Christgau, Robert (25 June 1985). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice . Retrieved 19 June 2011. 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. 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.

The Big Express was XTC’s seventh studio album, originally released in October 1984 through Virgin Records. Dave Gregory – guitar, Yamaha CP-80 electric grand piano, Mellotron, Prophet-5 and Roland JX-3P synthesizers, E-mu Emulator 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 Bernhardt, Todd; Partridge, Andy (16 March 2008). "Andy discusses 'River of Orchids' ". Chalkhills . Retrieved 29 October 2018. They no longer played live, the punishing schedule they’d endured for years had led to Andy Partridge suffering a stress related illness and taking the brave but creditable decision to quit touring for self-preservation. In a separate development, powerhouse drummer Terry Chambers had quit to start a new life in Australia, which left Partridge, Colin Moulding and Dave Gregory to operate a guerrilla rearguard in defence of musical innovation from their Swindon hide-out. This they have managed to do successfully into 21st Century, producing along the way rare album gems such as 1986’s Skylarking and 1999’s Apple Venus (which I think Andy Partridge would nominate as their best) and successfully going ‘on strike’ against their Virgin label.

Barcode and Other Identifiers

Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrateded.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p.344. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

I Bought Myself A Liarbird is an odd foray into suburban jazz, slight and more than a little bitter, for once the arrangement seems at odds with Partridge's biting lyrics whilst his ode to Pepper era Beatles on You're The Wish You Are I Had seems to be a strange detour, not the greatest song to begin with it jars and feels even weaker when placed before Colin's much superior I Remember The Sun. a b "UK Official Charts: The Big Express". Official Charts Company. 2017 . Retrieved 27 February 2017.

Release

a b Bernhardt, Todd; Partridge, Andy (17 February 2008). "Andy discusses 'The Everyday Story of Smalltown' ". Chalkhills. The remixes also add some much-needed ‘warmth’ to the album, smoothing out some of the brittle highs in the digital percussion and applying newfound presence and ‘punch’ to the rhythm section. The big tom-tom rolls across the rear speakers in “Wake Up” that used to sound thin in the original stereo presentation are now thunderous.

a b c d e f Bernhardt, Todd; Partridge, Andy (8 July 2007). "Andy discusses 'Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her, Kiss Her' ". Chalkhills.Harrison, Andrew. "XTC: English Settlement". Q. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007 . Retrieved 19 June 2011. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th conciseed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8. 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.