''Big Wheel'' is the seventh and final studio album by the Australian

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

band,

Icehouse Icehouse or ice house may refer to: * Ice house (building), a building where ice is stored * Ice shanty, a shelter for ice fishing also known as an ''Icehouse'' * Ice skating rink, a facility for ice skating. * Ice hockey arena, an area where ice ...

, released on 25 October 1993 in Australia by dIVA Records – founder

Iva Davies Ivor Arthur Davies, AM (born 22 May 1955), known professionally as Iva Davies, is an Australian singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Davies' music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in t ...

' own label – and Massive Records. It was recorded at Davies' home in Whale Beach during 1993 with Davies on

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

and

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, David Chapman on guitar, keyboards and backing vocals, and Paul Wheeler on

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

and backing vocals. ''Big Wheel'' peaked at #44 and was their first studio album not to reach the Top Ten on the Australian album charts. The album was digitally remastered by Davies and Ryan Scott with five bonus tracks added for the 2002 re-release by

Warner Music Australia Warner Music Australia Pty Limited (WMA) is the Australian division of the Warner Music Group. WMA also distributes in New Zealand. History In 1969, Warner Bros. Records branched out and WEA was born. The first country in which it was estab ...

Reception

Reviewed in ''

Rolling Stone Australia ''Rolling Stone'' Australia is the Australian edition of the United States' ''Rolling Stone'' magazine devoted to music, politics, and popular culture, published monthly. The Australian version of ''Rolling Stone'' was initially published in 197 ...

'' at the time of release, ''Big Wheel'' was described as tougher-sounding and less commercial than the band's previous releases, and arguably their best recording to date. The reviewer noted the "early-Seventies glam and Enoesque atmospherics" and praised the "sonic immediacy" of the "largely live performances".

Track listing

All songs written by

, David Chapman and Paul Wheeler except where noted. Songwriters according to

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwr ...

(APRA). Note: requires user to input song title e.g. BIG WHEEL

Personnel

Credited to:

Icehouse

–

* David Chapman – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals * Paul Wheeler –

, backing vocals.

Additional musicians

* Ben Nightingale – guitar on "Sam the Man".

Production

* Producer – Iva Davies * Studios – dIVA Studios at Whale Beach, Australia. Additional recordings by Simon Leadley at Trackdown Studios assisted by James Cadsky, Richard Mould, Michelle Barry. * Mix, editing and mastering – David Lord with Iva Davies, David Chapman, Paul Wheeler at Trackdown * Mix, editing and mastering engineered by Simon Leadley at Trackdown.

Design

* Cover concept – Iva Davies * Artwork and computer graphics – Patti Gaines for Genki. * Photography – Tony Mott.

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1993 albums Icehouse (band) albums