XTC, The Big Express, 200 Gram Vinyl, LP, Reissue, Ape House UK, 2022

XTC, The Big Express, 200 Gram Vinyl, LP, Reissue, Ape House UK, 2022

Limited 200gm vinyl LP pressing in gatefold jacket. XTC’s seventh album, The Big Express was virtually ignored on release, much as it’s immediate predecessor Mummer had been. If Mummer was XTC’s quiet album, this was it’s 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 it’s 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 center stage with the band’s next project – The Dukes of Stratosphear.

With XTC no longer touring, the sound radically different to any previous XTC album, in a musical climate where the upper end of the charts reflected national radio, producing the most mainstream result for years: Lionel Richie, Sade, Spandau Ballet, Howard Jones, Tina Turner, Queen – Frank Sinatra’s final solo studio album… The space for a metallic, post-punk concept album about growing up amidst the ghosts of Swindon’s industrial heritage proved non-existent. Of course the songs were as good as on any other XTC album – a very high standard indeed – but they went largely unheard. Given that position, it would be easy to conclude that the timing was wrong for the album. But the best musicians follow the music and allow the times to catch up with that; precisely what happened when XTC released it’s next album Skylarking in 1986. Just as Mummer’s reputation (and sales) has increased over the years, The Big Express is now regarded as a ‘neglected classic’ of it’s era.