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http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005ZTA7EK/?tag=imwan-21

Woo-hoo! I had heard about this but kept mum until it was official. I hope the rest of the catalogue follows, but if not, this will still be great!

Hmm, I wonder if I'll be interested in this (see avatar to the left).

The remaster from few years ago is AMAZING. Some of the bonus and EP tracks from this period are as good or even better than the album tracks. I'm wondering what they might add to this that's not already on the remaster. Live tracks?

Bump:
Cover art now displayed.

Just curious: why is the album cover sometimes blue and sometimes red? I bought the cassette with a blue cover way back when, so to me that's the "correct" one.

The blue cover is the American version. The red cover is the English version. And when they remastered them a few years back they released both blue and red versions w/slightly different bonus tracks.

I think there was also a green cover for The Crossing, although I never got it and I'm not sure where it was released. Whatever color the cover is, the music continues to be brilliant 28 years later. I'm pretty sure I have everything they ever recorded, so it'll be interesting to see what they put on the second disc.

Indeed, there is a green cover as well. Got mine in Scotland.

I've been to Scotland three times, so that's probably where I saw the green cover. I'm glad I'm not the kind of music collector who needs every version of every album I like. That can get very expensive, take up a lot of space, and you don't end up with any more music.

Jimbo, your rebuttal?

Oops, I hope that didn't come across as a negative statement against that kind of collector. I've got my own obsessions, so we're all just different versions of crazy.

No no – you're good, Rich!

Whew, that was close.

I resemble that remark!

From slicingupeyeballs.com:

The reunited Big Country today revealed the tracklist for its upcoming 2CD “deluxe edition” reissue of its 1983 debut album The Crossing, which will be released by Universal Music on Jan. 30 in the U.K. and be supplemented with seven B-sides and a second disc featuring 17 demos — 10 of which are previously unreleased.

The new edition of the The Crossing, which was last reissued in 2002 with five bonus tracks, will feature the original 10-track album plus seven B-sides from the record’s four singles on one disc, plus a second disc featuring 17 demos of album tracks and B-sides, including early version of “In a Big Country,” “Fields of Fire” and more.

As previously announced, the band — with The Alarm’s Mike Peters filling in for the late Stuart Adamson — will perform The Crossing during a tour of the U.K. and Germany early next year in conjunction with the reissue. Big Country played two U.K. tours earlier this year and, in August, released their first single in 12 years — the Steve Lillywhite-produced “Another Country.”



Tracklist: Big Country, The Crossing: Deluxe Edition

DISC 1
Original Album:
1. “In A Big Country”
2. “Inwards”
3. “Chance”
4. “1000 Stars”
5. “The Storm”
6. “Harvest Home”
7. “Lost Patrol”
8. “Close Action”
9. “Fields Of Fire”
10. “Porrohman”

B-Sides:
11. “Balcony” (B-side to ‘Harvest Home’)
12. “Flag Of Nation (Swimming)” (B-side to ‘Harvest Home’)
13. “Angle Park” (B-side to ‘Fields Of Fire’)
14. “All Of Us” (B-side to ‘In A Big Country’)
15. “Heart And Soul” (B-side to ‘In A Big Country’)
16. “The Crossing” (B-side to ‘Chance’)
17. “Tracks of My Tears” (Live) (B-side to ‘Chance’)


DISC 2
Demos:
1. “Angle Park” (4 Track Demos 1981) *
2. “Harvest Home” (4 Track Demos 1981) *
3. “We Could Laugh” (4 Track Demos 1981) *
4. “In A Big Country” (Demo) (Rarities IV CD)
5. “The Storm” (Demo) (Rarities IV CD)
6. “Big City” (Demo) (Rarities IV CD)
7. “Fields of Fire” (Riverside BBC TV) *
8. “Lost Patrol” (Demo) (Phonogram Studios) *
9. “Inwards” (Demo) (Phonogram Studios) *
10. “Thousand Stars” (Chris Thomas) *
11. “Close Action” (Chris Thomas) *
12. “Lost Patrol” (Chris Thomas) *
13. “Inwards” (Chris Thomas) *
14. “Fields of Fire” (Demo) (Rarities IV)
15. “Ring Out” (Demo) (Rarities IV)
16. “Thousand Stars” (Demo) (Rarities IV)
17. “Chance” (Demo) (Rarities IV)

*Previously unreleased

No matter how much you buy from an artist, they can always find more things to sell you. As if 9 volumes of Rarities isn't enough, they include 10 previously unreleased tracks. I'll have to check my archives to see if I have those, especially the '81 4-track demos, before the rhythm section of Tony Butler & Mark Brzezicki (yep, I spelled that without looking it up) joined the band.

Yeah, I'm definitely in for this no matter what. I believe the early members of the group who didn't last long were Alan Wishart (bass) and his brother Peter (keyboards) and former Spizz drummer Clive Parker.
They'd have to be on those tracks as Butler and Brzezicki didn't join until early 1982 I believe. So that's really cool.
I figured you'd be intrigued by the track listing!
I only hope we get the whole catalogue in this fashion.

My dream would be a similar package for Steeltown, but I can't be too greedy. Let's hope this edition of The Crossing is a huge success, leading to many more deluxe editions of their albums.

Thanks for the info on the early members. I probably knew their names at some point, but the hard drive in my brain doesn't have the capacity it used to.

It's only because I have too much useless knowledge in my head. Ask me to name an obscure early member of Big Country-you got it.
Ask me to name the current Speaker Of The House-I lose.
My priorities are obviously warped!

I think most of us here have the problem of "too much useless knowledge," to varying degrees. In the real world our priorities may be warped, but luckily we rarely spend time in the real world.