Too often reduced to that band “that had guitars that sounded like bagpipes,” Scotland’s Big Country show that there was a lot more to their music than their hit 1983 anthem “In a Big Country.” A deeper listen reveals a rock band (and main songwriter/guitarist Stuart Adamson) whose anthemic aggression and galloping guitars often outshone their melancholic lyrical nods to everything from their homeland to strength in family. They were clever in their politics (“Peace in Our Time,” “Republican Party Reptile”), in their love of life (“Harvest Home,” “Fields of Fire”), and even in their vulnerability (“King of Emotion,” “Just a Shadow”). And every song is truly catchy.
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