The Big Express

Product Information

There's always one isn't there? But I think I can line up the world's underground army of XTC fans and find that the majority of them would find some form of agreement with that statement here. Exactly how they would explain it would vary, as for some it would be the tough rewarding one, and others would see it as a fussy messy dud. Certainly at the time in 1984 the critical opinion was like the latter, and the commercial opinion was that it sold poorly. In both regards this mirrored Mummer's fate before it, though the two albums are really very different. Honestly I still can't really figure out why people have anything against poor little Mummer. But Big Express? Aw, this time I get it.

XTC in 1984 were not the chart-busting force they had been from 1978-1982 when their brand of angular but highly infectious pop regularly graced the charts. What many critics consider their finest album, the excellent English Settlement, had been released two years previously but since then there had been a few changes. a b c Bernhardt, Todd; Gregory, Dave (24 February 2008). "Dave remembers 'Smalltown' ". Chalkhills. music’ is a phrase that seems to conjure up some very negative images nowadays. Yet as all Louder Than War readers will know, this was actually a hugely creative period in British music with a range of outstanding albums delivered. One of the most underrated in my opinion, and one that never dates because it floats above any genre categorisation, is XTC’s The Big Express. It doesn’t need this article to make the case for this band being our most undervalued, the evidence is repeatedly clear in a string of classic, innovative and hugely influential albums. It’s 30 years this week since The Big Express was released, in some ways a product of its time, but in many others, completely timeless. Similar to “Shake You Donkey Up,” “Reign Of Blows” felt cluttered in its original stereo incarnation–but in this new Dolby Atmos presentation, there’s finally room for each element to be heard distinctly. The LinnDrum percussion thunders in from upfront, while handclaps circle around above and electric guitars fill up the side surrounds. Partridge’s vocals–processed through a guitar amp for a more aggressive, violent sound–are spread across the front soundstage, with Moulding’s harmonies popping up from behind. Reign of Blows (Vote No Violence) takes us deep into the reality of a world where super powers still fought each other, but just used other countries to do it in. “And iron maidens will slam, and by the half-light of burning republics, Joe Stalin looks just like Uncle Sam” captures the era perfectly and with a screaming guitar and thumping drums, you almost feel as if your pleasant train journey through the shires has suddenly taken a nasty diversion through the US invasion of Grenada.

51 Reviews

The Everyday Story of Smalltown" introduces side two with the sounds of kazoo and drums. [3] Partridge described the Swindon-inspired song as "all autobiographical", including the mention of a milkman who "lift[ed] his foot off [the] accelerator. It woke me up one morning and I thought, That's got to go into a bloody song." [39] Its sampled brass band marked the band's first use of an E-mu Emulator. [23] One of the guitar lines was taken from the Beatles' " Fixing a Hole" (1967). Gregory was enthused with the song and hoped it would have been released as a single, later opining that it was "twatted by a lousy mix". He said: "The big finale of the song features one of Andy's soon-to-be-favourite production techniques-- the over-layering of earlier vocal and instrumental themes as a counterpoint to the main chorus. It clatters off in jubilant canonic style, neatly cross-fading into the languid guitar introduction to 'I Bought Myself A Liarbird' -- a nice moment." [28] "I Bought Myself a Liarbird" [ edit ] a b "UK Official Charts: The Big Express". Official Charts Company. 2017 . Retrieved 27 February 2017. a b Kot, Greg (3 May 1992). "The XTC Legacy: An Appraisal". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 22 June 2016. Though I’d long considered 1989’s Oranges & Lemons as the band’s most densely-layered LP, The Big Express is definitely a close second. There's a mechanical ‘coldness’ to the album, characterized by heavy use of LinnDrum synthesizers in conjunction with Dave Gregory’s trademark jagged guitar lines. In elements such as the staccato guitar riffs to “Wake Up” and “Shake Up Donkey Up,” one can easily conjure up a visual image of gears rotating inside a massive steampunk machine. Bernhardt, Todd; Partridge, Andy (11 May 2008). "Andy discusses 'Rook' ". Chalkhills . Retrieved 30 October 2018.

s Apple Venus was originally intended to follow in 2020, but the project was ultimately canceled due to the source material being woefully incomplete. Christgau, Robert (25 June 1985). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice . Retrieved 19 June 2011. Album and Additional Mixes by Steven Wilson [Dolby Atmos TrueHD 7.1, DTS HD-MA 5.1, and 24/96 LPCMStereo], 2023 Instrumental Mix [24/96 LPCM Stereo] [00:54:18] + [00:53:57] a b c d e f Bernhardt, Todd; Partridge, Andy (8 July 2007). "Andy discusses 'Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her, Kiss Her' ". Chalkhills. The Big Express was XTC’s seventh studio album, originally released in October 1984 through Virgin Records.WTF Podcast (22 March 2016). "Todd Rundgren - WTF Podcast with Marc Maron #691". YouTube (Video). Event occurs at 1:26:20. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 . Retrieved 22 September 2018. By the standards he had set for himself over the preceding three albums, Colin wasn't on top form for Mummer. Even though he only gets two credits here, he more than makes up for it. "I Remember The Sun" inverts the theme of his English Settlement b-side "Blame The Weather" in brilliant fashion. Andy does many thing's better than his partner in rhyme but Colin is, I think, the master of nostalgia. He also pens the explosive opener, one of his best singles, which employs a choir to rub the sleep from the eyes of the listener and set them up for the rest of the record. I Bought Myself A Liarbird is an odd foray into suburban jazz, slight and more than a little bitter, for once the arrangement seems at odds with Partridge's biting lyrics whilst his ode to Pepper era Beatles on You're The Wish You Are I Had seems to be a strange detour, not the greatest song to begin with it jars and feels even weaker when placed before Colin's much superior I Remember The Sun. I Bought Myself a Liarbird" is about Ian Reid, the band's former manager. [40] The title is a pun on " lyrebird". [1] In the 1998 XTC biography Song Stories, the song's entry simply states: "Due to a legal arrangement with their former management, XTC is unable to discuss the lyrical content of this song!" [39] "Reign of Blows" [ edit ]

A year earlier in 1983 XTC had released the pastorally triumphant Mummer, an album that still serves as the perfect foil to The Big Express, Venus to Mars in the Solar System of the XTC catalogue. Drums have always been so essential to the XTC sound and Pete Phipps had stepped in for Mummer and kept the stool for The Big Express, and what a performance he turned in. There is a distinct hammering beat throughout the album, with the drums seemingly higher in the mix as the sounds conjure pictures of this great steam engine powering through the mid-80s landscape. This image is reinforced by the cover shots of the band dressed as engine drivers and a wheel-shaped sleeve design that I misguidedly thought at the time would be rare. After listening to the new 5.1 & Dolby Atmos mixes, it becomes abundantly clear that a traditional two-channel stereo soundstage was simply not enough to accurately express the band’s grandiose vision for this album. Though it’s obviously a retrofit surround sound experience, The Big Express translates so seamlessly into these immersive formats that it almost sounds like it was recorded with multichannel reproduction in mind. We play the songs much too loud Mark Fisher, Mark Reed, David White in What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast Products Bernhardt, Todd; Partridge, Andy (19 August 2007). "Andy discusses "All of a Sudden (It's Too Late)" ". Chalkhills.a b c d e f g h i j k l m Jennings, Dave (18 October 2014). "XTC: The Big Express – A Thirtieth Anniversary Celebration – album reappraisal". Louder Than War . Retrieved 24 October 2018. a b Bernhardt, Todd; Partridge, Andy (4 March 2007). "Andy discusses 'All You Pretty Girls' ". Chalkhills. a b c d Bernhardt, Todd; Partridge, Andy (14 June 2009). "Andy discusses "Train Running Low on Soul Coal" ". Chalkhills. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th conciseed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.

Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her, Kiss Her is without doubt one of XTC weirdest songs of their entire career, built around an odd off kilter melody line played on a Euphonium, Andy's tale of lost chances never seems to go anywhere and circles around itself in a perfect echo of the characters hesitation, only once side stepping to glimpse what could be, it's a simply brilliant but wonderfully odd piece of music and incredibly underrated by the bands legion of fans. Equally strong but less challenging is the sorrowful sigh of This World Over's post apocalypse, again lyrical content, arrangement and production combine to perfection.impression on Andy. He hadn't had a musical guru before now. David Lord could hold his own in any musical conversation and piqued Andy's interests in unexplored musical areas." [12] Moulding was not as effused and said he was unable to relate to Lord on a musical level. [13] XTC subsequently negotiated a deal that allowed them to work as much as they want on their next album at his studio. [8] In April 1984, about a month into the new album sessions, the group learned that ex-manager Ian Reid had incurred them an outstanding value-added tax bill of several hundred thousand pounds, and they immediately pursued litigation that would last for the next five years. [14] David Lord adds: "This story about me turning down the Beatles as 'not serious musicians' is nonsense! I think it grew from something I told Andy once - as a music student in the days when 'Sargeant Pepper' was being recorded, a number of us were invited to be part of the cheering crowd at Abbey Road; sadly I was already committed elsewhere and couldn't make it! That's all!" All You Pretty Girls” scatters percussion and harmony vocals all throughout the listening space, with Andy Partridge's lead vocal nicely anchored to the center speaker. There’s a great moment during the chorus reprise at 2:25, when his harmony vocal (“write a little note…”) pops up directly behind the listener’s head. Andy Partridge (Part 2) - Episode 27". YouTube. The ProgCast With Gregg Bendian . Retrieved 24 February 2022. Mummer had sounded flat and slightly lifeless but for The Big Express and in keeping with the themes prevalent on the album XTC opted for a harsher, mettalic edgy sound that recalled earlier works like Go2 and Drums And Wires yet managed to still sound unique, exciting and new. Thanks to it's production and choice of subject matter The Big Express may well be XTC's artiest album, a fully formed concept whose musical arrangements and production perfectly mirror it's lyrical content. The band would ultimately retire from touring in 1982–due to frontman Andy Partridge's crippling stage fright–leaving them free to fully exploit the studio as an instrument for subsequent albums, much like The Beatles had following 1965’s Rubber Soul.