Big Country “The Crossing” released on this date, July 15th, 1983. If the wind sweeping over the Great Moor of Rannoch in Scotland has a new wave soundtrack, it totally includes The Crossing, Big Country’s first studio album. The LP reached #3 in the UK and #18 in the US.

Big Country plays BIG music, like you need to be out on a windswept field in the middle of nowhere to truly experience it properly. “In a Big Country” was the album’s only big US hit, reaching #17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles chart. It was on MTV constantly and I loved it (though it was not filmed in Scotland but rather near Dorset in England). “Fields of Fire” is another track that evokes a wide-open spaces and anthemic sensation, with the same signature Big Country bagpipe sound that appears on “In a Big Country.” The band did not actually use bagpipes, however. Not even the synthesizers used by just about every other new wave band in the early 80′s. The bagpipe sound is a result of a heavily engineered MXR Pitch Transposer 129 guitar effect and an E-Bow. “Fields of Fire” was a major hit in the UK, reaching #10 (it made it to #52 in the US). The entire album is infused with that same spirit of grandeur, most especially “Harvest Home,” Big Country’s debut single released in ‘82.