The Best Of Big Country

Big Country made big music — maybe not according to the definitions of Mike Scott, but certainly big in the sense of post-U2 anthemic college rock. They had one big hit — the glorious “In a Big Country,” where the E-Bows chimed like bagpipes and the chorus surged with a barely constrained urgency. Big Country never hit those heights again, either artistically or commercially, but they did write a number of fine, big anthems, all of which are collected on Mercury’s The Best of Big Country. Since it weighs in at 17 tracks, this may try the attention span of anyone but the devoted, yet this still works as a fine summary of their strengths while pointing out why they might not have gone much further. – Stephen Thomas Erlewine