Genre Deep Dive: The Big Music (Part 2)
The qualities of the genre and the artists that made up its initial run.
Just to recap, The Big Music is more of a vibe and a sound than a traditional genre in music. It is built around “epic rock anthems featuring driving and pounding drums, soaring vocals, big, and ringing guitars that offer transcendence by “not descending into the darkness but soaring into the light” through the “redemptive power of larger-than-life rock.””
One of the challenges, and joys for that matter, in researching The Big Music is that there isn’t much out there about it. I have done my best to cobble together the history behind and story of this strange genre that isn’t really a genre but this is by no means a definitive or comprehensive examination.
In Part 1, we identified a number of recurring themes and descriptors that appeared throughout my research. (Side note: I nearly typed “throughout the literature” but then threw up in my mouth a little. As much as I have been working on incorporating things that I learned in grad school into my writing, I’m not that pretentious.) Those were
Epic
Anthemic
Pounding
Soaring
Transcendence
When I started researching The Big Music last year, I created a list of the qualities that I heard in the artists and music of this genre. Those were
Earnest
Sincere
Soaring
Anthemic
Heartfelt
Inspirational
Uplifting
It’s interesting that I came up with this list of qualities over a year ago, yet they match up with and share elements of the list that I put together while writing Part 1 of this deep dive. Though, it’s not all that surprising when you see the artists that made up the foundation of The Big Music.
The genre’s initial run spanned from 1978 to 1990. In fact, I would argue that The Big Music was almost nonexistent in the 1990s. Nonexistent in the sense that the few bands still marching to this beat, did so well under the radar. But we’ll examine that more in Part 3.
As far as I can tell, the first album released by a Big Music artist was in 1978 with Midnight Oil’s self-titled debut. 1979 saw the release of Skids’ debut Scared to Dance along with the first two albums by Simple Minds in Life in a Day and Real to Real Cacophony. In 1980 U2 and Echo & the Bunnymen released their debuts Boy and Crocodiles respectively. INXS, whose first two albums sounded like a cross between Talking Heads and The Police (and not in a good way) began to evolve with 1982’s Shabooh Shoobah, incorporating Big Music elements resulting in the brilliant anthem “Don’t Change.” Skids’ guitarist/keyboardist Stuart Adamson left the band in 1981 to start Big Country who released their debut, The Crossing, in 1983. That year also saw debuts from The Alarm, The Waterboys, and The Cult (then known as Death Cult).
At this point, we have identified our main characters: U2, Simple Minds, Midnight Oil, The Alarm, Big Country, The Waterboys, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Cult, and INXS. All of these artists came from, or at least were associated with, the punk and post punk scenes of the late 1970s. What separated them from their peers like Wire, Public Image Ltd., and Joy Division was their anthemic, uplifting, soaring, inspirational music. What they sounded like, to me anyway, was a bunch of punk and post punk kids who discovered Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run and decided that they wanted to do that.
These nine bands weren’t the only ones playing this type of music. There was The Call from Santa Cruz, California, The Icicle Works from Liverpool, England, Soda Stereo from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and The Hooters from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania just to name a few.
The Big Music’s peak was in 1987. That year saw the release of a murderer’s row of classic albums including Diesel and Dust by Midnight Oil, Electric by The Cult, Eye of the Hurricane by The Alarm, Echo & the Bunnymen by Echo & the Bunnymen, Kick by INXS, and what is probably the genre’s high water mark, The Joshua Tree by U2.
The Big Music’s initial run came to an end in 1990, highlighted by the release of Midnight Oil’s Blue Sky Mining and INXS’ X.
In 1991, the musical landscape changed with the release of Nirvana’s Nevermind, but there were cultural changes as well. Most notably, irony was in and earnestness was out. So it makes sense that a genre based on earnestness and sincerity wouldn’t thrive in that environment. Bands like U2 and The Cult made sharp pivots to stay relevant and for the rest of the decade The Big Music was but a memory.
In Part 3, we’ll examine the legacy of The Big Music, its influence on modern music, the artists who (whether they realize it or not) carry the genre’s flame, and include a timeline of notable releases starting from 2000.
Timeline of Notable Releases (1978-1990)
1978
Midnight Oil by Midnight Oil *
1979
Scared to Dance by Skids *
Life in a Day by Simple Minds *
1980
Crocodiles by Echo & the Bunnymen *
Boy by U2 *
1982
The Call by The Call *
Shabooh Shoobah by INXS (This was the band’s third album but first to incorporate Big Music elements. Includes “Don’t Change.”)
1983
War by U2 (U2’s third album and first # 1 in the UK. Includes “Sunday, Bloody Sunday,” “New Years Day,” and “40.”)
The Alarm by The Alarm (Debut EP.)
The Crossing by Big Country * (Contains “In a Big Country.”)
The Waterboys by The Waterboys *
Death Cult by Death Cult (Debut EP. The band changed their name to The Cult.)
1984
Declaration by The Alarm *
The Icicle Works by The Icicle Works * (Includes “Birds Fly [Whisper to a Scream].”)
A Pagan Place by The Waterboys (Contains “The Big Music.”)
Dreamtime by The Cult *
Soda Stereo by Soda Stereo *
The Unforgettable Fire by U2 (Contains “Pride (In The Name Of Love)” and “Bad.”)
Love by The Cult (Includes “She Sells Sanctuary.”)
1985
Nervous Night by The Hooters (Major label debut. Includes “And We Danced.”)
This Is the Seas by The Waterboys (Features “The Whole of the Moon.”)
Once Upon a Time by Simple Minds (Includes “Alive and Kicking” and “All the Things She Said.”)
Listen Like Thieves by INXS (Includes “What You Need,” the band’s first Top 10 hit in the United States, reaching # 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.)
Songs to Learn & Sing by Echo & the Bunnymen (A “best of” compilation that includes “Bring on the Dancing Horses” from the movie Pretty in Pink.)
1986
Reconciled by The Call (Contains “I Still Believe” which appeared in the film The Lost Boys, covered by Tim Cappello.)
The Thin Red Line by Glass Tiger * (Includes “Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone)” which reached # 1 on the Canadian charts and # 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.)
Signos by Soda Stereo (Contains “Persiana Americana” and is the top rated album on Rate Your Music’s Top Big Music albums of all time chart.)
1987
Midnight to Midnight by The Psychedelic Furs (Includes “Heartbreak Beat.”)
The Joshua Tree by U2 (Reach # 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Includes the band’s first # 1 single in the U.S. “With or Without You,” along with “I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For” and “Where the Streets Have No Name.”)
Electric by The Cult (Contains “Love Removal Machine.”)
Echo & the Bunnymen by Echo & the Bunnymen (Includes “Lips Like Sugar.”)
Diesel and Dust by Midnight Oil (Includes “Beds Are Burning.”)
Eye of the Hurricane by The Alarm (Contains “Rain in the Summertime.”)
Kick by INXS (Features “Devil Inside,” “Need You Tonight,” and “Never Tear Us Apart.”)
1988
Diamond Sun by Glass Tiger
Rattle & Hum by U2
1989
Sonic Temple by The Cult (Includes “Fire Woman.”)
Street Fighting Years by Simple Minds
Change by The Alarm
1990
Carved in Sand by The Mission (aka The Mission UK. Includes “Butterfly on a Wheel.”)
Blue Sky Mining by Midnight Oil (Includes “Forgotten Years,” “King of the Mountain,” and “Blue Sky Mine.”)
X by INXS (Features “The Stairs,” “Disappear,” “Bitter Tears,” and “Suicide Blonde.”)
* Full-length debut
References
The Alarm discography (2025, April 10). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Alarm_discography&oldid=1284979223
Big Country discography. (2025, June 21). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Big_Country_discography&oldid=1296624797
Big Music. (n.d.). Rate Your Music. Last.fm. Retrieved June 17, 2025 from https://rateyourmusic.com/genre/big-music/
The Call (band). (2025, April 16). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Call_(band)&oldid=1285860225
Cross, A. (Host). (2024, October 25). The history of Celtic rock (No. 1027) [Audio Podcast Episode]. In The Ongoing History of New Music. https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/the-ongoing-history-of-new-music-episode-1027-the-history-of-celtic-rock/
The Cult discography. (2025, April 15). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cult_discography&oldid=1285726287
Echo & the Bunnymen discography. (2025, May 4). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Echo_%26_the_Bunnymen_discography&oldid=1288821261
Glass Tiger. (2025, May 21). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Glass_Tiger&oldid=1291542648
The Hooters. (2025, June 10). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Hooters&oldid=1294874472
The Icicle Works discography. (2025, April 27). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Icicle_Works_discography&oldid=1287630074
INXS discography. (2025, June 26). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=INXS_discography&oldid=1297480536
Midnight Oil discography. (2025, April 12). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Midnight_Oil_discography&oldid=1285304372
The Mission discography. (2025, June 23). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Mission_discography&oldid=1296948115
The Psychedelic Furs discography. (2025, June 26). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Psychedelic_Furs_discography&oldid=1297512285
Simple Minds discography. (2025, June 16). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Simple_Minds_discography&oldid=1295902997
Skids discography. (2022, September 2). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Skids_discography&oldid=1108075172
Soda Stereo. (2025, June 18). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soda_Stereo&oldid=1296134495
U2 discography. (2025, May 22). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=U2_discography&oldid=1291717807
The Waterboys discography. (2025, May 18). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Waterboys_discography&oldid=1290940796
I'm sure you're gonna nail this in Part 3, but if there's a legacy of this music, it's in American Evangelical worship songs. The long shadow of U2 basically swamped hipster churches that arose in the late 90s through 00s. Except it was all style and little substance. That style of worship song is built on the most obvious cliches -- but it thinks it's profound in the way that U2 could manage in their best moments.
There were secular descendants of course -- the Walkmen come to mind, and Kings of Leon -- but I don't think there's ever been a full reevaluation or comeback of that approach in pop. Maybe soon?