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Title: The Title Says It All
Review: Most of XTC's recordings fall into one of two categories: mannered or wild. The Big Express is definitely the latter: overproduced, uninhibited, and spilling over with great musical ideas. Listen for Andy Partridge's mastery of marrying lyrics to musical ideas (All You Pretty Girls, Shake You Donkey) and building up tension in verses, only to release it in ecstatically catchy choruses (You're the Wish You Are I Had, Train Running Low on Soul Coal). There are more great ideas in this record than there are in the entire collections of some popular artists. With all of this going for TBE, it's a shame someone didn't hit the brakes on the production: the Linn Drum threatens to swallow a few songs whole, and there seems to be a compelling need to fill in every space with something clever.
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