News

Three decades after their signature hit “In a Big Country” became one of the best rock songs of the decade, Mercury will celebrate the legacy of the Scottish band with a new live box set this summer.

Big Country At The BBC is a 3CD/1DVD box collecting just about everything the BBC recorded pertaining to Big Country between 1982 and 1990. Included are two Radio 1 sessions with Kid Jensen and John Peel in 1982 and 1983 as well as live dates from 1983, 1984, 1988 and 1989, from Hammersmith Palais to the Soviet embassy in London. A DVD collects various performances for Top of the Pops, The Old Grey Whistle Test, Oxford Road Show and others, including a host of live material and a rare interview with the band conducted by Richard Jobson, who was bandmates with late Big Country frontman Stuart Adamson in the Scottish punk outfit The Skids (the pair wrote one of their signature songs, “The Saints Are Coming.”)

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The set comes in an oversize box with a 32-page hardback book featuring liner notes by author Tim Barr and rare photos. An exclusive poster and postcard set also appears in the box for collectors to enjoy.

Big Country At The BBC is announced as the band – fronted by Mike Peters of The Alarm since 2010 – release The Journey, their first new LP in 14 years. It’s out either June 24 (per Amazon U.K.) or July 29 (per Universal Music’s site).

An annotated track list and pre-order link is after the jump.

Big Country At The BBC (Mercury (U.K.), 2013)

* denotes previously unreleased tracks

Disc 1

1. Harvest Home (Kid Jensen Session, BBC Radio 1 – 8/23/1982)
2. Close Action (Kid Jensen Session, BBC Radio 1 – 8/23/1982)
3. Heart & Soul (Kid Jensen Session, BBC Radio 1 – 8/23/1982)
4. Angle Park (Kid Jensen Session, BBC Radio 1 – 8/23/1982)
5. Inwards (John Peel Session, BBC Radio 1 – 2/22/1983)
6. A Thousand Stars (John Peel Session, BBC Radio 1 – 2/22/1983)
7. Close Action (John Peel Session, BBC Radio 1 – 2/22/1983)
8. Porrohman (John Peel Session, BBC Radio 1 – 2/22/1983)
9. Balcony (Live @ Hammersmith Palais, London – 3/29/1983) *
10. Lost Patrol (Live @ Hammersmith Palais, London – 3/29/1983) *
11. The Storm (Live @ Hammersmith Palais, London – 3/29/1983) *
12. In a Big Country (Live @ Hammersmith Palais, London – 3/29/1983) *
13. Angle Park (Live @ Hammersmith Palais, London – 3/29/1983) *
14. Fields of Fire (Live @ Hammersmith Palais, London – 3/29/1983) *

Disc 1, Tracks 1-8 released as Radio 1 Sessions (Night Tracks CDNT007 (U.K.), 1994)

Disc 2 *

1. Harvest Home (Live @ The Reading Festival – 8/26/1983)
2. Close Action (Live @ The Reading Festival – 8/26/1983)
3. The Storm (Live @ The Reading Festival – 8/26/1983)
4. Fields of Fire (Live @ The Reading Festival – 8/26/1983)
5. Lost Patrol (Live @ Wembley Stadium – 6/28/1984)
6. In a Big Country (Live @ Wembley Stadium – 6/28/1984)
7. Porrohman (Live @ Wembley Stadium – 6/28/1984)
8. Inwards (Live @ Wembley Stadium – 6/28/1984)
9. Peace in Our Time (Live @ the Soviet Embassy, London – 9/22/1988)
10. Look Away (Live @ the Soviet Embassy, London – 9/22/1988)
11. Broken Heart (Live @ the Soviet Embassy, London – 9/22/1988)
12. Thousand Yard Stare (Live @ the Soviet Embassy, London – 9/22/1988)
13. King of Emotion (Live @ the Soviet Embassy, London – 9/22/1988)
14. River of Hope (Live @ the Soviet Embassy, London – 9/22/1988)

Disc 3: Live At The Hammersmith Odeon – 1/23/1989

1. Peace in Our Time
2. Look Away *
3. Wonderland
4. Broken Heart *
5. Just a Shadow *
6. Thousand Yard Stare *
7. The Seer
8. Come Back to Me
9. The Travellers
10. King of Emotion
11. East of Eden *
12. Restless Natives *
13. Tracks of My Tears *
14. Fields of Fire

Disc 4: DVD

Top of the Pops performances:

1. Fields of Fire (3/24/1983)
2. In a Big Country (April 1983)
3. Chance (May 1983)
4. East of Eden (9/27/1984)
5. Look Away (1986)
6. King of Emotion (8/23/1988)

Other live performances:

1. Fields of Fire (Oxford Road Show – 2/25/1983)
2. Close Action (The Old Grey Whistle Test – 3/29/1983)
3. A Thousand Stars (The Old Grey Whistle Test – 3/29/1983)
4. Just A Shadow (Oxford Road Show – 2/8/1985)
5. Interview with Richard Jobson
6. Heart of the World (Live @ Wembley Stadium for The Prince’s Trust – 7/18/1990)

Live at Sefton Park, Liverpool – 7/2/1983 (recorded for Pop Carnival)

1. Porrohman
2. The Storm
3. In a Big Country
4. Chance
5. Angle Park
6. Fields of Fire

Live at The Playhouse, Edinburgh – 12/31/1984 (recorded for The Old Grey Whistle Test)

1. Just a Shadow
2. The Storm
3. Chance
4. Where the Rose is Sown
5. Come Back to Me
6. A Thousand Stars
7. Harvest Home
8. Interview with Billy Sloan

Live at The Hexagon, Reading – 4/14/1986 (recorded for The Old Grey Whistle Test)

1. Wonderland
2. Where the Rose is Sown
3. Remembrance Day
4. I Walk the Hill
5. Look Away
6. Chance
7. The Teacher
8. In a Big Country
9. Inwards
10. Harvest Home
11. Fields of Fire