watch canute and his bride: BIG COUNTRY 'THE CROSSING' poll

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed

in the ongoing survey of albums-i-loved-when-i-was-15...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3279/2876401969_866df71184.jpg?v=0

Poll Results

OptionVotes
"In a Big Country" – 4:44 6
"Chance" – 4:26 5
"Fields of Fire" – 3:31 4
"Close Action" – 4:15 1
"Lost Patrol" – 4:52 1
"Harvest Home" – 4:19 1
"The Storm" – 6:19 1
"Inwards" – 4:36 1
"Porrohman" – 7:52 1
"1000 Stars" – 3:50 0


would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 17:59 (seventeen years ago)

just got this on cd for the first time. remastered, but sounds kinda punched and cramped compared to the warm haze of the vinyl. still love the tunes though. i don't know if this album is loved by guitar geeks, but it should be.

would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 18:04 (seventeen years ago)

was partly inspired to this by some of the metal i've been listening to lately, where it seems to me i hear a lot of big country touches. not that i think they were an influence on anyone, exactly, but the hugeness of their guitars and maybe some of their melodic structures, i hear some similar stuff in some torche and even wolves in the throne room. (could be also that a lot of black metal and metal in general has incorporated celtic-ish chord patterns. i really don't know. i just hear these phrases that make me think "big country.")

would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 18:09 (seventeen years ago)

I predict the first song wins in a staggering, bagpipe-accompanied landslide.

Alex in NYC, Wednesday, 15 April 2009 18:10 (seventeen years ago)

Was "Look Away" not on this record?

Alex in NYC, Wednesday, 15 April 2009 18:10 (seventeen years ago)

http://www.hauntingmids.com/forum/Smileys/default/love.gif

big country love is a pretty small corner of the guitar geek world but it does exist and dudes are true blue about it. imho an original and tasty player i should study more.

ps this is a tough one... looking forward to Steeltown and the Seer... those will be easier

butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 18:11 (seventeen years ago)

"look away" is on the third album. (which is good, but i don't love like i love the first two.)

and "in a big country" will win, sure, and i love it plenty. but it's about my 5th or 6th favorite song here.

this one might be my favorite. recently found this clip, which i'd never seen. epic.

would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 18:12 (seventeen years ago)

Alex, "Look Away" is on The Seer and will be getting my vote.

I think. Kate Bush and a killer riff make the title track a dark horse.

butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 18:13 (seventeen years ago)

"Inwards" is such a fucking gorgeous, intense song that beats Tears for Fears at their own game but without being 'wussy.' I mean just the intro rains down four ripping, emotional hooks. The drums in the verses are such a good balance to his rich, slightly melancholy voice. It's one of those songs where the lyrics seem brilliant even though you don't know them because everything carrying them is just so damn good.

Srsly that is like one of my top 20 faves songs.

fillibustar superstar! (Abbott), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 18:15 (seventeen years ago)

"in a big country" will win, sure, and i love it plenty. but it's about my 5th or 6th favorite song here.

OTM. This is a band I like in spite of their biggest song.

butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 18:15 (seventeen years ago)

They seem so proud and cool and 'real' in a way most bands don't. And maybe they seem more like a secret treat in America where they're just known for the title track, but I adore them so much. One of the main bands I wish I could've seen live.

fillibustar superstar! (Abbott), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 18:17 (seventeen years ago)

me too. and otm about "inwards." "i pull everything inward but everything's loose." i think stuart adamson got cornier as he went along, but his best lyrics are good, like intimate anthems. i thought this album was sort of mysterious when i was a kid, with all those little black and white ink drawings on the sleeve and you can never tell quite what a lot of the songs are about.

and the drums, yeah. i call them a guitar band, but they had one of the best rock rhythm sections of the '80s.

would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 18:25 (seventeen years ago)

Mark Brzezizowie! amirite?

(Speaking of bands I like in spite of their biggest song, it appears that the only Furs rekd that's been polled is Mirror Moves... /derail)

butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 18:29 (seventeen years ago)

Was 'Chance' the one with the 'Oh Lord, where did the feeling go?' chorus? That one always used to be a bit of a crowd anthem at their concerts.

Used to be a huge fan of Big Country when I was around 15 too and was lucky enough to see them live. Might have to dig out the vinyl copy of this and give it a listen for the first time in probably 20 years before voting. Looking at the track titles and going from memory I'd say 'Fields of Fire' would be getting my vote at the moment.

groovypanda, Wednesday, 15 April 2009 18:38 (seventeen years ago)

Yes that song is 'Chance.'

fillibustar superstar! (Abbott), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 19:01 (seventeen years ago)

It was "Chance" when I was a teenager but tbh I can't remember most of these songs now.

Pat Phoenix Wright, Messageboard Attorney (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 19:17 (seventeen years ago)

"chance" is good. probably my favorite big country ballad (tho "girl with grey eyes" is pretty nice too.)

and good for a chuckle: kurt loder's rolling stone review. rockism ahoy:

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.

would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 21:02 (seventeen years ago)

I think. Kate Bush and a killer riff make the title track a dark horse.

Okay wait, what in the living fuck are you talking about? You mean she...*looks at google*...holy hell. How did I not fucking know this before???

I love this band, damnit. So glad people are talking about them.

Take The Gothheads Bowling (Bimble), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 21:09 (seventeen years ago)

HOW THE FUCK DID I NOT KNOW THIS BEFORE THAT KATE BUSH DOES THE BACKING VOCALS ON THAT??? NO ONE TOLD ME THIS. As a Kate Bush fan, I hang my head in shame. Holy shit, I'll never live it down.

Take The Gothheads Bowling (Bimble), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 21:17 (seventeen years ago)

What the hell happened to them in Amerikay? Gold debut album, Top 20 single, constant rotation on MTV and rock radio. Then pffft.

The break in "In a Big Country" is one of my favorite bits of guitar ever -- sounds more like a car screech.

I'm crossing over into enterprise (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 21:36 (seventeen years ago)

yeah, it's like America just didn't care outside of "In A Big Country". I remember hearing that on the radio for the first time. The DJ said "here's this new band called Big Country..." I don't really remember what I thought of it on first listen, though.

Take The Gothheads Bowling (Bimble), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 21:38 (seventeen years ago)

can't decide whether the "harvest home" or "fields of fire" riff is the iconic big country highland-reel riff. i think maybe "harvest home."

would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 21:41 (seventeen years ago)

When I was a kid I just assumed the video for "In a Big Country" was what adults got to do, if they were lucky. But I voted for "The Storm" for the thrilling drama of it.

the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 21:42 (seventeen years ago)

What the hell happened to them in Amerikay?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b8/Big_Country_-_Steeltown.jpg

butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 22:13 (seventeen years ago)

yeah, why the fuck didn't anyone care about that album? We've been through this before, and I did a whole review on my blog of it ages ago, but really, Steeltown is my go-to record of them to this day.

Take The Gothheads Bowling (Bimble), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 22:15 (seventeen years ago)

Drummer is awesome. He also plays on the Cult's "Love." My fave song is "Wonderland," from the EP of the same name, but there's really no beating the hit from this album, as beautiful/rousing as much of the other material is.

But from Christgau: "Regaled with martial rhythms, I always feel safer knowing exactly what the war's about."

Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 15 April 2009 22:24 (seventeen years ago)

where's glenn mcdonald when you need him? Big Country is like his favourite band...

jagged-electronically mäandernden underbody (Drugs A. Money), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 23:00 (seventeen years ago)

speaking of drums, one of my favorite moments on the album is the little two-beat stutter just as "harvest home" is fading out. it always used to make me think the record was skipping, but it's just brzezicki fucking around.

would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 16 April 2009 15:22 (seventeen years ago)

Inwards.

And I know what you're saying about hearing echoes of them in a few metal things, tipsy. There's some sort of e-bow-ish thing that a few black metal bands do I think.

The Unbearable Skegness of Being (NickB), Thursday, 16 April 2009 15:34 (seventeen years ago)

picked up this album again four years ago as i used to remember listening to my older brothers LP. holds up really well. its fucking great! the version ive got has more songs. 'angle park' and a ripping 12" version of 'fields of fire'.

Michael B, Friday, 17 April 2009 00:45 (seventeen years ago)

I'm voting for "Chance", but it's pointless taking either this (or Steeltown) apart. "Wonderland" has been my favorite individual Big Country song for the longest aggregate span of time, but "Angle Park" has had its turns, too. Agree on the metal thing; heard it last in some Blut Aus Nord stuff.

I still regularly get email from people who just discovered that Stuart killed himself and found their way in lonely grief to the oblique eulogy I wrote in my column at the time. This record is one of the important things humans have done.

glenn mcdonald, Friday, 17 April 2009 01:22 (seventeen years ago)

Yeah I wanted to make clear before, that Wonderland is the best song this band ever did, bar none.

Earl of Gothington Manor (Bimble), Friday, 17 April 2009 01:31 (seventeen years ago)

Also omg but where were you guys when I was having a total Big Country attack about 8 months ago? I couldn't even get any response, then.

Earl of Gothington Manor (Bimble), Friday, 17 April 2009 01:33 (seventeen years ago)

tend to agree on "wonderland." and was tempted to poll the cd version of this that adds the wonderland ep at the end, but that would have seemed weird. the crossing is a coherent album, it doesn't need to compete with "wonderland." but since it's been mentioned, let's see the video one more time...

would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Friday, 17 April 2009 01:35 (seventeen years ago)

xp haha bimble i think when you did that thread revive was the last time i posted the "wonderland" video.

would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Friday, 17 April 2009 01:36 (seventeen years ago)

xxpost

Also thanks Tipsy for that Porrohman You Tube clip upthread. That is from another universe than the milky way, man. My god.

Earl of Gothington Manor (Bimble), Friday, 17 April 2009 01:39 (seventeen years ago)

Goddamnit, I'm going to lose my mind over this band again. And it's all ILM's fault.

Earl of Gothington Manor (Bimble), Friday, 17 April 2009 01:42 (seventeen years ago)

Okay. I am calm. I'm going to try to stay calm. People seem to be more comfortable Bimble if he remains calm.

But that Porrohman video is the mother fucker of all mother fuckers. Music does not ever, EVER get any better than that, and I might have to kick my beloved Simple Minds off the stage for that one. I really don't know what else to say right now.

Earl of Gothington Manor (Bimble), Friday, 17 April 2009 02:59 (seventeen years ago)

to give a little love to songs that probably won't get any votes:

"1000 stars" has an awesome little riff, and the album's most ominous lyrics. this is the one that maybe most cries out for a full-on black-metal treatment. "lost patrol" has my favorite intro (i think -- the album's so full of great intros it's hard to say), and the most ominous lyrics that aren't "1000 stars." the e-bow really pushed to its keening-est. and "close action" is gorgeous, the sweetest song on the record and a 3/4 meter that doesn't exactly swing but has a nice lope to it.

would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Friday, 17 April 2009 04:54 (seventeen years ago)

"lost patrol" vs "close action" but forcing me to choose is cruel

butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Friday, 17 April 2009 06:04 (seventeen years ago)

butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Friday, 17 April 2009 06:23 (seventeen years ago)

butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Friday, 17 April 2009 06:26 (seventeen years ago)

Hm, just now discovering that the cassette I owned had a different track sequence than the vinyl. I remember reading the credits and wondering what the hell an "e-bow" was.

I choose "The Storm".

Myonga Vön Bontee, Friday, 17 April 2009 07:11 (seventeen years ago)

looking forward to Steeltown and the Seer... those will be easier...

Alex, "Look Away" is on The Seer and will be getting my vote.

upon further review, i'm insane. those will both be just as brutal and i have no idea what i'll be voting for.

butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Friday, 17 April 2009 07:42 (seventeen years ago)

"Chance" for me.
Yelled along to that one with much of the rest of the festival grouds on a dark rainy summer night in '88.

t**t, Friday, 17 April 2009 20:17 (seventeen years ago)

i love the way the guitars take off at the end of "chance." i tend to think of it as this pensive, mournful song, but it really turns sort of loud and angry.

would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Friday, 17 April 2009 20:29 (seventeen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Sunday, 19 April 2009 23:01 (seventeen years ago)

"Chance"

Geir Hongro, Monday, 20 April 2009 00:31 (seventeen years ago)

The real shame about Big Country is how often they get overshadowed by U2, both as college rock anthemists and as inventive/unconventional guitar hero vehicle. But of course there'd likely be no U2, let alone U2-sound, if there was no Skids, so ...

Josh in Chicago, Monday, 20 April 2009 01:06 (seventeen years ago)

there was a brief period after the crossing where they were talked about in tandem. but then u2 got huge and big country didn't. but i like the first couple big country albums better than any u2 albums.

would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Monday, 20 April 2009 01:40 (seventeen years ago)

I saw them on this tour in Tampa/St. Pete (forget which)

Dr Morbius, Monday, 20 April 2009 01:43 (seventeen years ago)

This thread made me d/l the album and listen for the first time in 20+ years. And it also made me wish i could change my vote to "Chance"

Myonga Vön Bontee, Monday, 20 April 2009 05:06 (seventeen years ago)

Those "bagpipe guitars" are cool indeed - but I wanna know how they created those brittle, percussive gamelan-like timbres.

Myonga Vön Bontee, Monday, 20 April 2009 05:16 (seventeen years ago)

sounds like chorus + delay

butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Monday, 20 April 2009 06:16 (seventeen years ago)

Hm, just like The Edge! (I think)

Myonga Vön Bontee, Monday, 20 April 2009 06:53 (seventeen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Monday, 20 April 2009 23:01 (seventeen years ago)

Those Darn Lurkers!

butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Monday, 20 April 2009 23:17 (seventeen years ago)

I don't think there's any reason to feel bad about this. "In a Big Country" is a fine, fine song.

glenn mcdonald, Tuesday, 21 April 2009 00:21 (seventeen years ago)

that's about the breakdown i would've expected. and i agree with the consensus that "1000 stars" is the weakest track, taken individually -- but i like it plenty in the context of the album.

would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 21 April 2009 02:43 (seventeen years ago)

memory plays tricks... after listening a few times I ended up as the sole "close action" vote for the reason tipsy mothra cites above (plus the riff is easy'n'fun to play), but "lost patrol" faded to mid-pack for me. in the end it was awfully close between "the storm" and "chance"... but I figured I'd be the only vote for "close action"

butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Tuesday, 21 April 2009 02:48 (seventeen years ago)

two people claimed to vote for the storm but it only got one vote! you will be hearing from my lawyers, signed norm coleman.

the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Tuesday, 21 April 2009 07:21 (seventeen years ago)

three years pass...

I would have voted for 'Inwards' if I'd participated in this poll, definitely. Bit gutted to see that and 'The Storm' underperformed in the poll, actually.

I know that all Big Country albums (especially Steeltown) have their fans, but for me this album is the best thing this band ever did!

The Jupiter 8 (Turrican), Friday, 30 November 2012 23:16 (thirteen years ago)


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.