Bundled into the arrival of post-punk bands onto us musical landscape back in the early ’80s, Big Country brought a blend of Scottish folk into their decidedly post-punk compositions. From the release of their first album, The Crossing, they had the rapt attention of fans. The album contained the band’s Top40 hit, “In A Big Country”, as well as their earlier released single, “Harvest Home”, pre-The Crossing. (The late ’70s, early to mid ’80s were a fun, fun time. With Rock music in a clear and decisive musical change, many facets of the business were explored with a wealth of singles being released that were non-album. Not only that, fan clubs were massive with exclusivity and other rarities.If you loved a band, there were many ways to involve yourself.)
Unfortunately, Big Country began to lose their sales shine not long after their debut album. Steeltown arrived in 1984, followed by The Seer in 1986. That’s not to say – at all – that these albums were less than the original promised. They were musically as strong as the their promise offered. What happened was a strong crush of important and unavoidable bands stole proper attention. They released Peace In Our Time in 1988. Over time, the band would release six more albums, the last two without Stuart Adamson, one of the band’s important pieces. The res is, as they say, history.
Big Country still has a cult of fans. No surprise given the quality of songs they produced.
On November 24, the UK label, Cherry Red will release a 5CD set of collected live performance tracks to be called We’re Not In Kansas (The Live Bootleg Box Set 1993-1998). As figured from the strength of their studio recordings, Big Country was a live band to enjoy. The 5CD Box will chronicle Big Country’s live shows with Stuart Adamson, still much a vital and essential part of the DNA of the band. After their initial release of their ’80s classics, the band still toured in promotion of released albums. On this set, five shows are represented. In it you will hear sets from First Avenue in Minneapolis, MN (11/06/1993), Glascow Tower Records (06/23/1995), Stirling at the Macrobert Centre in Stirling, Scotland (04/29/1994), Rotterdam Rotown in the Netherlands (08/28/1995), Tappie Toories in Dunfermline, Scotland, (05/24/1998), and a single track (“Daydream Believer”) in Royal Tunbridge Wells at High Rocks (England) (06/09/1995).
The notes in the booklet contain an interview with Bruce Watson and Tony Butler.
We’re Not In Kansas (The Live Bootleg Box Set 1993-1998) – Big Country
CD1 (First Avenue – Minneapolis, MN USA 06/11/1993):
01. ALL GO TOGETHER
02. WE’RE NOT IN KANSAS
03. LOOK AWAY
04. WHAT ARE YOU WORKING FOR
05. CHESTER’S FARM
06. WONDERLAND
07. PINK MARSHMALLOW MOON
08. SHIPS
09. LONG WAY HOME
10. ALONE
11. THE ONE I LOVE
12. IN A BIG COUNTRY
CD2 (First Avenue – Minneapolis, MN USA 06/11/1993; Tower Records – Glasgow, Scotland 06/23/1995):
[MINNEAPOLIS (06/11/93)]
01. CHANCE
02. LOST PATROL
03. DON’T FEAR THE REAPER
04. HEY HEY, MY MY
[GLASGOW TOWER RECORDS (06/23/95)]
05. YOU DREAMER
06. LOOK AWAY
07. I’M NOT ASHAMED
08. ONE IN A MILLION
09. SEND YOU
10. WE’RE NOT IN KANSAS
11. HEY HEY, MY MY
12. ROCKIN’ IN THE FREE WORLD
CD3 (Macrobert Centre – Stirling, Scotland 04/29/1994):
01. ALL GO TOGETHER
02. HARVEST HOME
03. KING OF EMOTION
04. LOOK AWAY
05. THIRTEEN VALLEYS
06. ONE GREAT THING
07. WINTER SKY
08. LONG WAY HOME
09. SHIPS
10. THE STORM
11. EVERYTHING I NEED
12. RIVER OF HOPE
13. JUST A SHADOW
14. WE’RE NOT IN KANSAS
15. COME BACK TO ME
CD4 (Macrobert Centre – Stirling, Scotland 04/29/1994; Rotterdam Rotown – Rotterdam, Netherlands 08/28/1995):
[STIRLING (04/29/94)]
01. PEACE IN OUR TIME
02. IN A BIG COUNTRY
03. CHANCE
04. ROCKIN’ IN THE FREE WORLD
05. DON’T FEAR THE REAPER
[ROTTERDAM ROTOWN (08/28/95)]
06. INTRODUCTION BY MARK
07. ALL GO TOGETHER #1
08. ALL GO TOGETHER #2
09. YOU DREAMER
10. LOOK AWAY
11. SHIPS
12. I’M NOT ASHAMED
13. JUST A SHADOW
14. LONG WAY HOME
15. THE STORM
16. THIRTEEN VALLEYS
CD5 (Rotterdam Rotown – Rotterdam, Netherlands 08/28/1995; Tappie Toories – Dumfermline, Scotland 05/24/1998; High Rocks – Royal Tunbridge Wells, England 06/09/1995):
[ROTTERDAM ROTOWN (08/28/95)]
01. DON’T FEAR THE REAPER
02. WE’RE NOT IN KANSAS
03. IN A BIG COUNTRY
04. PEACE IN OUR TIME
05. FOUND OUT ABOUT YOU
06. ROCKIN’ IN THE FREE WORLD
07. CHANCE
08. TRACKS OF MY TEARS
[TAPPIE TOORIES (05/24/98)]
09. YOU DREAMER
10. LOOK AWAY
11. CHANCE
12. IN A BIG COUNTRY
[TUNBRIDGE WELLS HIGH ROCKS (09/06/95)]
13. DAYDREAM BELIEVER