scaryblog

One I have no clue about at all... No Place Like Home (1991) I believe this features yet another stylistic swerve, but have absolutely no idea which direction it takes. 1. We're Not In Kansas Hmmm. There's a germ of a song (or several) in there but it's not really full formed - it features weird lyrics and tempo changes for no obvious reason. It's also not very well produced with the guitars distractingly high in the mix. Overall - would not recommend. 2. Republican Party Reptile Whereas this has a weird ZZ Top feel to it - were they actively trying to drive their fans away? 3. Dynamite Lady At least this has hints of Big Country to it, but it's definitely lacking the passion of their earlier work - it's very much done by the numbers. 4. Keep On Dreaming Well, at least we continue to head in the right direction - but we ain't there yet! 5. Beautiful People This is weirdly stompy almost country with some dreadful lyrics. Under any other circumstances, I would...

The first one I've never listened to... Peace In Our Time (1988) I've no idea why I never bought this. I remember a couple of the singles and quite liked them, but for some reason I just never got round to it - so I'm intrigued to see what I think of it. 1. King Of Emotion I remembered liking this - it wasn't as enjoyable as I was expecting, but it's not dreadful. It doesn't sound very Scottish compared their previous stuff though and the drums are ridiculously high in the mix. 2. Broken Heart (Thirteen Valleys) This was another one I remembered I liked - and this one has stood the test of time better (and it sounds more Scottish). It's still pretty understated on the guitar front - maybe they were given them a rest on this album. I wasn't expecting the pan pipes at the end though 3. Thousand Yard Stare Fine, but a bit repetitive - and that's all I can remember about it. 4. From Here To Eternity This starts with some ambient pan pipe-y things as well...

Next! The Seer (1986) This is another one I purchased as soon as it came out - but, for some unclear reason, it was the last one of theirs I ever bought (maybe this journey will help me understand). I think I still like this album but I don't believe I've listened to it in decades, so it will be good to catch up with it. Side One 1. Look Away This is very much up their anthemic sing-along street - no complaints from me about that! 2. The Seer This is an interesting one - it features Kate Bush because she's not done a lot of collaboration over the years. I'd always wondered how it came about - but five seconds on the internet tells me that apparently they asked and she said "yes", so I guess that solves that mystery. Kate provides an interesting mix of sounds on this but hers and Stuart's voices work well together - I'm not sure we needed 5:25 of it though. 3. The Teacher This was the only track of the first side I didn't remember from the title alo...

Next! Steeltown (1984) I bought this as soon as it came out and whilst I rarely revisit it, I always enjoy it when I do Side One 1. Flame Of The West A nice swirling anthemic start with quite a dark theme of false promises and betrayal - it sounds great loud. 2. East Of Eden Not a million miles away from the previous track, but we got some hints of hope here - it's not going to be all gloom and doom (but quite a lot of it is though). 3. Steeltown Yup - we're back in the land of false promises and betrayal again. The lyrics are particularly good here though - arguably some of his finest work, methinks. And yes, it's swirling and anthemic again, although a bit slower than the previous tracks.  4. Where The Rose Is Sown We've got a bit of hope here - the subject may have gone off to war but he believes he's on the side of the angels and he hasn't been killed yet. 5. Come Back To Me Oh dear  (spoiler alert)   - he's dead now and we're hearing from the woman ...

Yes - it's time for another list!   I thought I was done with groups that put out debut albums in '83 and was about to move on to the badlands of '84 - but then I realised I was missing out on one of my favourite bands from the time. Shame on me! Whereas REM, Billy and Natalie all have reasonably strong ties to the US (even if Billy didn't exactly start there), there's absolutely no danger of anyone thinking Big Country are anything other than Scottish - however, there is, somewhat amazingly, a link between them all. In the summer of '90, 250,000 fans gathered in Glasgow to celebrate it being the European City Of Culture (fun fact - I was there for Hogmanay earlier in the year). There were a load of bands playing across the city, including Big Country and Billy Bragg, and Billy had Natalie as a special guest and she brought Michael along as well! - so it all ties together nicely (much to my surprise!).  But let's head back to the very beginning... Big Countr...