[2018-06-29] Big Country "Why The Long Face (Deluxe Edition)" 4CD box set (Cherry Red UK)

Linda · **Posted:** Fri Apr 20, 2018 9:27 pm

Description
Formed in Dunfermline, Scotland in 1981 by the band’s guitarists and founder members Stuart Adamson and Bruce Watson, Big Country quickly broke worldwide with their initial album “The Crossing”, selling over 2 million copies and receiving 3 Grammy nominations in the US. Success continued, and the band went on to put out another 5 highly regarded albums before the release of “Why The Long Face” in 1995.

With original singer Stuart Adamson at the helm, Big Country scored 17 top 30 singles in the UK, and achieved 5 gold and platinum albums during the period.

This release includes not only the full length album “Why The Long Face”, but also their live 1996 album Eclectic, plus a huge array of bonus tracks and band demos, including alternative and acoustic versions of classic tracks such as ‘In A Big Country’ and ‘You Dreamer’, plus a whole load of rarities including Big Country’s cover versions of Alice Cooper’s ‘Teenage Lament’, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Down On The Corner’ and Neil Young’s ‘Hey Hey My My’.

All material contained within has been freshly remastered especially for this release.

Comes packaged in a clam shell box set, with booklet containing full sleeve-notes documenting the band’s activities throughout the release of the album.

Tracklist
[CD1: Why The Long Face]
1. You Dreamer
2. Message Of Love
3. I’m Not Ashamed
4. Sail Into Nothing
5. Thunder & Lightning
6. Send You
7. One In A Million
8. God’s Great Mistake
9. Wildland In My Heart
10. Take You To The Moon
11. Far From Me To You
12. Charlotte
13. Post Nuclear Talking Blues
14. Blue On A Green Planet

[CD2: Bonus Tracks]
1. I’m Not Ashamed (Single Edit)
2. One In A Million (1st Visit)
3. Monday Tuesday Girl
4. In A Big Country (Acoustic Version)
5. Crazytimes
6. Blue On A Green Planet (Cool Version)
7. You Dreamer (Single Edit)
8. Ice Cream Smile
9. Magic In Your Eyes
10. Bianca
11. Hardly A Mountain (HITW Tapes)
12. Golden Boy Loves Golden Girl (HITW Tapes)
13. Can You Feel The Winter (HITW Tapes)
14. I’m Eighteen
15. Vicious
16. On The Road Again
17. All Go Together (Acoustic Version)

[CD3: Eclectic]
1. River Of Hope
2. King Of Emotion
3. Big Yellow Taxi
4. The Buffalo Skinners
5. Summertime
6. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
7. Eleanor Rigby
8. Winter Sky
9. Sling It
10. I’m On Fire
11. Where The Rose Is Sown
12. Come Back To Me
13. Ruby Tuesday
Bonus Tracks:
14. Teenage Lament
15. Down On The Corner
16. Hey Hey My My
17. You Dreamer (Acoustic Version)
18. I’m Not Ashamed (Acoustic Version)

[CD4: Demos]
1. You Dreamer
2. Message Of Love
3. I’m Not Ashamed
4. Sail Into Nothing
5. Thunder And Lightning
6. Send You
7. God’s Great Mistake
8. Wildland In My Heart
9. Take You To The Moon
10. Far From Me To You
11. Charlotte
12. Post Nuclear Talking Blues
13. Crazytimes
14. What About Peace
15. Normal
16. God’s Great Mistake (Alternate Version)

Amazon USA
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CMTQFXT/?tag=imwan-20

Amazon UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CMTQFXT/?tag=imwan-21

Invisible Pedestrian · **Joined:** 24 Sep 2006 **Posts:** 26163

This is such a good album and very guitar-based.

It really rocks and in fact, "Blue on a Green Planet" is incredible.

I will definitely get this down the line and including the rare tracks and Eclectic makes it all the better, but I'm shocked the classic albums got 2 CDs and this gets 4?

Where is my favorite album The Buffalo Skinners? That hasn't gotten the treatment yet!

David Baker · 31 Oct 2006

An excellent album, and the mentioned bonus tracks sound interesting. I'm likely in, but it might depend on price.

richman666 · 15 Nov 2006

Very excited about this release even though I have most or all of the content included. I love this album for many reasons, mainly because it marked the return of the amazing Mark Brzezicki as a full-time member. Too bad they never toured the US for this album. I was in Scotland in 1995 but missed one of their shows by about 2 days. Very pleased that I got to see them in New York on the 1993 Buffalo Skinners tour. Here's me with all four of them backstage. Too bad I was wearing a "hair hat" at the time, which makes these photos hard for me to look at.

The Cherry Red website shows a list price of £19.99 so I'm guessing this will be very reasonably priced at AmazWAN.

My only complaint about Why The Long Face is some of the lyrics. Stuart Adamson is among my Top 2 or 3 favorite lyricists but he was a bit hit-or-miss here. The only line that makes me cringe, though, is in "Wildland In My Heart":
"The Ranger is finally on his own,
Tonto got married and went home,
That’s how it is when your first name’s Lone..."

By the way, for anyone who doesn't already own the Eclectic acoustic live set, that is a major selling point of this reissue. The version of b-side "The Buffalo Skinners" is breathtaking.

David Baker · 31 Oct 2006

Thanks for the info, Rich; I'm definitely in at that price point.

Linda · **Posted:** Wed Apr 25, 2018 1:58 pm

This is now available for pre-order from Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CMTQFXT/?tag=imwan-21

Expect the price to drop, and perhaps be even lower through Amazon USA once the listing appears there.

Linda · **Posted:** Sat Jun 30, 2018 5:16 am

This has now been released, and the USA price did end up being the best -- $24.99:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CMTQFXT/?tag=imwan-20

Jklwire · **Joined:** 13 Aug 2013 **Posts:** 40

Just wanted to echo David Baker’s comment above; the acoustic “Eclectic” is outstanding & Buffalo Skinners is thought provoking.

This is an adventurous performance delivered with genuine enthusiasm (which is confirmed in a video of this show). Add special guests, some cover songs that span decades to a few Big Country Classics & it’s a gem.

[2018-06-29] Big Country "Why The Long Face (Deluxe Edition)" 4CD box set (Cherry Red UK)

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