''The Big Lad in the Windmill'' is the debut album of British

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

pop/

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 ...

band

It Bites It Bites are an English progressive rock and pop fusion band, formed in Egremont, Cumbria, Egremont, Cumbria, in 1982 and best known for their 1986 single "Calling All the Heroes", which gained them a Top 40, Top 10 UK Singles Chart hit. Initial ...

. The album reached No. 35 in the UK album charts and produced three singles - "All in Red", " Calling All the Heroes" and "Whole New World". "Calling All the Heroes" and "Whole New World" both charted, although "Calling All the Heroes" was by far the more successful of the two, reaching No. 6 in the UK charts and remaining the band's biggest and only significant hit. Although marketed as a 1980s pop album, ''The Big Lad in the Windmill'' features an unusual mix of musical styles including pop,

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

-style

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. C ...

ry and

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

, often all within the same song. The album also showcased the band's musical virtuosity, featuring multiple changes of dynamics and tempo plus prominent guitar and keyboard solos. The version of "Calling All the Heroes" included on the album is the full-length version rather than the better-known single edit, and features additional musical sections plus several false endings.

Reception

Paul Stump, in his 1997 ''History of Progressive Rock'', called ''The Big Lad in the Windmill'' "stunning", citing its mix of "satirically clichéd cock-rock posturings ... with punkish timbral abrasiveness and a harmonic arsenal which recalled the great days of 1960s epic pop more graphically and wrenchingly than any of the 'subversive' new-poppers ever did." He made special note of how "Wanna Shout" repeatedly reintroduces a

-style riff with dramatic jerks in the tempo, making the tune danceable in an ingeniously perverse way.

Track listing

UK/European version # "I Got You Eating Out of My Hand" (5:36) # "

All in Red "All in Red" is the first single by It Bites. It was written by frontman Francis Dunnery Francis Dunnery (born 25 December 1962) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, record producer and record label owner. Dunnery was the lead singer a ...

" (3:31) # "Whole New World" (4:25) # "Screaming on the Beaches" (3:45) # "Wanna Shout" (3:13) # "Turn Me Loose" (4:11) # "Cold, Tired and Hungry" (4:16) # " Calling All the Heroes" (5:33) # "You'll Never Go to Heaven" (7:12) # "The Big Lad in the Windmill" (0:47) North American version # "All in Red" (3:31) # "Turn Me Loose" (4:11) # "Calling All the Heroes" (5:33) # "Whole New World" (4:25) # "I Got You Eating Out Of My Hand" (6:07) # "You'll Never Go to Heaven" (7:12) # "Screaming on the Beaches" (3:45) # "Cold, Tired and Hungry" (4:17) # "Wanna Shout" (3:13) # "The Big Lad in the Windmill" (0:47)

Personnel

;It Bites *

Francis Dunnery Francis Dunnery (born 25 December 1962) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, record producer and record label owner. Dunnery was the lead singer and guitarist for British prog- pop band It Bites between 1982 and 1990. Since 1990 he has ...

- guitars, lead vocals * John Beck - keyboards, backing vocals, 5th harmony vocals * Dick Nolan - bass guitar, backing vocals * Bob Dalton - drums, backing vocals ;Additional personnel *

The Kick Horns Kick Horns are a UK horn section based in London. They have worked prolifically as session musicians with a wide variety of performers, and have also recorded as an ensemble. The Kick Horns were established in the 1980s by Simon C. Clarke and Ti ...

- brass on "Whole New World"

Charts

References

External links

Official site discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Lad in the Windmill 1986 debut albums It Bites albums Geffen Records albums Virgin Records albums Albums produced by Alan Shacklock