Album · The Band
Northern Lights – Southern Cross by The Band
Northern Lights – Southern Cross is an album by The Band, released in 1975. 3 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 17 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “It Makes No Difference”, on 10 lists with a best position of #159.
Northern Lights – Southern Cross, the Band's sixth studio album, came out on Capitol in November 1975, their first set of new original songs since Cahoots in 1971. They produced it themselves at Shangri-La, their own studio, and for the only time every song came from Robbie Robertson's pen. The rest of the gang brought them to life: Garth Hudson's keyboards and accordion swirl through it like weather off a lake, and Levon Helm, Richard Manuel and Rick Danko all take turns at the mic.
"Ophelia" struts, "It Makes No Difference" is as heartsick as rock gets, and "Acadian Driftwood" rolls out slow and wide as a river. Reviewers welcomed it as a step up from the records just before it, but it sold less than the early classics, stalling at number 26 in the US, with "Ophelia" stopping at 62 on the Hot 100.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Northern Lights – Southern Cross on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | It Makes No Difference | 10 | #159 | – | 2001–2026 | |
| 2 | Acadian Driftwood | 4 | #431 | – | 2004–2020 | |
| 3 | Ophelia | 3 | #174 | – | 2012–2026 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.