19/07/2025
One of the best debut albums ever, still sounds big and new. Fantastic!
ON THIS DATE (42 YEARS AGO)
July 19, 1983: Big Country: The Crossing is released.
# ALL THINGS MUSIC PLUS+ 4/5
# Allmusic 4/5 stars
# Rolling Stone (see original review below)
LISTEN/BUY
https://amzn.to/44NSKxG
The Crossing is the debut album by Big Country, released on July 19, 1983. It reached #18 on the Billboard 200 Top Albums chart, bolstered by two Billboard Hot 100 singles - "In a Big Country" ( #17) and "Fields of Fire" ( #52).
"The Crossing" by Big Country helped the band gain widespread attention, becoming one of the defining records of the era. The album's unique blend of passionate, widescreen rock with Celtic-tinged guitar sounds and anthemic vocals set it apart from many other releases of the time.
Big Country was a Scottish band formed in 1981 by Stuart Adamson, who had previously been a member of the post-punk group The Skids. With the addition of Bruce Watson on guitar, Tony Butler on bass, and Mark Brzezicki on drums, they crafted a distinctive sound that drew inspiration from their Scottish roots.
The two singles from "The Crossing," "Fields of Fire" and "In a Big Country," became massive hits and helped catapult the band to fame. These songs were characterized by their soaring melodies, uplifting lyrics, and energetic performances, showcasing the band's ability to create powerful and emotionally charged rock music.
Despite their continued success and musical evolution over the years, Big Country never quite replicated the magic of their debut album. Stuart Adamson's untimely death in 2001 marked a tragic end to the band's career, leaving behind a legacy of memorable music that still resonates with fans of '80s rock.
"The Crossing" remains a timeless classic that exemplifies the spirit and sound of the '80s, and its impact on the rock music landscape cannot be overstated. It continues to be celebrated for its passionate and anthemic approach, making it a key album in the history of rock music.
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ORIGINAL ROLLING STONE REVIEW
Here's a big-noise guitar band from Britain that blows the k***s 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 right. 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. I can't wait to hear them live. (RS 404)
~ Kurt Loder (September 15, 1983)
TRACKS:
All songs written by Stuart Adamson, Mark Brzezicki, Tony Butler, Bruce Watson except as indicated.
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
1. "Harvest Home" – 4:19
2. "Lost Patrol" – 4:52
3. "Close Action" – 4:15
4. "Fields of Fire (400 Miles)" – 3:31
5. "Porrohman" – 7:52