Big Country - The Crossing

For a while, producer Steve Lillywhite was a machine. From his earlier work with Peter Gabriel to U2, where I first read his name in their liner notes, the guy was at the helm of some incredible albums. Then, in the summer of '83, a very strange song hit the airwaves. "In a Big Country" was big and bombastic and had these melt-your-face electric bagpipes. A lot of people really liked this song. It was a big hit, going top five here in Canada, and the album went platinum here and in the UK and gold in the US.

Being the contrarian I was, I treated their hit the way I treated songs by Culture Club. I just turned it off or changed the station. Still, there was a begrudging respect. These guys were proud Scots, and their mix of traditional and rock music was, quite frankly, pretty freakin' awesome.

One of the cool things now, in listening to this album in its entirety for the first time, is how cohesive the songs are as a listening experience. I love that the credits actually highlight both Bruce and Stuart's use of an E-bow, which is used to great effect throughout the album. An E-bow is essentially a small handheld sustainer you hold over the bridge pickup, and it acts as a virtual bow, allowing you to have endless notes (sustain, hence it being a sustainer) with harmonic overtones. I have one, and to get really good at it takes practice. I need more practice.

I remember my old roommate playing a cassette copy of their follow-up, Steeltown, that I liked at the time. Still, for most people - and I'll have to lump myself into this category too - The Crossing is the album people associate with the band.

It is a solid album, and if I find more from their discography in the bins, I'll pick them up. This one only took me just shy of forty years to pick up.

Sadly, Stuart Adamson took his life in 2001—he was only 43.

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