The Big Express

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Partridge, Andy; Bernhardt, Todd (2016). Complicated Game: Inside the Songs of XTC. Jawbone Press. ISBN 978-1-908279-78-1. Andy Partridge (Part 2) - Episode 27". YouTube. The ProgCast With Gregg Bendian . Retrieved 24 February 2022. Bernhardt, Todd; Partridge, Andy (11 May 2008). "Andy discusses 'Rook' ". Chalkhills . Retrieved 30 October 2018. In late 1983, XTC released the holiday single " Thanks for Christmas" under the pseudonym Three Wise Men. It was produced by David Lord, owner of Crescent Studios in Bath, who impressed the band with the story that he had turned down an offer to arrange the Beatles' " She's Leaving Home" (1967). [11] He met Partridge while working as an engineer on The Naked Shakespeare. According to biographer Neville Farmer, Lord was "a world's away from XTC", having turned down the Beatles offer because he believed the Beatles were not serious musicians, and "made a deep

Christgau, Robert (25 June 1985). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice . Retrieved 19 June 2011. a b "UK Official Charts: The Big Express". Official Charts Company. 2017 . Retrieved 27 February 2017. a b Bernhardt, Todd; Partridge, Andy (11 August 2008). "Andy discusses 'You're the Wish You Are I Had' ". Chalkhills. The Big Express is the seventh entry in the band’s “ Surround Sound Series” reissue campaign that began in 2013 with 1992’s Nonsuch. These releases have long been championed by immersive music fans due to their comprehensive and affordability nature, with each of the two-disc sets containing a Blu-Ray disc with new stereo & 5.1 surround sound renditions by mixing maestro Steven Wilson.a b Bernhardt, Todd; Partridge, Andy (17 February 2008). "Andy discusses 'The Everyday Story of Smalltown' ". Chalkhills. The Big Express (liner notes). XTC. Virgin Records. 1984. {{ cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) ( link) Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrateded.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p.344. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. a b c d e f Bernhardt, Todd; Partridge, Andy (8 July 2007). "Andy discusses 'Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her, Kiss Her' ". Chalkhills. Nearly every single song on here (with the exception of This World Over, and maybe I Remember the Sun) are insane dense miniature sound worlds of pop songs. Played up up up, booming like crazy, and pummeling you with themselves. It's like walking into a room of full grown dogs that act like puppies and just being enthusiastically body slammed by them one after the other. And some of them are huskies, so they're constantly noisy too. If that sounds like a miserable experience? Consider this all tampered by these truly being some grand songs under it all. And distinct ones! Because all this noisy hubbub isn't exactly random, there's some reason behind it all!

Brasor, Phillip (16 March 1999). "XTC colors songs with earthy palette". The Japan Times . Retrieved 22 September 2018. impression on Andy. He hadn't had a musical guru before now. David Lord could hold his own in any musical conversation and piqued Andy's interests in unexplored musical areas." [12] Moulding was not as effused and said he was unable to relate to Lord on a musical level. [13] XTC subsequently negotiated a deal that allowed them to work as much as they want on their next album at his studio. [8] In April 1984, about a month into the new album sessions, the group learned that ex-manager Ian Reid had incurred them an outstanding value-added tax bill of several hundred thousand pounds, and they immediately pursued litigation that would last for the next five years. [14] David Lord adds: "This story about me turning down the Beatles as 'not serious musicians' is nonsense! I think it grew from something I told Andy once - as a music student in the days when 'Sargeant Pepper' was being recorded, a number of us were invited to be part of the cheering crowd at Abbey Road; sadly I was already committed elsewhere and couldn't make it! That's all!" The Big Express was XTC’s seventh studio album, originally released in October 1984 through Virgin Records.

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. By the standards he had set for himself over the preceding three albums, Colin wasn't on top form for Mummer. Even though he only gets two credits here, he more than makes up for it. "I Remember The Sun" inverts the theme of his English Settlement b-side "Blame The Weather" in brilliant fashion. Andy does many thing's better than his partner in rhyme but Colin is, I think, the master of nostalgia. He also pens the explosive opener, one of his best singles, which employs a choir to rub the sleep from the eyes of the listener and set them up for the rest of the record.

We play the songs much too loud Mark Fisher, Mark Reed, David White in What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast Products Album and Additional Mixes by Steven Wilson [Dolby Atmos TrueHD 7.1, DTS HD-MA 5.1, and 24/96 LPCMStereo], 2023 Instrumental Mix [24/96 LPCM Stereo] [00:54:18] + [00:53:57] 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. The Big Express is quite possibly XTC's most polarizing LP, unlike much of their work from that dreaded decade the 80's The Big Express actually sounds like a quintessential 80's album, all fairlight synths and Linn drum machines, yet it also remains quintessentially XTC, however it's harsh, metallic, abstract production manages to make it sound fairly unique when compared to other records made in 1985, the album seems to be a celebration of the industrial age and more pertinently the passing of the steam train that Swindon, their home town, existed for and the subsequent loss of income and personality that would engulf such a place due to it's passing. This 80s sound puts off a lot of fans but dig deeper and The Big Express reveals itself as one of XTC deepest albums. If Mummer had been a tentative step towards experimental studio based recordings The Big Express is a full on aural assault.Farmer, Neville (1998). XTC: Song Stories: The Exclusive Authorized Story Behind the Music. London: Helter Skelter Publishing. ISBN 190092403X.

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.Similar to “Shake You Donkey Up,” “Reign Of Blows” felt cluttered in its original stereo incarnation–but in this new Dolby Atmos presentation, there’s finally room for each element to be heard distinctly. The LinnDrum percussion thunders in from upfront, while handclaps circle around above and electric guitars fill up the side surrounds. Partridge’s vocals–processed through a guitar amp for a more aggressive, violent sound–are spread across the front soundstage, with Moulding’s harmonies popping up from behind. XTC in 1984 were not the chart-busting force they had been from 1978-1982 when their brand of angular but highly infectious pop regularly graced the charts. What many critics consider their finest album, the excellent English Settlement, had been released two years previously but since then there had been a few changes.