Big Country Classic

Universal Music will issue another great value three-CD Essential set under their budget Spectrum imprint, this time featuring Scottish rock band Big Country. This package includes all 13 of the band’s UK top 30 singles (including ‘Look Away’, ‘One Great Thing’, ‘Chance’ and ‘Wonderland’) as well as highlighting key album cuts (including the title track of 1986’s The Seer which features one Kate Bush) and offering a smattering of remixes. A live cover of the soul classic ‘The Tracks of My Tears’ features at the end of CD 2.

This release includes not only the full length album “Why The Long Face”, but also their live 1996 album Eclectic, plus a huge array of bonus tracks and band demos, including alternative and acoustic versions of classic tracks such as ‘In A Big Country’ and ‘You Dreamer’, plus a whole load of rarities including Big Country’s cover versions of Alice Cooper’s ‘Teenage Lament’, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Down On The Corner’ and Neil Young’s ‘Hey Hey My My’.

Big Country may never have reached the commercial highs of similarly structured outfits like the Waterboys and U2, but the Scottish rockers had all the ingredients needed for stadium domination. This two-disc U.K. collection from Spectrum dutifully chronicles the underrated Dunfermline, Fife-based outfit’s nearly 20-year career, from the band's classic 1983 debut, The Crossing, to 1999’s Driving to Damascus. Listeners who only know the group’s two big international hits (“In a Big Country” and "Fields of Fire”) will find in Fields of Fire: The Ultimate Collection a veritable treasure trove (as in 35 excellent remastered tracks) of anthemic modern rock with a rural twist, propelled in large part by the late Stuart Adamson’s soaring, bagpipe-inspired guitar leads.