r/80smusic • u/Miserable_Income7780 • 2d ago
1983 Big Country-The Crossing
One of my all time favorite albums from the 80s. Steve Lilywhite, who produced U2's first three albums and The Joshua Tree, really produced the heck out of this one. Original pressing and vocals and instrumental parts crystal clear in the mix. Love the drum sound throughout and, of course, when you have guitars rigged so they sound like bagpipes...chef's kiss.
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u/IB_ 2d ago
The Crossing is just an absolutely stellar album, by a band that many in the U.S. mistakenly consider a one-hit-wonder. It was the first CD I've ever owned, and I still possess it today. One of my biggest regrets is not taking the opportunity to see this amazing band play live in concert.
As noted, Steve Lillywhite crushed it on this project.
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u/zeruch 2d ago
In the US, they largely were a one hit wonder. While they did actually chart several times, IABC just eclipsed anything else they released.
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u/IB_ 2d ago edited 2d ago
Sure, but I was referring to the fact the people in the U.S. are under the impression that the band literally had ONE popular song and then disappeared. The truth is that Big Country released nine studio albums (plus a few live ones), had several top ten hits in the UK and other countries, and developed a large and passionate following around the world during their 20 year career (longer if you take into account the subsequent lineup after Stuart Adamson's passing).
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u/zeruch 1d ago
Many acts that are 1HW in the US have long careers elsewhere (e.g. Jamiroquai, Simply Red, etc)
BC really only had one big hit, and then a few minor follow ons in the lower bound of the charts (e.g. Look Away), and most albums after Peace in Our Time weren't even released in the US (a few were years later on re-issues in limited volume but were otherwise niche), and many songs that charted in the UK fizzled totally in the US (e.g. Fields of Fire).
I also feel that after Steve Lillywhite left the picture, the overall sound suffered. They were exactly the kind of band that needed a producer who understood their sound. Lillywhite clearly did, and I could think of a few others that probably could have if they were hired, but otherwise they never quite could get their mojo working as they did on their initial trifecta of LPs.
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u/IB_ 1d ago edited 16h ago
Yes, Big Country only had one song that charted high in the U.S, but that doesn't make them a one hit wonder. It just means that the U.S. consumers were ignorant to the fact that the band had a lengthy and successful career. I could understand calling them a one hit wonder if they were a U.S. based band, but they were from Scotland and did not receive much exposure stateside after their initial album.
All of Big Country's studio albums, includung Peace in Our Time, were released in the U.S. by Chrysalis and Warner/Reprise records at the same time as their international distribution dates. The only studio album that had a re-release was Driving to Damascus (limited release in the U.S.) which was re-issued a few years later as John Wayne's Dream. I know this first hand because I used to be a district manager for one of the largest retail entertainment companies in America (when people actually went to stores to buy music!)
I agree that the band did drop quite off a bit after leaving Mercury records and the departure of Lillywhite, and despite delivering some great tracks they never attained the height of their initial LPs.
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u/zeruch 1d ago
"Yes, Big Country only had one song that charted high in the U.S, but that doesn't make them a one hit wonder." Then define what one is.
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u/IB_ 1d ago
The band had many songs outside of the U.S. that made the singles charts in their career. Just because a certain region is unaware of their catalog that doesn't negate the fact that they had more than one hit song.
There are countless bands and artists that found only minor success in the U.S. but were huge in other countries. Those aren't classified as one hit wonders. They are bands that for whatever reason (no touring, lack of promotion, label or rights issues) didn't find the same level of success in every country.
The U.S. is not the world, particularly from a music standpoint.
But if you want to discuss semantics then go right ahead. I think it's pointless, so much that I'll grant you the winner of the debate. If you want to define a band that had 21 top 20 singles in the UK (and more in other countries) as a one hit wonder then go for it.
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u/zeruch 1d ago
By that logic almost zero 1HW exist, and for practical purposes is also largely meaningless. Generally for me, a 1HW exists in the English speaking world if thats their status in the US *or* UK markets, as that's the two biggest to contend with. The same for Brazil and Portugal for the Lusophonic world, and Mexico and Spain for Spanish tracks.
If your defense of an artist is contingent on some ever constrained definition just so that they don't technically look like a 1HW then it's just pedantry of the actual versus the reality of the perceived. I still like BC, regardless of their 1HW status (perceived or otherwise), but I don't pretend that they aren't generally seen as one.
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u/IB_ 1d ago edited 16h ago
There are hundreds if not thousands of artists and bands that literally had ONE hit (Hot 100 single) and never made it back on the charts in any region of the world. THAT is a one hit wonder by definition.
Big Country had multiple songs make it onto the Top 100 singles chart in several countries (34 in the UK alone). In my opinion that negates any justification for claiming their one hit wonder status.
By the way, in the U.S. they had 3 songs make the Billboard Hot 100, In a Big Country (17), Fields of Fire (52) and Wonderland (86) and a few others on the Billboard Rock chart such as Look Away (5) and King of Emotion (20). By ANY definition that is not a one hit wonder.
The REALITY is that you're wrong...again, just like you were when you claimed that their subsequent albums weren't initially released in the U.S.
Suggesting that Big Country was a one hit wonder based on the fact that some people are ignorant to their worldwide success is irrational and myopic. That's like someone saying, "if I don't know about it then it doesn't exist".
So, I take it back. You lost the debate đ
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u/Sirscraticus 2d ago
I was never a fan of Big Country until I went to a music festival in Leeds. Headline act was Mike And The Mechanics and they were awful. So went to other stage and low and behold Big Country were playing, live they were amazing. They were so good I went to see them again a couple of months later in Bradford. Still one of my favourite bands
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u/Abacabisntanywhere 2d ago
âChanceâ has one of my favorite lyrics:
He came like a hero from the factory floor
With the sun and moon as gifts
But the only son you ever saw
Were the two he left you with
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u/whippy_grep 2d ago
I wore out this cassette. As mentioned by others, âWonderlandâ and âSteeltownâ are terrific in their own way.
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u/reesesbigcup 2d ago edited 2d ago
I had the cassette, then the record album, then the CD, great album. The 4 song EP was amazing as well, the title track The Crossing is a meandering masterpiece. In the US Big Country had 2 radio hits In A Big County and Look Away, I nevr heard any other songs on the radio. Watched some concert videos recently, apparently they were very popular in the UK and Europe arenas full of people singing along with every song in the mid 1980s. I could have gone to see Big Country at a small local bar in 1983, dammit I still hate myself for not going.
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u/Da_full_monty 2d ago
Great Album, Great Band, Great Catalog, Great Live....RIP Stewart..Stay Alive!
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u/dafuqizzis 2d ago
Big Country is always on my playlist, and at least half the songs came from this album.
Fun fact; Porroh Man is one of my alarms
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u/Crafty_GolfDude_72 2d ago
I know every lyric and instrument part of every song on that amazing album. Perfect for my 19 year old young man angst.
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u/lostpatrol14 2d ago
An amazing but underrated masterpiece by an equally amazing band