The Big Express
| The Big Express | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by XTC | ||||
| Released | 15 October 1984 | |||
| Recorded | Early 1984 at Crescent Studios, Bath, England | |||
| Genre | New wave, pop rock | |||
| Length | 53:24 | |||
| Label | Virgin Records | |||
| Producer |
David Lord and XTC Photography Gavin Cochrane | |||
| XTC chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from The Big Express | ||||
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Robert Christgau | (B) [2] |
The Big Express is the seventh studio album by the English band XTC, released in 1984. It was one of XTC's harder-edged albums, in contrast to the pastoral Mummer and Skylarking which were released in sequence with it. Initial copies of the LP were released in a round sleeve. Working titles considered for the album were Coalface, Head of Steam, Shaking Skin House, Bastard Son of Hard Blue Rayhead, The Known World, and Bull with the Golden Guts.[3]
The singles released from the album were "All You Pretty Girls" (released 3 September 1984 and reached No. 55 on the UK Singles Chart),[4] "This World Over" (released 29 October 1984) and "Wake Up" (released 28 January 1985). The album reached No. 38 on the UK Albums Chart,[4] and No. 181 on the U.S. Billboard 200.
The band made a big-budget promotional video for "All You Pretty Girls", and appeared on the BBC-TV programme Saturday Superstore with lip-synch performances of "This World Over" and "All You Pretty Girls".
The seventh track, "I Bought Myself a Liarbird" is about their former manager, Ian Reid. The fourth track, "Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her, Kiss Her" was written by Partridge on the band's mellotron. It inspired the name of the Japanese indie rock band, Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her.
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Andy Partridge, except where noted.
UK LP: V 2325
| Side A | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "Wake Up" | Colin Moulding | 4:40 |
| 2. | "All You Pretty Girls" | 3:40 | |
| 3. | "Shake You Donkey Up" | 4:19 | |
| 4. | "Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her, Kiss Her" | 3:50 | |
| 5. | "This World Over" | 5:37 | |
| Side B | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "The Everyday Story of Smalltown" | 3:53 | |
| 2. | "I Bought Myself a Liarbird" | 2:49 | |
| 3. | "Reign of Blows" | 3:27 | |
| 4. | "You're the Wish You Are I Had" | 3:17 | |
| 5. | "I Remember the Sun" | Moulding | 3:10 |
| 6. | "Train Running Low on Soul Coal" | 5:19 | |
2001 Remastered CD: CDVX 2325
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Wake Up" | Colin Moulding | 4:40 |
| 2. | "All You Pretty Girls" | 3:40 | |
| 3. | "Shake You Donkey Up" | 4:19 | |
| 4. | "Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her, Kiss Her" | 3:50 | |
| 5. | "This World Over" | 5:37 | |
| 6. | "The Everyday Story of Smalltown" | 3:53 | |
| 7. | "I Bought Myself a Liarbird" | 2:49 | |
| 8. | "Reign of Blows" | 3:27 | |
| 9. | "You're the Wish You Are I Had" | 3:17 | |
| 10. | "I Remember the Sun" | Moulding | 3:10 |
| 11. | "Train Running Low on Soul Coal" | 5:19 | |
| 12. | "Red Brick Dream" | 2:01 | |
| 13. | "Washaway" | Moulding | 3:01 |
| 14. | "Blue Overall" | 4:26 |
Personnel
- Andy Partridge - vocals, guitar, Linn LM-1
- Colin Moulding - vocals, bass
- Dave Gregory - guitar, keyboard, piano
with:
- Peter Phipps - drums, percussion
- Stuart Gordon - violin, viola
- Annie Huchrak - female choir voice on "Wake Up"
- Steve Saunders - euphonium on "Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her, Kiss Her"
References
- ↑ Woodstra, Chris. "Review: XTC - The Big Express". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Review: XTC - The Big Express". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ↑ "XTC on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
- 1 2 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 612. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.