The Big Heat (album)

Last updated
The Big Heat
Stan Ridgway The Big Heat.jpg
Studio album by
Released1986
StudioFiddler's Studio, J.C. Studios and The Lighthouse, Hollywood, CA
Genre New wave, alternative rock, avant-pop [1]
Length42:15
Label I.R.S.
Producer Joe Chiccarelli, Mitchell Froom, Hugh Jones, Bill Noland, Stan Ridgway, Louis van den Berg
Stan Ridgway chronology
The Big Heat
(1986)
Mosquitos
(1989)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
The Village Voice B [3]

The Big Heat is the debut solo album by American musician Stan Ridgway (former Wall of Voodoo vocalist), released in 1986 by I.R.S. Records. Named after the 1953 film noir of the same name, the original release consisted of nine songs, including the No. 4 UK hit "Camouflage". [4] In 1986, the album reached No. 131 on the Billboard 200. The album was re-released in 1993 with six additional tracks and again re-released in 2007.

Contents

Recording

Ridgway said of the album, "I wanted to bring a lot of influences to the surface. In Voodoo, we would take the influences and hide them. I wanted to move along and be able to do a jazz song. My heroes are people like Miles Davis who go through different musical stages and don't get stagnant." [5]

Reception

Spin said, "A man of few words, he makes every line count for something — either an image that evokes a scene or a line of dialogue that evokes a character. His decision to build and record in his own studio has paid off with a well-balanced sound that has lots of space for odd acoustic instruments to dart in and out of his synth-based arrangements." [6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Stan Ridgway, except where otherwise indicated

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."The Big Heat"4:26
2."Pick It Up (And Put It in Your Pocket)"4:32
3."Can't Stop the Show"3:45
4."Pile Driver"4:44
5."Walkin' Home Alone"4:31
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."Drive, She Said"4:11
2."Salesman"5:23
3."Twisted"3:37
4."Camouflage"7:05
CD edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
10."Rio Greyhound"3:12
1993 remastered CD track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Stormy Side of Town" 5:02
12."Foggy River" Fred Rose 4:32
13."End of the Line" 5:51
14."Nadine" Chuck Berry 3:26
15."Can't Stop the Show" (live) 3:53
16."Drive, She Said" (live) 4:39

Accolades

YearPublicationCountryAccoladeRank
1986Best France "Albums of the Year"3 [7]
1986 Q United Kingdom "Albums of the Year"* [8]
1986 Sounds United Kingdom"Albums of the Year"* [9]
1990Mucchio Selvaggio Italy "The Best Albums of the 80s"* [10]
1990VelvetItaly"The 100 Best Albums of the 80s"* [11]
1991 Rock & Folk France"The 250 Best Albums from 1966-1991"3[ citation needed ]
1999Panorama Norway "The 30 Best Albums of the Year 1970-98"19[ citation needed ]
2002Mucchio SelvaggioItaly"100 Best Albums by Decade"1-20[ citation needed ]
"*" denotes an unordered list.

Chart positions

Personnel

Adapted from The Big Heat liner notes. [27]

Release history

RegionDateLabelFormatCatalog
Spain1986 Epic CD, CS, LP 40-2687
United KingdomI.R.S.CD, LP1008
United StatesCD, LP5637
1993CDX2 0777 7 13125 26
United Kingdom2012WaterCDWater252

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References

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  4. Stan Ridgway: Camouflage OfficialCharts.com Accessed September 2, 2007.
  5. Bill Forman (21 May 1986). "The Far Side of Voodoo". RAM . No. 284. p. 16.
  6. Mark Fleischmann (May 1986). "Spins". Spin . No. 13. p. 34.
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