For someone who hates Christmas, one of the presents I received in 1989 had a profound effect on my life.
The compilation Rock City Nights introduced me to The Georgia Satellites through “Keep Your Hands to Yourself”, beginning a lifelong love affair with that band. It also contained “King Of Emotion” by Big Country, and for the remaining 36 years I’ve been something of a fan.
That connection was only heightened this year. After reading Scott Rowley’s fantastic book, Stay Alive: The Life And Death Of Stuart Adamson, I embarked on a project to listen to every Big Country release in chronological order. It took a few weeks and meant that the release of Eastworld probably matters more to me now than it would have done at any other point in my music-listening life.
This collection of ten songs written or co-written by Adamson is markedly different from 2013’s The Journey, which saw Mike Peters step in to front a set of new material. These are songs which have previously appeared as demos, sketches, B-sides and internet releases, now developed by Big Country Redux: original guitarist Bruce Watson, his son Jamie, Tommie Paxton, Chris Stones and drummer Reece Dobbin.
From the opening guitar of “Kiss The Girl Goodbye”, that unmistakable Big Country sound is present. Originally from the early 1990s, it immediately carries Adamson’s fingerprints.
“What About Peace” dates from the Why The Long Face period of 30 years ago. When Adamson sings, “I know the rules about glory and honour”, all you can do is marvel at his songwriting brilliance.
The words to “The Hostage Speaks” are dark, but the music somehow uplifts. That contrast was always one of Big Country’s great strengths: finding hope, humanity and light amid their most serious subject matter.
The famous approximation of bagpipes returns on “Never Take Your Place”, while its folk tinge and the cry of “it’s time we left this place” make it quintessentially Big Country.
Knowing what we now do about Adamson makes “Troubled Man” especially poignant. Conceived around 1990, it contains the quite superb line: “It takes a troubled man to know the freedom of his fear.” Guest vocals from Belly and Lorna of Pistol Daisys give this reinvention a completely different character.
“God’s Great Mistake (Part 1)” has existed in other forms before, but this version is arguably the album’s highlight. The lyrics, the energy and the sheer love of rock ’n’ roll running through it are magnificent.
The acoustic-tinged beauty of “Normal” conceals more razor-sharp observation. “We bring our kids up right……we let them watch TV to teach them properly” feels even more prescient now, as multimedia consumes increasingly large parts of our lives.
It is difficult not to hear all these songs through the lens of hindsight, particularly “Winter Sky”. Dating from the Steeltown era, it pairs the ominous warning that “the clouds will come for you” with fiddles which bring a slight country flavour. Adamson was a huge country fan, and you suspect he would have approved of what the Watsons have done with it here.
The title track is an almost perfect example of what this band did so brilliantly. If you were choosing one of these songs to introduce someone to Big Country, “Eastworld” might be it. Stirring, purposeful and ridiculously catchy, it stands comfortably alongside their finest work.
It is fitting that the record concludes with a song Adamson wrote alone. “Pan-American Irish Girl”, originating from a lighter period in the late 1990s, is a joyous, uplifting finale.
Perhaps that is how this band should be remembered: for the uplifting way they played these songs and the way their music has continued to resonate with people for so long.
Bruce Watson has said: “Big Country is my life and a labour of love. I feel a responsibility to continue the story.”
Given that responsibility, Eastworld is a fantastic addition to the story. More than that, it stands proudly alongside many of the records Big Country made with the late, great Stuart Adamson.
Rating: 9/10
