XTC - The Big Express CD + 5.1 / hi-res Blu-ray (expanded / remixed)
SKU
23-APEBDA 107
New 2023 mix by Steven Wilson in Stereo, 5.1 surround AND for the 1st time for XTC, in Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio.
CD features the complete album newly mixed plus 3 additional tracks.
Blu-Ray includes:-
• Newly mixed material as per CD in Hi-Res Stereo, 5.1 Surround & Dolby Atmos
• 2023 stereo out-takes & instrumental mixes in Hi-Res stereo
• The original album + additional tracks in Hi-Res stereo
• The complete album & more in demo form
“The Big Express is the closest we ever came to recording a 'concept' album. It’s full of Swindon and deep seams of life there, that run through myself, Colin, and Dave, (Terry too of course). It's populated by members of our families, our hopes and dreams. The things we wished for, or feared, a stew of memories.” - Andy Partridge – excerpted from the book Popartery, 2023
XTC’s seventh album, “The Big Express” was virtually ignored on release, much as its immediate predecessor “Mummer” had been. If Mummer was XTC’s quiet album, this was its polar opposite: bright, brash, noisy - even cluttered on occasion if the song demanded it - as it became a concept album of sorts, a partly autobiographical reflection on growing up in an industrial town, Swindon, with its history of engineering and railway accomplishments.
Perhaps in keeping with that tradition of technical innovation, the album also made extensive use of (at the time) new technology with Linn-Drum programming (alongside drummer Peter Phipps), E-mu Emulator and other synths claiming space among the more traditional guitars, bass and drums mix under-pinning the vocals.
This technology was juxtaposed with technology of a slightly earlier pop/rock era as phasing, backwards tapes and the inclusion of a mellotron hinted at a psychedelic influence that would move more centre-stage with the band’s next project – ‘The Dukes of Stratosphear’.
Just as “Mummer’s” reputation (and sales) has increased over the years, “The Big Express” is now regarded as a ‘neglected classic’ of its era. Now remixed by Steven Wilson in stereo, 5.1 Surround Sound & Dolby Atmos, the full impact and power of the album can be appreciated. As ever with XTC, the full package on the Blu-ray disc includes every recorded song from the era, ranging from demos through to the aforementioned Spatial Audio mixes.
Coal for the Soul.”
- LabelApe House
- UPC633367795526