Big Science (album)

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Big Science
Studio album by Laurie Anderson
Released	1982
Recorded	The Lobby, The Hit Factory, New York City
Genre	Avant-garde/Experimental/Pop
Length	38:19
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer(s)	Laurie Anderson, Roma Baran
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau (A-) link Rolling Stone link
Laurie Anderson chronology
You’re The Guy I Want To Share My Money With (1981)	Big Science (1982)	Mister Heartbreak (1984)

Big Science is the 1982 debut album by avant-garde artist Laurie Anderson. It is best known for the 8-minute epic "O Superman", which reached #2 in the UK. The album is minimalist and monochrome in sound, and like a great deal of Anderson's work is based largely on spoken word. It is a selection of highlights from her eight-hour production, United States Live, which was itself released as a 4-LP box set and book in 1984. United States Live was originally a performance piece, in which music was only one element. After Big Science music played a larger role in Anderson's work.^[1]

Although considered her debut album, Anderson had previously recorded one side of a 2-LP set entitled You’re The Guy I Want To Share My Money With, a collaboration for Giorno Poetry Systems with William S. Burroughs and John Giorno.

Contents 1 Track listing 2 Personnel 2.1 Additional personnel 3 Charts 4 Reference

[edit] Track listing

All tracks by Laurie Anderson.

1. "From the Air" – 4:29
2. "Big Science" – 6:14
3. "Sweaters" – 2:18
4. "Walking & Falling" – 2:10
5. "Born, Never Asked" – 4:56
6. "O Superman (For Massenet)" – 8:21
7. "Example #22" – 2:59
8. "Let X=X/It Tango" – 6:51 ("Let X=X" – 3:51; "It Tango" – 3:01)

[edit] Personnel

• Laurie Anderson– vocals, vocoder, farfisa organ, percussion, Oberheim OB-Xa, sticks, violins, electronics, keyboards, handclaps, whistling, marimba
• Roma Baran – farfisa bass, glass harmonica, sticks, handclaps, casiotone, accordion, whistling
• Perry Hoberman – bottles and sticks, handclaps, flute, sax, piccolo, backing vocals
• Bill Obrecht – alto sax
• Peter Gordon – clarinet, tenor sax
• David Van Tieghem – drums, rototoms, tympani, marimba, percussion

[edit] Additional personnel

• Rufus Harley – bagpipes on 3
• Chuck Fisher – alto sax on 7, tenor sax on 7
• Richard Cohen – b-flat clarinet on 7, e-flat clarinet on 7, bass clarinet on 7, bassoon on 7, bari sax on 7
• Leanne Ungar – backing vocals on 7
• George Lewis – trombones

[edit] Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1982	Pop Albums	124

[edit] Reference

1. ^ Susan McClary. "Laurie Anderson", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed September 1, 2006), grovemusic.com (subscription access).