the guitars to lapse into murk at times, subverting the power of the playing, and the lyrics are occasionally so private–or so poorly thought out–as to be inscrutable. But the big sound is truly unique, and the best songs speak to real subjects.

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Tom Demalon, All Music Guide wrote:

With producer Steve Lillywhite at the helm, Scotland's Big Country managed to deliver earnest, socially conscious arena anthems in a similar vein to U2 and the Alarm. The twist was their trademark bagpipe sound, achieved through the use of E-Bow. The unique sound of "In a Big Country" garnered the band considerable attention and a Top 20 single in the U.S. The Crossing, however, is an album whose richness goes beyond the single. The more subdued "Chance" is more sparse and its personal lyrics are every bit as heartfelt as the more populist-inclined anthems like the wonderful "The Storm" or the thundering "Fields of Fire." The lyrics are straightforward and, despite the grand themes of many of the tracks, manage to steer clear of being overly pretentious. While this album earned the band a gold record, Big Country's sound and image (reinforced by the members tartan, checked shirts) resulted in them being tagged a novelty and they never duplicated their initial success in America.

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Amazon.com wrote:

I was going through some things in storage and found my old The Crossing tape. Popped the tape in my tapedeck and it's been there ever since for the last three months playing it to and from work. It's a solid album thoughout and still stands up to the test of time. Thet have a unique sound early U2 but with a unique bagpipe guitar sound on this album, which was unusual at the time because new wave was the rage at the time. When I bought this originally it was for In A Big Country, but now my favorite is Close Action especially the guitar solo and drums. I've just picked up a few of their later albums that I missed out on, and it's been like rediscovering an old friend. Do yourself a favor and pick up this album and others for one of the most under-recongized rock bands in recent times. They've matured over time and it's a shame that (1) they didn't get much recognition in the states after their first album The Crossing, and (2) the recent passing of lead singer Stuart Adamson. I was looking forward to seeing them in concert in the future but it looks now I will just have to settle for the next best thing...what they recorded when Adamson was alive.

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Amazon.com also wrote:

I was going through some things in storage and found my old The Crossing tape. Popped the tape in my tapedeck and it's been there ever since for the last three months playing it to and from work. It's a solid album thoughout and still stands up to the test of time. Thet have a unique sound early U2 but with a unique bagpipe guitar sound on this album, which was unusual at the time because new wave was the rage at the time. Once you listen to the song samples you will get what I mean by their sound. When I bought this originally it was for In A Big Country, but now my favorite is Close Action especially the guitar solo and drums. I've just picked up a few of their later albums that I missed out on, and it's been like rediscovering an old friend. Do yourself a favor and pick up this album and others for one of the most under-recongized rock bands in recent times. They've matured over time and it's a shame that (1) they didn't get much recognition in the states after their first album The Crossing, and (2) the recent passing of lead singer Stuart Adamson. I was looking forward to seeing them in concert in the future but it looks now I will just have to settle for the next best thing...what they recorded when Adamson was alive.

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