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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
41 of 42 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
An unbelievable double CD at an excellent price.... how they make money, i have no idea, but their (unlikely) loss is your major gain...
So, what do you get..... 35 tracks of supreme UK music from 82 - 99, from Harvest Home, Fields of Fire, In a Big Country, Look Away...all the tracks you vaguely remember hearing on the radio when the days were longer, the sun was brighter, and you didnt have mortgages, kids, the threat of redundancy hanging over
you.... not only those known tracks, but an additonal 30 odd tracks from the various albums released after the early to mid 80's ones you remember, like The Crossing, Steeltown and The Seer.
A great mix of tracks, some live, (which are superb, and where you truly here the musicianship and ability of this band), ESPECIALLY the previously unreleased BBC performance that ends the 2nd CD), which alone is possibly the best thing ive heard them do live,where i wasnt in the audience...
From The Crossing, in 1982, through to Driving to Damascus in 1999, there are tracks here that will make you jump up like you are 18 again, then others that will make you think about how relevant these songs are STILL today, (Republican Party Reptile, Where the Rose is Sown, Peace in our Time, Steeltown), smile at the memories of your teen's, how the lyrics, or music remind you of past times, and somehow feel as if they were relating to a specific point in your life, a death, a birth, your first girlfriend....how your dad used to play it...a tangible link to something that happened to you when that song was in the charts....it does evoke those memories...give it a listen
Simply put, if you like great music, played as it should be, whether a 40 something from the original days of the band, and you remember jumping about like a dafty in concert, or a recent visitor to the band and their music,(welcome, pull up a set of headphones, and head over to You Tube and check out the other live stuff especially,) You wont regret it. but, if you do, give it to someone who you think will like it.... they may give you more for it :)
I'd say an essential purchase..go buy it..
5 out of 5 stars
So, what do you get..... 35 tracks of supreme UK music from 82 - 99, from Harvest Home, Fields of Fire, In a Big Country, Look Away...all the tracks you vaguely remember hearing on the radio when the days were longer, the sun was brighter, and you didnt have mortgages, kids, the threat of redundancy hanging over
you.... not only those known tracks, but an additonal 30 odd tracks from the various albums released after the early to mid 80's ones you remember, like The Crossing, Steeltown and The Seer.
A great mix of tracks, some live, (which are superb, and where you truly here the musicianship and ability of this band), ESPECIALLY the previously unreleased BBC performance that ends the 2nd CD), which alone is possibly the best thing ive heard them do live,where i wasnt in the audience...
From The Crossing, in 1982, through to Driving to Damascus in 1999, there are tracks here that will make you jump up like you are 18 again, then others that will make you think about how relevant these songs are STILL today, (Republican Party Reptile, Where the Rose is Sown, Peace in our Time, Steeltown), smile at the memories of your teen's, how the lyrics, or music remind you of past times, and somehow feel as if they were relating to a specific point in your life, a death, a birth, your first girlfriend....how your dad used to play it...a tangible link to something that happened to you when that song was in the charts....it does evoke those memories...give it a listen
Simply put, if you like great music, played as it should be, whether a 40 something from the original days of the band, and you remember jumping about like a dafty in concert, or a recent visitor to the band and their music,(welcome, pull up a set of headphones, and head over to You Tube and check out the other live stuff especially,) You wont regret it. but, if you do, give it to someone who you think will like it.... they may give you more for it :)
I'd say an essential purchase..go buy it..
5 out of 5 stars
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
So, another Big Country compilation then. Universal Music have issued several collections already, be it 1990's first attempt Through A Big Country or any of the budget releases of the late 1990s and 2000s. "Fields Of Fire: The Ultimate Collection" is again budget-priced, but generously-proportioned at 35 tracks across two discs.
The downside is that due to licensing issues, it once again fails to serve as a definitive, satisfying compendium of an underrated band's slightly odd career trajectory. At least a dozen singles are absent; Just A Shadow and Broken Heart (Thirteen Valleys) being the most lamentable omissions along with Alone. All showcased Big Country's softer side, which perhaps did not fit in with compiler Jerry Ewing (of Classic Rock magazine)'s idea of what constitutes the "best" of the band's work.
Such a skewed track selection undermines the project, since it tries to ignore and downplay the full range of musical styles covered by Big Country between 1983 and main man Stuart Adamson's sad, premature passing in 2001. It's a wonder that Chance, their first Top 10 hit and a lovely slice of yearning celtic-tinged rock/pop, is included at all. Still, it's sandwiched between a latterday album track and a barely-remembered song from 1984's Steeltown album halfway through CD1, lest anyone forget that Big Country were a Proper Rock & Roll Band, yeah!
Those are the negatives. Well, those and the non-chronological mess of a running order which begins and ends with versions of breakthrough single Fields Of Fire, the latter a previously unreleased BBC performance and one of three Live recordings on this collection. The random nature of the track sequencing does help to obscure the paucity of material from the 1990s; tellingly, the period after Big Country split from the Polygram stable.
No Place Like Home (1991) gets its two singles plus the original Ships, but the acclaimed Buffalo Skinners (1993) has just a sole studio recording of Never Take Your Place. This compilation misses a trick by not selecting any version of We're Not In Kansas; a shame since it's one of the band's finest rockers. As for 1995's Why The Long Face, only I'm Not Ashamed and a concert recording of You Dreamer (from much later in 2000) make the cut.
Now the positives. As mentioned previously, this is a very good value set in terms of tracks-per-pounds. Nearly all the most popular hits are featured, thankfully in their original studio form. If you reprogram the CDs or rearrange them in iTunes, virtually everything from debut 45 Harvest Home through to 1991's Beautiful People is covered singles-wise (only Just A Shadow, Hold The Heart and Thirteen Valleys have gone AWOL). A non-album single from 1990, Heart Of The World, is here in the original mix this time, and Save Me (the then-new song from their first Greatest Hits) also makes the cut. After that, it gets...well, messy. Although another plus point is the inclusion of Fragile Thing, the wonderful duet with Eddi Reeder from 1999's Driving To Damascus.
Overall, it's a frustrating compilation that seems hamstrung by the restrictions upon its compiler. Determined to show what a real rock band Big Country are/were, it skews the picture rather too much for a self-styled "Ultimate Collection". There are too many absentees for this to be anything remotely Ultimate, but it's a decent starting point for anyone interested in checking out a mighty fine band who were once battling it out with Madonna, Genesis and Eurythmics at the top of the UK album charts.
Get this, then Through A Big Country (for the missing 80s hits) and finally those 90s albums for the complete picture.
The downside is that due to licensing issues, it once again fails to serve as a definitive, satisfying compendium of an underrated band's slightly odd career trajectory. At least a dozen singles are absent; Just A Shadow and Broken Heart (Thirteen Valleys) being the most lamentable omissions along with Alone. All showcased Big Country's softer side, which perhaps did not fit in with compiler Jerry Ewing (of Classic Rock magazine)'s idea of what constitutes the "best" of the band's work.
Such a skewed track selection undermines the project, since it tries to ignore and downplay the full range of musical styles covered by Big Country between 1983 and main man Stuart Adamson's sad, premature passing in 2001. It's a wonder that Chance, their first Top 10 hit and a lovely slice of yearning celtic-tinged rock/pop, is included at all. Still, it's sandwiched between a latterday album track and a barely-remembered song from 1984's Steeltown album halfway through CD1, lest anyone forget that Big Country were a Proper Rock & Roll Band, yeah!
Those are the negatives. Well, those and the non-chronological mess of a running order which begins and ends with versions of breakthrough single Fields Of Fire, the latter a previously unreleased BBC performance and one of three Live recordings on this collection. The random nature of the track sequencing does help to obscure the paucity of material from the 1990s; tellingly, the period after Big Country split from the Polygram stable.
No Place Like Home (1991) gets its two singles plus the original Ships, but the acclaimed Buffalo Skinners (1993) has just a sole studio recording of Never Take Your Place. This compilation misses a trick by not selecting any version of We're Not In Kansas; a shame since it's one of the band's finest rockers. As for 1995's Why The Long Face, only I'm Not Ashamed and a concert recording of You Dreamer (from much later in 2000) make the cut.
Now the positives. As mentioned previously, this is a very good value set in terms of tracks-per-pounds. Nearly all the most popular hits are featured, thankfully in their original studio form. If you reprogram the CDs or rearrange them in iTunes, virtually everything from debut 45 Harvest Home through to 1991's Beautiful People is covered singles-wise (only Just A Shadow, Hold The Heart and Thirteen Valleys have gone AWOL). A non-album single from 1990, Heart Of The World, is here in the original mix this time, and Save Me (the then-new song from their first Greatest Hits) also makes the cut. After that, it gets...well, messy. Although another plus point is the inclusion of Fragile Thing, the wonderful duet with Eddi Reeder from 1999's Driving To Damascus.
Overall, it's a frustrating compilation that seems hamstrung by the restrictions upon its compiler. Determined to show what a real rock band Big Country are/were, it skews the picture rather too much for a self-styled "Ultimate Collection". There are too many absentees for this to be anything remotely Ultimate, but it's a decent starting point for anyone interested in checking out a mighty fine band who were once battling it out with Madonna, Genesis and Eurythmics at the top of the UK album charts.
Get this, then Through A Big Country (for the missing 80s hits) and finally those 90s albums for the complete picture.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Although this is perhaps the most extensive BC compilation out there, this still feels like a missed opportunity. The vast majority of the singles are here (bar a couple of strange omissions) plus a smattering of albums tracks, good, bad and some downright odd. It seems as if the compiler has simply selected the bulk of the singles plus a random selection of album tracks, then pressed the shuffle button and hoped for the best. This being so, the music does not flow well at all, which is a disservice to the band and listener alike.
A chronological flow of their releases from 1982 to 1999 would have best served lsteners with regard to the development of the band's (ocassionally unique) sound over the years, from the big hits of the mid-80s to their more cerebral output of their late-80's and 90's work.
On the upside, this really is great value as you get a heck of a lot of (mostly) great music for your money, and Big Country provided a far better listening experience than Runrig could ever have hoped to offer. Gripes aside, this is still probably worth the investment of a mere fiver or so of your hard earnt. Do I hear bagpipes behind the rhythm section....???
A chronological flow of their releases from 1982 to 1999 would have best served lsteners with regard to the development of the band's (ocassionally unique) sound over the years, from the big hits of the mid-80s to their more cerebral output of their late-80's and 90's work.
On the upside, this really is great value as you get a heck of a lot of (mostly) great music for your money, and Big Country provided a far better listening experience than Runrig could ever have hoped to offer. Gripes aside, this is still probably worth the investment of a mere fiver or so of your hard earnt. Do I hear bagpipes behind the rhythm section....???
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
"One of a kind" band.
Big Country are a band in a genre of their own. I saw them in the mid 80's when Stuart Adamson was alive and to me at least they have always been an example in these days of how a... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Dusty Hoff
Big Country The Ultimate Collection
Ultimate Collection they were not kidding.
Having been a Big Country fan from way back, I had numerous albums on vinyl, I had not listened to them for a number of years so... Read more
Having been a Big Country fan from way back, I had numerous albums on vinyl, I had not listened to them for a number of years so... Read more
Published 6 months ago by patsheets
Wonderful...
Brilliant compilation from one of my most favourite bands ever, Stuart, you are most missed and a great loss to the world of music....
Published 7 months ago by M. C. Young
Great
When I first saw this item, I immediately bought four copies and the three friends whom I gave a copy each, all of them approx. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Joe Danby
After all these years...they still ROCK!!!!!
A great collection that covers more early songs.....(with one or two great songs missing!)....a great summary of their works and sound.... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Ian Whyte
Big Value Big Country
With 35 tracks across two CDs this is an unbelievable collection for the price - just over 10 pence per track at the current selling price. Read more
Published 11 months ago by John Halton
Big Country On Fire!!!
What a superb collection Of Big Country's best songs on this excellent value double CD.I bought a Greatest Hits collection from the band once before,but the production was poor and... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Derek J. Hopkins
Restless Natives
Worth noting that the version of Restless Natives is not the glorious 30+ minute version found on Restless Natives and Rarities (probably obvious given the number of tracks on the... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Scooter
Great Album, Quality Control need looking at
This album is fantastic, a great range of songs from the best years. But.....the quality control let it down. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Darren
Great compilation
I have several Big Country compilations but the price of this attracted me to get it again.
There is a lot of great songs here but what surprised me was how good were the more... Read more
There is a lot of great songs here but what surprised me was how good were the more... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Bring_back_the_60s
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