Hit the Highway

For the recording of Hit the Highway, the duo returned to Chipping Norton Studios in Oxfordshire, England where their breakout album Sunshine on Leith (1988) had been recorded. The album was recorded over a period of 6 weeks.{{cite news |title=Twins proclaim their love for Midlands |work=Heartland Evening News: the Voice of Nuneaton, Hinckley, Bedworth and Atherstone |date=7 October 1994}} The duo's studio band once again featured Fairport Convention members Jerry Donahue and Dave Mattacks. Other performers on the album included Tim Renwick, known for his work with Al Stewart, and Squeeze drummer Kevin Wilkinson.

It notably took the duo over five years to follow up the album's predecessor, Sunshine on Leith (1988). Explaining the delay in releasing new Proclaimers material, lead vocalist Craig Reid explained that the duo "could easily have had an album out three years ago but it would have had maybe a couple of good songs and the rest of them would have been mediocre". Other factors for the delay included the birth of Craig Reid's first child, a daughter, in late 1992, and the breakup of Charlie Reid's marriage.

Donald McKenzie of The Ottawa Citizen described Hit the Highway as a "diverse offering" with elements of country, gospel and rhythm and blues.{{cite news |last1=McKenzie |first1=Donald |title=Proclaimers find success mixed blessing |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/464918049/?terms=proclaimers%20%22hit%20the%20highway%22%20review&match=1 |access-date=1 January 2024 |work=Ottawa Citizen |date=27 June 1994}} In a review of Hit the Highway, People observed that the band "play back-to-basics, acoustic rock and roll and R&B",{{cite news |title=Pick and Pans Review: Hit the Highway |url=https://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-hit-the-highway-vol-41-no-14/ |access-date=22 December 2019 |work=People|date=18 April 1994}} further remarking that, despite the band being Scottish, "you can't find music more American" and that the record "invokes [...] legends like [Buddy] Holly and Otis Redding". Joe Stevens of The Daily Pennsylvanian described the music as "heavily influenced by blues and soul" and "almost a throw-back to '60s pop".{{cite news |last1=Stevens |first1=Joe |title=Music |url=https://www.thedp.com/article/1994/03/music |access-date=5 January 2020 |work=The Daily Pennsylvanian|date=31 March 1994}}

Hit the Highway included spiritual themes in the lyrics, such lyrics questioning organised religion ("I Want To Be A Christian"). On the album's religious dimension, Charlie Reid commented, "There's a belief in God, that's for sure [...] I'm very unsure about religion, I'm suspicious of it and I certainly couldn't call myself a Christian as such. But I'm very interested in religion, in trying to reach God in whatever way you do it."{{cite news |last=Breakwood |first=Sue |title=Scottish Proclaimers Hit Beach |url=https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1994/vp940821/08190115.htm |access-date=27 March 2020 |work=Virginian Pilot |date=21 August 1994}}{{cite magazine |last=Galvin |first=Peter |title=Album Reviews - The Proclaimers: Hit the Highway |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/theproclaimers/albums/album/232968/review/5944346/hit_the_highway |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071002044850/https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/theproclaimers/albums/album/232968/review/5944346/hit_the_highway |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 October 2007 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=28 December 2019}}

The album's themes of spirituality, children and relationships was noted as being more "adult" than those of the grunge scene that dominated alternative music at the time. Duo member Craig Reid told The Sacramento Bee that the contrast was "not conscious", further explaining; "we're not trying to be the opposite of what was fashionable [...] I like some of the stuff grunge bands do, and I think you can have both. Like when punk first came out in Britain, it was not all this thrashy stuff. There was room for a lot of different things, and I think there should be room in alternative music". The album's themes also contrasted with some of those on its predecessor Sunshine on Leith (1988), as Hit the Highway was largely apolitical, owing little to their previous Scottish nationalist and left-wing themes.{{cite news |last1=Sullivan |first1=Jim |title=Proclaimers buck grunge, tap into adult themes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/626673902 |work=The Sacramento Bee |date=31 July 1994}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite web |last=Jehnzen |first=Daevid |title=Hit the Highway - The Proclaimers - Review |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/hit-the-highway-mw0000110659 |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=22 December 2019}}

| rev2 = Los Angeles Times

| rev2score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite news |last1=Hochman |first1=Steve |title=The Proclaimers - Hit the Highway |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/158973797 |access-date=1 January 2024 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=24 April 1994}}

| rev3 = Music Week

| rev3score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite magazine|first=Alan|last=Jones|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1994/Music-Week-1994-02-26.pdf|title=Market Preview: Mainstream - Albums|magazine=Music Week|date=26 February 1994|page=17|accessdate=28 April 2025}}

| rev4 = Rolling Stone

| rev4score = {{Rating|3|5}}

| rev5 = Select

| rev5score = {{rating|2|5|full=U+25A0.svg|empty=U+25A1.svg|rating=medal}}{{cite magazine|author=SP|url=https://selectmagazinescans.monkeon.co.uk/showpage.php?file=wp-content/uploads/2014/07/albums31.jpg|title=New Albums: Soundbites|work=Select|date=April 1994|page=92|access-date=18 December 2024}}

}}

Hit the Highway received a mixed critical reception. AllMusic's Daevid Jehnzen described the album as "strong" and as having "many fine songs", but criticized its lack of a "knockout single". Peter Galvin of Rolling Stone was more positive, remarking that the band "reinforce their passionate beliefs with music that is almost anthem-like in its fervor". However, he criticized the band's convictions as having come off "a bit too vehemently".

{{Track listing

| all_writing = Charlie and Craig Reid; except where indicated

| title1 = Let's Get Married

| length1 = 4:19

| title2 = The More I Believe

| length2 = 4:03

| title3 = What Makes You Cry?

| length3 = 2:40

| title4 = Follow the Money

| length4 = 3:25

| title5 = These Arms of Mine

| writer5 = Otis Redding

| length5 = 3:15

| title6 = Shout Shout

| length6 = 3:15

| title7 = The Light

| length7 = 3:08

| title8 = Hit the Highway

| length8 = 3:55

| title9 = A Long Long Long Time Ago

| length9 = 4:11

| title10 = I Want to Be a Christian

| writer10 = Sullivan S. Pugh

| length10 = 2:04

| title11 = Your Childhood

| length11 = 3:37

| title12 = Don't Turn Out Like Your Mother

| length12 = 4:42

}}

Personnel are adapted from the liner notes of Hit the Highway.{{cite AV media notes|title=Hit the Highway|others=The Proclaimers|publisher=Chrysalis|year=1994|type=booklet|id=CDP 528602}}

The Proclaimers

• Craig Reid – vocals, tambourine {{small|(1–4, 8)}}
• Charlie Reid – vocals, acoustic guitar {{small|(1, 3–12)}}, electric guitar {{small|(2)}}

Additional musicians

• Stuart Nisbet – acoustic guitar {{small|(1, 2, 6, 7)}}, electric guitar {{small|(1, 2, 4–8)}}, mandolin {{small|(5, 7, 12)}}, steel guitar {{small|(5)}}
• Tim Renwick – acoustic guitar {{small|(3–5)}}, electric guitar {{small|(1, 3, 4)}}, electric slide guitar {{small|(7)}}
• Jerry Donahue – acoustic guitar {{small|(9, 11)}}, electric guitar {{small|(9, 11, 12)}}
• Bobby Valentino – fiddle {{small|(12)}}
• Pete Wingfield – keyboards {{small|(1, 3, 6, 9, 11)}}, piano {{small|(5, 7, 8, 10)}}, Hammond C3 {{small|(2, 7)}}
• Pete Thomas – baritone saxophone {{small|(3, 4, 8)}}, tenor sax {{small|(3, 4, 6, 8)}}
• Raul D'Oliveira – trumpet {{small|(4, 8)}}
• Vince Sullivan – trombone {{small|(4, 8)}}
• Martin Ditcham – percussion {{small|(9, 11)}}
• Kevin Wilkinson – drums {{small|(1, 2, 4–7)}}
• Dave Mattacks – drums {{small|(3, 8, 9, 11, 12)}}
• Iain Bruce – bass guitar {{small|(1, 2, 4–7)}}
• Phil Cranham – bass guitar {{small|(3, 8, 11, 12)}}, fretless bass guitar {{small|(9)}}

;Production

• Pete Wingfield – producer
• Barry Hammond – engineering
• Geoff Pesche – mastering {{small|(The Townhouse)}}

{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications and sales for Hit the Highway}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|award=Silver|type=album|relyear=1994|artist=The Proclaimers|title=Hit the Highway|certyear=1994|access-date=24 December 2019|id=2909-1498-2}}

{{Certification Table Bottom | nosales=true}}

A two-CD Collectors Edition of the album was issued in the UK by Chrysalis in 2011, with a remastered version of the studio album and a bonus disc containing B-sides, live-versions and a BBC Radio session track. In 2017, the album was re-released in Europe on vinyl by Parlophone Records.

{{reflist}}

{{The Proclaimers}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1994 albums

Category:Chrysalis Records albums

Category:The Proclaimers albums

Category:Rhythm and blues albums by Scottish artists

Category:British rock-and-roll albums

Category:Rock-and-roll albums