Andy Partridge (Part 2) - Episode 27". YouTube. The ProgCast With Gregg Bendian . Retrieved 24 February 2022. 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] 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. All You Pretty Girls” scatters percussion and harmony vocals all throughout the listening space, with Andy Partridge's lead vocal nicely anchored to the center speaker. There’s a great moment during the chorus reprise at 2:25, when his harmony vocal (“write a little note…”) pops up directly behind the listener’s head. 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

After listening to the new 5.1 & Dolby Atmos mixes, it becomes abundantly clear that a traditional two-channel stereo soundstage was simply not enough to accurately express the band’s grandiose vision for this album. Though it’s obviously a retrofit surround sound experience, The Big Express translates so seamlessly into these immersive formats that it almost sounds like it was recorded with multichannel reproduction in mind. a b c d e f g h i j k l m Jennings, Dave (18 October 2014). "XTC: The Big Express – A Thirtieth Anniversary Celebration – album reappraisal". Louder Than War . Retrieved 24 October 2018.a b Kot, Greg (3 May 1992). "The XTC Legacy: An Appraisal". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 22 June 2016.

a b "UK Official Charts: The Big Express". Official Charts Company. 2017 . Retrieved 27 February 2017. Whereas 1983’s Mummer leaned further into their pastoral acoustic side, The Big Express–as its title cleverly implies–goes ‘full steam ahead’ with some of the band’s most ambitiously-arranged uptempo songs to date. I’d argue that it’s kind of an interesting transitional work in their career, retaining some of the frenetic quirky energy of past outings while also showcasing the more-mature songwriting and sophisticated production that characterizes much of their later work. Harrison, Andrew. "XTC: English Settlement". Q. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007 . Retrieved 19 June 2011. 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.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 year earlier in 1983 XTC had released the pastorally triumphant Mummer, an album that still serves as the perfect foil to The Big Express, Venus to Mars in the Solar System of the XTC catalogue. Drums have always been so essential to the XTC sound and Pete Phipps had stepped in for Mummer and kept the stool for The Big Express, and what a performance he turned in. There is a distinct hammering beat throughout the album, with the drums seemingly higher in the mix as the sounds conjure pictures of this great steam engine powering through the mid-80s landscape. This image is reinforced by the cover shots of the band dressed as engine drivers and a wheel-shaped sleeve design that I misguidedly thought at the time would be rare.

Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th conciseed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8. The intention for The Big Express was to "let the music have a more boisterous feel" and for the lyrics to be more worldly. [15] For the album title, Partridge wanting something that was reminiscent of his hometown Swindon, which was well-known for its railway repair workshop, the Swindon Works. [16] Working titles included Coalface, Head of Steam, Shaking Skin House, Bastard Son of Hard Blue Rayhead, The Known World, Bull with the Golden Guts, [17] Mindless Sax and Violins, and Under the Rusting North Star. [18] The Big Express was chosen for its double meaning, referring to express trains and artistic expression. [19] Partridge envisioned the record as "industrial pop. We come from a railway town, and I was like, 'Well, let's wallow in that; in the imagery and the sounds. Let's make an album that's riveted together and a bit rusty around the edges and is sort of like broken Victorian massive machinery.'" [20] He said that the record "might be a concept album by stealth" since most, if not all of the songs he and Moulding wrote were autobiographical to some extent. [21] Two were of a political bent (" This World Over" and "Reign of Blows"). [22] The majority of Partridge's songs were composed on an open E-tuned guitar [23] with a broken E string. [24] LinnDrum samples are a prominent feature of the album Christgau, Robert (25 June 1985). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice . Retrieved 19 June 2011.

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Mummer had sounded flat and slightly lifeless but for The Big Express and in keeping with the themes prevalent on the album XTC opted for a harsher, mettalic edgy sound that recalled earlier works like Go2 and Drums And Wires yet managed to still sound unique, exciting and new. Thanks to it's production and choice of subject matter The Big Express may well be XTC's artiest album, a fully formed concept whose musical arrangements and production perfectly mirror it's lyrical content. music’ is a phrase that seems to conjure up some very negative images nowadays. Yet as all Louder Than War readers will know, this was actually a hugely creative period in British music with a range of outstanding albums delivered. One of the most underrated in my opinion, and one that never dates because it floats above any genre categorisation, is XTC’s The Big Express. It doesn’t need this article to make the case for this band being our most undervalued, the evidence is repeatedly clear in a string of classic, innovative and hugely influential albums. It’s 30 years this week since The Big Express was released, in some ways a product of its time, but in many others, completely timeless. We play the songs much too loud Mark Fisher, Mark Reed, David White in What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast Products 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.