The Best of Big Country

Big Country

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 22, 1994)
• Original Release Date: February 22, 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Island / Mercury
• ASIN: B000001E2E
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #16,232 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This band should have been huge, October 18, 2000

By	John C. Adams "Christian Adams" (Alexandria Virginia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Big Country burst onto the music scene about the same time as fellow Isles rockers, U2. What is amazing after listening to this CD is that they didn't enjoy even slightly comparable sucess. The hard driving riffs and lyrical imagery of "Wonderland" is reminicant of U2's earliest work. Unlike U2, Big Country preserves more of the folk sounds of their native Scotland. "Harvest Home" roars; "Fields of Fire," another 80s US MTV hit, is one of the best on the CD; "In a Big Country" of course has the sounds that help define the brit pop new wave of the first half of the 1980s without the techno silliness of groups like Flock of Seagulls. As with many greatest hits CDs, some of the songs trail toward the end just as their careers did in the early 90s. To first time listeners, Big Country sounds like a cross between early U2, a bit of the Chieftans and maybe even a hint of the melodies and senisbilities of Dexy's Midnight Runners "Come on Eileen." In short, if you are looking for a good greatest hits CD that doesn't have the jumbled feel that many greatest hits CDs have, buy this one.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great Music- Horrendous Remastering, February 19, 2002

By A Customer

This album features some great music from an extraordinary band... Unfortunately it suffers from terrible remastering. Straying far from Big Country's trademark bass-heavy, echoey, drum-heavy mix (listen to the Crossing & Seer), the engineer on this reissue leans more for a brittle, clean, dry, highly treble sound that is altogether displeasing & far from Big Country's original vision. I recommend instead purchasing the reissue of "The Crossing" which has been masterfully remastered AND includes several stunning bonus tracks that date from Big Country's early & most prolific era!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The alternative is a bit better, February 19, 2001

By A Customer

This is a good retrospective of one of the most underrated bands of our time. This anthemic, honest, Celtic-influenced real rock is not for everyone, but for those it touches, there is nothing that compares. This music is withstanding the test of time and these guys just released the finest collection of their career with 1999's "Driving To Damascus". "The Buffalo Skinners" is another essential latter-day release. This "best of" is almost identical to the U.K. release, "Through A Big Country". Unfortunately, the fine tracks, "The Seer" and "Eiledon", were dropped and the ok "Heart of the World" and the positively annoying political rant, "Republican Party Reptile", were added. "Through A Big Country" (remastered) gets the 5 stars. Stay alive.