Big Country

In the early '80s Big Country was among a sprinkling of bands that favored guitars over synthesizers and earnest idealism over irony. Like their contemporaries in U2 and the Alarm, the members of Big Country were inspired by punk's energy and its emphasis on connecting with the audience.

Lead singer Stuart Adamson launched his rock career by playing guitar in a self-styled punk quartet called the Skids, who released three albums between 1977 and 1980 and had a #10 hit in England with the 1979 single "Into the Valley." Believing that the band was not living up to its initial ideals of professional and artistic integrity, Adamson decided to form his own band in Scotland. Big Country’s first incarnation featured Adamson on vocals and guitar, plus four local Scottish musicians, among them guitarist Bruce Watson. Adamson and Watson eventually parted company with the other three and hooked up with London sessionmen Mark Brzezicki and Tony Butler, who had previously played in a trio with Pete Townshend’s brother Simon, a childhood friend of Butler’s.

After a series of sessions with producer Chris Thomas, Big Country decided to enlist U2 producer Steve Lillywhite for its debut album. The resulting effort, 1983’s The Crossing, emphasized the young band’s penchant for passionate, often anthemic songs and Celtic-flavored arrangements that were at once fierce and folky. ROLLING STONE made note of Adamson’s “unconventional guitar playing, which at times recalls such traditional instruments as bagpipes or fiddles” - a feature that was a highlight of Big Country’s first and biggest hit, “In a Big Country” (#17, 1983). The following year the EP Wonderland and the album Steeltown were also well received. After that, the band’s recordings faltered critically and commercially in the U.S., though a series of largely live albums still consistently reached the U.K. Top 30. The band folded in 1997.

from The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001)