Track Listing
1. Driving to Damascus
2. Dive in to Me
3. See You
4. Perfect World
5. Somebody Else
6. Fragile Things
7. President Slipped and Fell, The
8. Devil in the Eye
9. Trouble the Waters
10. Bella
11. Your Spirit to Me
12. Grace
13. Loserville
14. This Blood's for You
15. I Get Hurt
16. John Wayne's Dream
| Details | | Producer: | Big Country, Rafe McKenna | | Distributor: | MSI Music Distribution | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
Big Country's DRIVING TO DAMASCUS features "Dive into me" and "Perfect World."
The German limited edition import includes four bonus tracks.
Personnel: Stuart Adamson (vocals, guitar, slide guitar, mandolin, mini-Moog synthesizer); Mark Brzezicki (vocals, drums, programming); Geezer Butler (vocals); Bruce Watson (guitar, slide guitar, mandolin, sitar); Josh Phillips (keyboards); Eddi Reader, Rafe McKenna (background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Rafe McKenna.
Recording information: Rockfield Studios, Monmouth, Wales.
Big Country returned from a four-year hiatus in 1999 with DRIVING TO DAMASCUS, reissued in the U.S. in 2002 with bonus tracks as JOHN WAYNE'S DREAM. The Scots prove that they had not dulled with age on their eighth and ultimately final studio album, a dramatic affair featuring boisterous drums, hard-edged guitars, and Stuart Adamson alternately singing and snarling his way through the album's 12 tracks. The Kinks' Ray Davies lent his pen to two songs, the anthemic singalong "Somebody Else" and the XTC-tinged "Devil in the Eye." All in all, the record showcased a band that should have been nowhere near the end of its career. Sadly, this was a notion made all the more tragic following Adamson's suicide a mere two years later.
Big Country's first full-length studio album since 1995's Why the Long Face, which is a very tough act to follow. Well, they succeeded. This is one of their finest moments, full of trademark Big Country sounds (the guitar, the heavy beat, and Adamson's fantastic vocals). What sets this CD apart from their other releases is the strong use of melody tied together with heartbreaking stories and well-constructed arrangements. Listening to the harmony vocals melt with the guitars in "Fragile Thing," it's difficult not to be moved. Adamson has never sounded better, and the band is tighter than ever before. Listening to this album, it is hard to believe that the band was celebrating their 20-year anniversary and still sound so fresh and excited. This is a group who have not mellowed out, but are able to structure melodic, driving songs. There are a couple of interesting points with this album. First, Ray Davies (of the Kinks) co-wrote two songs with Adamson (the brilliant "Somebody Else" and the wonderful "Devil in the Eye"). To hear these, one would never guess that there was any involvement from Davies. The songs fit for Big Country, but would be out of place on a Davies or Kinks album. Also, the CD appears on the Track Records label (famous for Hendrix and the Who to name two). It seems fitting that Big Country is signed to the resurrected label -- it just fits. It is the mixture of old and new that helps Big Country form their own distinct (and brilliant) sound. This CD is highly recommended. Collectors note: The initial pressings contain two bonus songs, not found on later issues. ~ Aaron Badgley
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