I don't have the right business cards to be Patrick Bateman, but I do appreciate "uncool" 80s music like he does.

Yep. My wife heard that Slade song for the first time last year and asked me if it was Big Country (knowing I've been a BC fanatic for 30 years). Now she knows better.

The e-bow didn't make the "bagpipe" sound. I don't know the technical aspects, since I'm a drummer, but that sound came from a combination of effects pedals. The e-bow created that eerie high-pitched sound (like U2 later used on "With Or Without You").

"Porrohman" has always been a highlight of their first album and their live shows. Basically, it's Big Country does prog-rock. I wish more people knew about this. Thanks for sharing it here.

Yes yes yes. Another of my favorite bands from the '80s. They only had two albums but they were both brilliant (and recommended for anyone who enjoys Prefab Sprout). The lead singer, Gary Clark, did some excellent solo work and has since gone on to write hits for other people. But thank you for bringing up the sadly…

Almost true. The album was called "The Crossing." Still, most people probably think the song is called "Big Country" and not "In A Big Country." All I know is, my musical life changed the first time I heard the song on the radio in '83, and I've been a disciple of the band ever since.

Always nice to see a positive article on my favorite band of the last 30 years, even if it does focus on the one song that most people know them for, in the US at least. They released 8 studio albums during Stuart Adamson's lifetime, and enough brilliant b-sides (that were every bit as good as their album tracks) to…

Yep, my old-school terminology made its way to the deep recesses of my brain. I had totally forgotten about how mailing lists worked (I used to be part of a Big Country list, which is fitting here since their debut "The Crossing" certainly belonged on this list of 1983 albums).  Can I return to the 21st century now?…

Oh, so it's no longer a live discussion? I've been too busy revisiting their catalog & writing about it for the past month that I've only been able to read certain pages at the site (the details they provide for each release are very informative). They've also been nice enough to highlight my posts in their News feed,…

Actually, chalkhills.org exists as a website with a discussion page and basically anything you could ever want/need to know about XTC. That site was extremely helpful as I worked my way through their catalog. I highly recommend a visit to anyone with even a passing interest in XTC.

Several of my friends are XTC fans, and have been for a lot longer than me (I didn't really start listening to them until 1989), and everyone has a different list of essential XTC albums. For me, that list would include Black Sea, English Settlement, Skylarking, Oranges & Lemons and Apple Venus Volume 1 (with Nonsuch,…

I'm not the kind of collector who needs to have every pressing of every release from every country, although I know there are many of those people out there (I see lots of them posting on the Big Country Facebook page). I have to imagine that I've got all of the songs from this release, which is the important thing.…

For what it's worth to anyone who's hesitant to buy the new 5.1 versions, Steven Wilson is a genius when it comes to surround sound mixes. I own dozens of albums, old & new, in 5.1 and no one has come close to doing what he does: literally surrounding the listener with the music rather than putting various sounds in…

I don't have that Japanese import but I have every UK 12", US & UK 7" and tons of live recordings, b-side collections, etc. I have several versions of "Tracks Of My Tears," so I'm wondering if the Japanese version is exclusive to that release.

Lots of good choices on this list, but no "The Crossing" by BIG COUNTRY? Sure, they're my favorite band of the last 30 years so I'm a bit biased, but it's one of the great debut albums of all time and certainly among the best albums of the '80s…let alone 1983.

Couldn't agree more. A great album XTC album that I had overlooked for some reason until recently. Would it be inappropriate for me to plug my just-completed blog series where I revisited the XTC catalog? Seems like there are other fans here who might enjoy it. Here's where I started: http://kamertunesblog.wordp…

Very true. By the time I saw them in '81, I believe they had a new drummer (Rick Downey?). My 15-year-old self thought he was "amazing," but in hindsight he was simply adequate. Still, there's no denying it was a fantastic show, but "Fire Of Unknown Origin" is the last album of theirs I truly loved. Those early…

Nice feature on one of my favorite BOC songs. Thanks for pointing it out. I missed it when it was originally posted.

BOC was one of my first concerts, at the Nassau Coliseum back in '81. Great show from a great band. The quality of their records slipped soon after that, but they've got a great catalog and Lanier was an important part of it. I wonder if the AV Club would've posted this were it not for the "more cowbell" sketch from…

Well played, Hairy (referencing a song of hers I love). I've continued to enjoy everything she's released…I never tire of hearing her one-of-a-kind voice…although nothing has had the impact on me that those first few Virgin albums did.