The Seer

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Those who scoured the credits on record sleeves might, at first, have thought Millar an unusual choice. At that point, he was best known as the multi-million-selling studio mastermind behind Sade's Diamond Life as well as the wistful, jazz-inspired pop of Working Week, Everything But The Girl and The Pale Fountains. However, as an inveterate pop theorist,

Robin was very good for the band," explained Adamson. "He brought out the space and melody. That was a direction we wanted to go in. We felt we wanted to be a bit more airy with this album and have a bit more room in it." RPM 100 Albums". RPM. archived at Library and Archives Canada. 44 (26). 20 September 1986 . Retrieved 20 September 2011. Proper Records are delighted to make again available the first three albums from the much-loved Big Country. Originally released on Mercury Records between 1983 and 1986, these records – The Crossing, Steeltown, and The Seer – sound as striking and singular now as they did when first heard.Going into our third album was a daunting out exciting prospect," remembers bassist ony Butler. "The fantastic thing about Robin as that, after a very short period of time, we'd aII forged a special bond with him. He was early in tune with the band. It was a joy to ork with him." The album was given two separate mixes. The first was done by producer Robin Millar with the input of the band. This mix was rejected by the band's record label for being not commercial enough, and Walter Turbitt was brought in to remix the album. Turbitt's mix, which was eventually released, was disliked by the band, as it had more overtly poppy elements (such as added reverberation) in contrast to Millar's drier, crisper mix. The original mix remains unreleased, with the exception of "Look Away," the single version of which was released before the remix had been completed. She was amazing," agreed Adamson. "She's a perfectionist. She won't give up until she's absolutely satisfied with what she's done. She has a lot of dedication." Millar remembers his mix of The Seer as one that highlighted Adamson's sensitivity as a songwriter. "I wanted it to be like a conversation between Stuart and Kate," he reveals. "The mandolin and bodhran were in the middle, totally dry, with Stuart's vocal to the left and Kate's to the right. My starting point. as always, was remembering him sitting on the little corner sofa in Studio 1 with a borrowed acoustic, singing these songs to me on his own. I felt that the band could complement his songs in a different way and really deliver something new a b c d e f g h i Colin Larkin, ed. (2003). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music (Thirded.). Virgin Books. pp.60/1. ISBN 1-85227-969-9.

The "hugely enjoyable" recording sessions seemed to have paid off in April 1986 when Millar's mix of Look Away - a song inspired by the Bruce Dern movie Harry Tracy - gave Big Country their biggest UK hit, climbing to No7 in the charts.

would be right to do a Steeltown Pt II with The Seer." After reading Millar's comments, they knew they had found someone they could work with. DeCurtis, Anthony (28 August 1986). "Big Country: The Seer". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media (RS 481). ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the original on 13 June 2008. Cherry Red Records – The Journey, Big Country". Cherryred.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 April 2014 . Retrieved 8 April 2014. Their second album Steeltown (1984) was a hit as soon as it was released, entering the UK Albums Chart at No. 1. [3] The album featured three UK top 30 hit singles, and received considerable critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, but like Wonderland (and, in fact, all subsequent releases) it was a commercial disappointment in the US, peaking at No. 70 on the Billboard album chart. [6] In 1991, the band was dropped by Mercury and its distributor Phonogram, the companies that had released all of their material since 1983. After that, Big Country became a minor act, popping up in the lower echelons of the charts in the UK and Europe with the release of every subsequent album. [1] Only one of these, 1993's The Buffalo Skinners, received a major label release (via Chrysalis Records), and it seemed a return to form of sorts for the band, reaching the UK Top 25. [3] The album obtained enthusiastic critical response, and although it produced two UK Top 30 singles in " Alone" and " Ships", [3] its sales were meagre. In June 1995, Big Country released their seventh studio album, Why the Long Face. [13]