Additional personnel: Christine Beveridge (vocals).

Producers: Big Country, Steve Lillywhite, Steve Churchyard.

Reissue producer: Bill Levenson.

Recorded in 1983. Includes liner notes by Stuart Adamson.

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

Personnel: Stuart Adamson (vocals, guitar, E-bow, piano); Bruce Watson (vocals, guitar, E-bow); Pretty Tony (vocals, bass guitar); Mark Brzezicki (vocals, drums, percussion); Christine Beveridge (vocals).

Audio Mixer: Jimmy Iovine.

Audio Remasterer: Suha Gur.

Liner Note Author: Stuart Adamson.

Recording information: Rak Studios (05/1983); The Manor (05/1983).

Photographer: Paul Cox.

In the first half of the 1980s, bands like U2 and the Waterboys hit it big with a passionate, widescreen approach that became known as "The Big Sound." Few did it bigger than Scotland's own Big Country, and their debut album, THE CROSSING, made them a proverbial overnight sensation. Singer Stuart Adamson (formerly of post-punk outfit the Skids) penned emotive anthems that rang out to the heavens via his and Bruce Watson's guitars, whose trademark Celtic-tinged sound was strikingly similar to that of bagpipes.

The album's singles, "Fields of Fire" and "In a Big Country," were surging fist-pumpers full of feeling and inspiration, charging ahead with the propulsion of drummer Mark Brzezicki's martial rhythms. Though the band would continue on for years (until their career was tragically ended by Adamson's 2001 suicide), they would never match the spark of their debut, one of the key rock albums of the '80s.

With producer Steve Lillywhite at the helm, Scotland's Big Country managed to deliver earnest, socially conscious arena anthems in a similar vein to U2 and The Alarm. The twist was their trademark bagpipe sound, achieved through the use of e-bow. The unique sound of "In a Big Country" garnered the band considerable attention and a Top 20 single in the U.S. The Crossing, however, is an album whose richness goes beyond the single. The more subdued "Chance" is more sparse and its personal lyrics are every bit as heartfelt as the more populist-inclined anthems like the wonderful "The Storm" or the thundering "Fields of Fire." The lyrics are straightforward and, despite the grand themes of many of the tracks, manage to steer clear of being overly pretentious. While this album earned the band a gold record, Big Country's sound and image (reinforced by the members tartan, checked shirts) resulted in them being tagged a novelty and they never duplicated their initial success in America. [The 2002 re-release includes several tracks not included on the original.] ~ Tom Demalon