Oh, the rain came down on a cold new town

Mark Hitchins challenged me with the "10 albums, no explanation" nonsense and my initial thought was "No" - I don't like the arbitrary number or (particularly) the lack of explanation.

However, if you're interested, I can give you about 15 albums with some brief explanation. If you're not interested, then move along now...

So, in true contrarian fashion, I'm starting with 2 related albums - Big Country's first 2 albums, The Crossing (1983) and Steeltown (1984). The Crossing just takes me back to the days of having the worlds largest record player (kids these days just wouldn't believe how big they used to be!) and playing it very, very loud. It was the singles that drew me in, but I actually prefer a lot of the album tracks - "The Storm", "Lost Patrol" and (in particular) "Porrohman" (especially fine when listened to in the dark).

Steeltown is less widely regarded than The Crossing, but merits inclusion for being the first album I remember being excited about before release - I was straight down Our Price when it was released (something else kids these days won't understand). And fortunately, it didn't disappoint - I rarely revisit it, but when I do I'm joyously transported back to the year of my O levels (and I'm doing well to remember that long ago). Top tracks for me are "Flame of The West", "Girl with Grey Eyes" and "Just a Shadow" (with the latter having exceptionally poignant lyrics considering that Stuart Adamson later took his own life)

I had the pleasure of seeing Big Country perform both these albums on their respective 30th anniversary tours - The Steeltown was in The Fleece in Bristol which was a great night in a good venue, in the middle of a fun time working down there. And it seems utterly mad that we're now closer to the 40th anniversary tours.

Have either of these albums really shaped my musical taste? Not really, since it's not like they're going to lead you into discovering a whole other world where all bands have guitars that sound like bagpipes - but they both evoke many many happy memories. And who can ask for more than that?!?










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