The Big Express

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The Big Express was XTC’s seventh studio album, originally released in October 1984 through Virgin Records. a b "UK Official Charts: The Big Express". Official Charts Company. 2017 . Retrieved 27 February 2017. 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. 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. 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.

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. Fuzzy Warbles Collector's Edition (liner). Andy Partridge. Ape Records. 2006. {{ cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) ( link) 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 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.Partridge, Andy; Bernhardt, Todd (2016). Complicated Game: Inside the Songs of XTC. Jawbone Press. ISBN 978-1-908279-78-1. Christgau, Robert (25 June 1985). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice . Retrieved 19 June 2011. Bernhardt, Todd; Partridge, Andy (19 August 2007). "Andy discusses "All of a Sudden (It's Too Late)" ". Chalkhills. a b c Bernhardt, Todd; Gregory, Dave (24 February 2008). "Dave remembers 'Smalltown' ". Chalkhills.

We play the songs much too loud Mark Fisher, Mark Reed, David White in What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast Products 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. s Apple Venus was originally intended to follow in 2020, but the project was ultimately canceled due to the source material being woefully incomplete.

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. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th conciseed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8. a b Bernhardt, Todd; Partridge, Andy (4 March 2007). "Andy discusses 'All You Pretty Girls' ". Chalkhills. 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 ]

Although the LP reached a higher chart position than Mummer, [53] it sold a lesser number of copies. [54] The album spent two weeks on the UK charts, reaching number 38. [55] In the US, the album spent 7 weeks on the Billboard 200 album charts and reached its peak position of number 178 in December 1984. [56] Farmer, Neville (1998). XTC: Song Stories: The Exclusive Authorized Story Behind the Music. London: Helter Skelter Publishing. ISBN 190092403X.The heart of "The Big Express" lies in its captivating storytelling and autobiographical elements, reflecting the hopes, dreams, and memories of the band members. Join Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding, and Dave Gregory as they invite listeners into their world through a vibrant post-punk soundscape. Whereas 1983’s Mummer leaned further into their pastoral acoustic side, The Big Express–as its title cleverly implies–goes ‘full steam ahead’ with some of the band’s most ambitiously-arranged uptempo songs to date. I’d argue that it’s kind of an interesting transitional work in their career, retaining some of the frenetic quirky energy of past outings while also showcasing the more-mature songwriting and sophisticated production that characterizes much of their later work.