365 Albums 256 to 270

1. Night of Doom Rick van der Linden 1978
2. Old Friends New Friends Rick van der Linden 1995
3. Solo Rick van der Linden 1981 (I notice now that I chose this before. Consider it replace by van der Linden's 1978 album GX1)
4. Julie Fowlis Live at Perthshire Amber Julie Fowlis 2011
5. Mar a Tha Mo Chridhe (As My Heart Is) Julie Fowlis 2007
6. The Beauty of Bojoura 1970
7. The Beatles Live at the BBC The Beatles 1994 (recordings 1963-65)
8. CU Jan Akkerman 2004
9. Finnegan's Wake Tangerine Dream 2011
10. Oil in the Family Jan Akkerman 1981
11. Swung Vol 1 N van der Steenhiven, B Jacobs and P van der Linden 2014
12. Into the Electric Castle Ayreon 1998
13. Magical Mystery Tour 1967
14. Islands Mike Oldfield 1987
15. The Seer Big Country 1986

365 Albums 76-90

1. The Crossing Big Country 1983 (1996 remaster)
2. Electric Warrior T Rex 1971
3. Live at Alexanders Jan Akkerman 1999
4. Tubular Bells Mike Oldfield 1973
5. Yr Hwntws Yr Hwntws 1982
6. Passion Jan Akkerman 1999*
7. Transparental Jan Akkerman & Kaz Lux 1980
8. Under my skin Gabrielle 2018
9. Abraxas Santana 1970
10. Dylanesque Bryan Ferry 2007
11. Camel Snow Goose 1975
12. The Man Who Built America Horslips 1978
13. O Brother where art thou? Soundtrack Various Artists 2000
14. Hymns II Page CXVI 2010*
15. Beggar Julia's Timetrip Ekseption 1970

(* Suitable for Sunday playing IMHO)

10 Great Acts from the Eighties

The eighties was not really my era but I can think of 10 acts that cut it for me

1. U2
2. OMD
3. Big Country
4. Yazoo
5. Enya
6. Sade
7. Clannad
8. The Jam
9. Eurythmics
10. Pretenders

Retro Album "of the week" 36 The Crossing

I tend to think of myself as seventies man when it comes to rock music though the truth is that there's plenty of seventies music I have no time for (Elton John for example). On the other hand, there is plenty of eighties stuff I like. Another example of that is Big Country.

The Crossing is their first studio album and was released in 1983. The album reached #3 in the UK and #18 in the US. It went on to be certified platinum in the UK and Canada. It contains the song "In a Big Country" their only US Top 40 hit single. The music has a pleasing Celtic feel (the band is Scottish). Apparently the guitar effects were achieved this through the use of the MXR Pitch Transposer 129 Guitar Effect. They also apparently used the e-bow, a device which allows a guitar to sound more like strings or synthesizer.

The album has been remastered and reissued on three occasions. The latest version released by Universal in 2012 in advance of the album's 30th anniversary includes (as is de rigeur these days) a second disc of previously unissued demos.

The chief genius behind the band was Stuart Adamson who sadly committed suicide in 2001.