WEB FLAC (tracks) | 02:56:41 | 1,1 GbAlternative Rock | Label: MIG MusicMIG Music presents this 5 disc set (3 CD & 2 DVD) of the Big Country shows at Rockpalast from 1986 (Essen) and 1991 (Bonn).

It was always a pleasure doing the Rockpalast gigs.

says Watson.

And coming to Germany was always a highlight of any European tour.

That would have been the performance on 15 March 1986 at the Grugahalle in Essen captured on DVD1 of this release.

This was the beginning of the tour in support of BIG COUNTRY’s third album The Seer, and saw the band performing material from their first three albums which was astonishingly consistent and powerful.

Much has been made of the twin-guitar Celtic sound Adamson and Watson produced, with the use of the E-Bow and other effects producing something – to Adamson’s annoyance – frequently compared to bagpipes.

But particularly impressive from the 1986 concerts is the consummate musicianship of all concerned, from Brzezicki’s complex drumming to Butler’s rock-solid but fluid and imaginative bass.

Overlaid, of course, with intricate but immensely powerful six-string work from Adamson and Watson.

Bruce Watson laughs: Our guitar parts sound a lot more complicated than they really are! In fact they’re not that difficult to play.

Stuart and I did so many overdubs in the studio that what we would do before a tour is sit down and listen to the record, and just work out which were the most important sounds, the most important guitar parts, and then we would determine how to produce them on stage with just the two of us.

By 1991, and the September Rockpalast gig at the Biskuithalle in Bonn on DVD2, things were different.

The band was touring in support of the No Place Like Home album, but the touring lineup did not include Mark Brzezicki, who had played on the record.

And there was now a keyboard player.

The commitment of the band to the enthusiastic audience is evident, and while the sound of the band had moved, at least on the new material, towards something less overtly Scottish, the joy and inclusiveness of the performance was and is, as ever, thrilling.

Tracklist:1. Wonderland (Live, 1986 Essen)2. Fields of Fire (Live, 1986 Essen)3. Where the Rose Is Sown (Live, 1986 Essen)4. Rain Dance (Live, 1986 Essen)5. Remembrance Day (Live, 1986 Essen)6. Just a Shadow (Live, 1986 Essen)7. Steeltown (Live, 1986 Essen)8. Look Away (Live, 1986 Essen)9. Chance (Live, 1986 Essen)10. The Teacher (Live, 1986 Essen)11. In a Big Country (Live, 1986 Essen)12. Inwards (Live, 1986 Essen)13. Harvest Home (Live, 1986 Essen)14. The Storm (Live, 1986 Essen)15. Lost Patrol (Live, 1986 Essen)16. Tracks of My Tears (Live, 1986 Essen)1. We’re Not in Kansas (Live, 1991 Bonn)2. King of Emotion (Live, 1991 Bonn)3. Look Away (Live, 1991 Bonn)4. Republican Party Reptile (Live, 1991 Bonn)5. Beautiful People (Live, 1991 Bonn)6. Winter Sky (Live, 1991 Bonn)7. Thirteen Valleys (Live, 1991 Bonn)8. Wonderland (Live, 1991 Bonn)9. Ships (Live, 1991 Bonn)10. In a Big Country (Live, 1991 Bonn)11. Leap of Faith (Live, 1991 Bonn)12. Chance (Live, 1991 Bonn)13. Peace (Live, 1991 Bonn)14. Fields of Fire (Live, 1991 Bonn)15. Mannish Boy (Live, 1991 Bonn)16. Keep on Rockin’in a Free World (Live, 1991 Bonn)