Man, when I heard Porrohman on this album my spine started tingling way down low and slowly rose up through the top of my head. I swooned over this band as a teenager and then lost track of them completely. Don't know how I allowed it, but this is proof that sometimes you love a band from age 14 to 40. Thanks Emusic.
I never bought a Big Country album, but saw them live on numerous occasions. On one occasion it was Hogmany at the Dunfermline Kinema (their hometown venue) and they played through the bells. My point: Big Country were fantastic live and never really (in my opinion) captured that in the studio. This album gives a taster of the band's live brilliance and takes me back to my teenage years andsweaty venues.
I have a copy of this album on CD, and I have my ticket stub from the London show in the CD box, some of which appears on this album. I was so, so sad when Stuart died. This album is a fitting tribute to a great band. Plus they played Porrohman.
Blistering set from their final, earth scorching tour. One of my personal "Top 5" Big Country releases. Their playing is very tight here, the recording is very well done, and the entire band plays with an energy and enthusiasm that makes you wonder why the heck they thought they had to call it quits. I tend to listen to this one a lot. We surely miss you, Stuart.
While this never rises to capture the grandeur and mystery of the studio albums (not available on emusic), these give a good taste of Big Country's powerful performances. I wouldn't recommend it as a sole introduction to Big Country, but it's good if you already know the songs.
Other than their CD "The Crossing" (not available on emusic), this live document of their farewell concert provides a great place to start listening to Big Country. At this point they were a finely tuned band playing all their hits and fan favourites. If you're unsure about using your downloads on all the songs, try out the opener "Harvest Home" and the closer "Fields of Fire" then take it from there.
The power of Big Country's live assault never dropped off, from the start of their career to their (literal) finish. This is basically a live Greatest Hits with strong presentations of their "Driving To Damascus/John Wayne's Dream" selections integrated. The live setting helps the new material and invigorates the old, and also makes for a fitting tribute to the late great Stuart Adamson (RIP), who died not long after this tour. Especially touching is his ending announcement after the encores to "stay alive", one which he was unable to heed himself.
