Hit the Highway

Hit the Highway is the third studio album by Scottish folk rock duo The Proclaimers, released in March 1994 by Chrysalis Records. It took them six years to follow their second album, Sunshine on Leith. The album featured three singles: "Let's Get Married", "What Makes You Cry?" and "These Arms of Mine". The album topped the charts in the band's native Scotland, debuting in the top-10 in the UK while also charting in Austria, Canada and Sweden.

Hit the Highway
Studio album by
The Proclaimers
Released22 March 1994
Recorded1993–1994
Genre
Length42:34
Label
ProducerPete Wingfield, The Proclaimers
The Proclaimers chronology
Sunshine on Leith
(1988)		 Hit the Highway
(1994)		 Persevere
(2001)
Singles from Hit the Highway
  1. "Let's Get Married"
    Released: February 1994
  2. "What Makes You Cry?"
    Released: 1994
  3. "These Arms of Mine"
    Released: 1994

Music

Style and sound

In a review of Hit the Highway, People Magazine observed that the band "play back-to-basics, acoustic rock and roll and R&B",[1] 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".[1] Joe Steven's of The Daily Pennsylvanian described the music as "heavily influenced by blues and soul" and "almost a throw-back to '60s pop".[2]

Themes

Hit the Highway included spiritually-angled lyrics,[3][4] such libretto 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".[3] Other songs on Hit the Highway narrated matrimony.[4]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[5]
Rolling Stone[4]

Hit the Highway received a mixed critical reception. AllMusic's Daevid Jehnzen described the album as "strong" and as having "many fine songs", but arraigned its lack of a "knockout single".[5] 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".[4] However, Galvin would criticize the band's convictions as having come off "a bit too vehemently".[4]

Track listing

All tracks composed by Charlie and Craig Reid; except where indicated

  1. "Let's Get Married"
  2. "The More I Believe"
  3. "What Makes You Cry?"
  4. "Follow the Money"
  5. "These Arms of Mine" (Otis Redding)
  6. "Shout Shout"
  7. "The Light"
  8. "Hit the Highway"
  9. "A Long Long Long Time Ago"
  10. "I Want to Be a Christian" (Sullivan S. Pugh)
  11. "Your Childhood"
  12. "Don't Turn Out Like Your Mother"

Chart
Chart (1994) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[6] 19
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[7] 38
Scottish Albums (OCC)[8] 1
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[9] 34
UK Albums (OCC)[10] 8

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[11] Silver 60,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history

A two-CD Collectors Edition of the album was issued in the UK through Chrysalis in 2011, featuring a remastered version of the studio-album and a bonus disc containing B-sides, live-versions and a BBC Radio session track.[12] In 2017, the album was re-released in Europe on vinyl through Parlophone Records.[12]

Region Date Format(s) Label Ref.
United Kingdom 22 March 1994
Chrysalis [12]
Europe 1994
  • CD
  • cassette
 Chrysalis [12]
United States 1994
  • CD
  • cassette
 Chrysalis [12]
Canada 1994
  • CD
  • cassette
 Chrysalis [12]
Japan 1994
  • CD
 Chrysalis [12]
South Africa 1994
  • CD
 Chrysalis [12]
Gulf Corporation Council 1994
  • Cassette
  • Chrysalis
  • Stallions
 [12]
Indonesia 1994
  • Cassette
 Chrysalis [12]
United Kingdom 2011
  • 2xCD
  • Chrysalis
 [12]
United Kingdom 2017
  • LP
 Parlophone [12]

Notes
  1. "Pick and Pans Review: Hit the Highway". People Magazine. People. 18 April 1994. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  2. Stevens, Joe (31 March 1994). "Music". The Daily Pennsylvanian. The Daily Pennsylvanian. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  3. Breakwood, Sue (21 August 1994). "Scottish Proclaimers Hit Beach". Virginian Pilot. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  4. Galvin, Peter. "Album Reviews - The Proclaimers: Hit the Highway". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2 October 2007. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  5. Jehnzen, Daevid. "Hit the Highway - The Proclaimers - Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  6. "Austriancharts.at – The Proclaimers – Hit the Highway" (in German). Hung Medien.
  7. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 1619". RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
  8. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  9. "Swedishcharts.com – The Proclaimers – Hit the Highway". Hung Medien.
  10. "The Proclaimers | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
  11. "British album certifications – The Proclaimers – Hit the Highway". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 24 December 2019. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Hit the Highway in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  12. "The Proclaimers - Hit the Highway - Releases". Discogs. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
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