Big Country

Scotland's Big Country distinguished themselves in the early 1980s through ringing guitars that evoked bagpipes and the soaring anthems delivered by frontman Stuart Adamson, quickly establishing the group as one of the era's most singular and hopeful rock acts. Their debut album, The Crossing, produced a substantial chart success, and although later critical and commercial momentum faded, the band outlived nearly every peer by continuing to issue fresh recordings well into the following century. Adamson, born in England, assembled Big Country in the middle of 1981 after departing the Scottish punk group the Skids and recruited longtime friend Bruce Watson to handle second guitar; the initial roster of Clive Parker plus brothers Pete and Alan Wishart gave way almost immediately to bassist Tony Butler and drummer Mark Brzezicki.

After inking a deal with Polygram's Mercury subsidiary, the quartet released its first single, "Harvest Home," during autumn 1982. Extensive support slots on the Jam's farewell trek sharply raised the band's profile, allowing the next release, "Fields of Fire," to reach the upper reaches of the British Top Ten. Issued in 1983, The Crossing offered impassioned, idealistic songwriting and Celtic-tinged arrangements that stood apart from the dominant new-wave sound of the period. The record achieved platinum status in the United Kingdom and gold certification in the United States, propelled in part by the pop-charting single "In a Big Country," which climbed into the Top 20. Reviewers responded enthusiastically, and early the next year Big Country returned to the British Top Ten with "Wonderland."

Steeltown, the follow-up album, debuted at number one on the charts, yet even amid favorable notices, observers began noting that much of the material shared a similar sonic character. Those criticisms intensified with 1986's The Seer, although the single "Look Away" became the group's highest-charting release to date. A groundbreaking tour of the Soviet Union coincided with the 1988 appearance of Peace in Our Time. Brzezicki stepped down the following year, and drummer Pat Ahern handled duties on the single "Save Me." Chris Bell later took the drum chair for 1991's No Place Like Home, an album that marked the first Big Country release without an American edition.

Once free of Polygram, the band moved to the Compulsion imprint for The Buffalo Skinners in 1993, tracked with drummer Simon Phillips; the set yielded two British Top 30 entries, "Alone" and "Ships." Brzezicki rejoined in time to appear on Without the Aid of a Safety Net, a live album captured in Glasgow at the close of the year. Why the Long Face arrived in 1995, and after completing the acoustic project Eclectic, Adamson relocated to Nashville in 1997, placing Big Country on an extended break. Driving to Damascus, the first studio album in four years, surfaced in 1999; its single "Somebody Else" was co-written by Adamson and the Kinks' Ray Davies.

Ongoing struggles with alcohol led to Adamson's brief disappearance in November 1999, after which he announced plans to step away from touring in spring 2000 alongside the limited-edition release of the Nashville Album. Come Up Screaming followed later that autumn on SPV. On December 16, 2001, Adamson was discovered deceased in a Hawaiian hotel room after having been missing for several weeks from his Nashville, Tennessee residence.