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"From the outside it will look like a real departure
Tucked away at the end of a leafy country lane near the market town of Monmouth, Rockfield Studios betrays little of its heritage as one of the world's most celebrated recording facilities. From the outside, it's a collection of unremarkable rural buildings, indistinguishable from an of the dozens of farms in the surrounding landscape. Yet some of roc music's most iconic moments have been forged behind its closed doors And, as teenagers, Big Country's founder members But when Big Country arrived at Rockfield, on 26th February 1991, to begin recording their fifth album, those youthful high jinks were a distant memory. It had been a turbulent time. The gruelling tour to promote 1988's Peace In Our Time had taken its toll and, in Watson's words, "the band went pear-shaped". Homesick and exhausted by life on the road, Adamson had quit. As a result, drummer Mark Brzezicki always in demand as a session player — committed to a number of other projects. By the time, the singer-guitarist, after some recuperation and reflection, opted to return to the fold, the drummer was booked solid for months ahead. However, the success of 1990's greatest hits collection Through A Big Country, which reached No2 in the UK charts, was a potent reminder that the band still had a lot to offer. Big Country's appeal as a live draw hadn't diminished either. At the time, their agent John Giddings — who also represented David Bowie, Iggy Pop and The Stranglers — confided: "They're one of the few bands I represent that you could put on at any festival in the world at 3pm, in the pouring rain, and get the crowd raving. They send a shiver down your spine." Shows with Tina Turner in Switzerland, Van Morrison in Belgium and a memorable performance at Wembley Arena for the Prince's Trust proved they had lost none
of their fire. "It's a new chapter," Adamson insisted. And few could have disagreed. Armed with some of the best songs of their career — the anthemic We'r Not In Kansas, the raucous Republican Party Reptile and the spine-tingling Ships (which Watson described as "the new Chance" in a reference to 1983's Top 10 single, a benchmark of songwriting quality within the band) — he had reason to be confident. The songs had been fully worked out during demo sessions in July 1990 (at Glasgow's Ça Va Studios), August/September (at the House In The Woods, Big Country's "home from home" in Bletchingley, Surrey) and October (Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire). A big-name producer, in the shape of Rolling Stones/Peter Tosh studio legend Chris Kimsey had also been lined up. In the event, however, when another of his projects over-ran, Kimsey had to drop out. His replacement, Pat Moran, was something of a Rockfield legend. As resident engineer, he'd worked with Queen on A Night At The Opera (including Bohemian Rhapsody, which was famously recorded using the piano at the Welsh studio) before moving on to production with acts such as Van Der Graaf Generator and Robert Plant. Importantly, Moran had also worked with some of Big Country's key inspirations — including Iggy Pop, Dr Feelgood and Bill Nelson — and was coming to the project on the back of a three-million-selling success as a result of his production work on the Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians album Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars (also recorded at Rockfield). Moran was hugely positive about the opportunity to work with Big Country. "I've always been a fan of the music," he insisted. The admiration was mutual. Shortly after recording got underway, Adamson explained: "Working with Pat is very inspiring and amazing. He's very into the band. We're trying to make our best album." The combination of a great studio and a sympathetic producer quickly delivered results. "We were never so at home as we were at Rockfield," recalled bassist Tony Butler. "It was ideal for us — we were surrounded by acres of open land and the studios were really cool. Pat was a lovely guy and we adored working in that environment." With Brzezicki back on the drum stool as a session musician, the songs began tumbling out. They showed a band eager to explore new musical horizons, swapping the twin-guitar assault of old for a new level of songwriting prowess. The exquisite Dynamite Lady was just one of their radical departures. It was inspired by the explosive act of fairground
performer Alison Bly, who used home-made gunpowder charges to blow herself up as part of a Moran introduced the band to keyboard player Richie Close who helped Big Country deliver one of the album's highlights, the haunting Ships. "Originally we recorded the song as a full band," recalled Butler. "It sounded fantastic. But the version Stuart did with Richie — the version that made it to the final running order — was just spine-tingling. The minute we heard it, we were all blown away." Beat The Devil and Keep On Dreaming, meanwhile, were sublime rockers while the Dylan-esque Beautiful People added a barrelhouse piano to Big Country's sonic arsenal. "We're trying to do traditional things in a contemporary style," Adamson warned. On the thrilling You, Me & The Truth he once again rang the changes, leading the ban through another of the album's most beautifully-crafted moments. Into The Fire, meanwhile, was a homage to another of his teenage heroes, Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page. Six weeks later, when Moran brought down the faders on the final mix, Big Country had created what still stands as one of the most underrated masterpieces of the 1990s. No Place Like Home wasn't an album for those who wanted the band to repeat the wide-eyed, twin-guitar anthems of The Crossing. But it stands as an extraordinary testament to the breadth and depth of their songwriting. Moran himself was in no doubt as to the quali of what they'd achieved. "This was one of the most enjoyable records I've worked on," he explained. "There was a great atmosphere in the studio and I think that comes through on the record." As they left Rockfield, the band were confident they'd done something exceptional. Yet, just a few months later, the triumph was tinged with sadness when Close died after contracting legionnaire's disease while on holiday in Spain. A dedication to the man they remembered as "one of the sweetest people we ever worked with" was incorporated in the album artwork. No Place Like Home was announced to the world in August 1991 with the release of the album's first single Republican Party Reptile (though Moran had lobbied for We're Not In Kansas — still considered by many Big Country fans to be "the hit single that got away"). When the album itself arrived in shops just a month later, much was made of the band's change in sound. Adamson responded candidly. "For me," he said, "it's just always been about writing songs that make a difference in people's lives — songs that connect with people." © Tim Barr - 2014 LINER NOTES (ALSO IN THE ORIGINAL RELEASE)(jump to: Liner Notes by Stuart Adamson | Liner Notes by Tim Barr | Credits)What do you do when you are a group that has created one of the truly distinctive sounds in rock and been at the top of your profession for eight years? For Big Country the answer is to take the romantic character and unshakeable integrity that lies at the core of your work, and move on. For too long the emotionally charged essence of Big Country's music has been obscured by lazy and cliched talk of bagpipe guitars and checked-shirt rock. the application of an American mainstream production gloss to their last album, "Peace In Our Time", was a move which singer and guitarist Stuart Adamson now accepts as being "at a tangent to the plot". The accompanying pilgrimage to Moscow, in the peace-making spirit of glasnost and the unforgiving glare of the Western Media, was both exhilarating and exhausting. In the wake of that momentous adventure a new Big Country has emerged. In July 1989 drummer Mark Brzezicki departed for the shadowy pastures of the session world. The remaining three members of Big Country - Stuart Adamson, Tony Butler (bass, backing vocals) and Bruce Watson (guitar) - closed ranks and, inevitably revised working practices. With Brezezicki now in the role of session drummer on "No Place Like Home" the intricate mosaic of syncopations and galloping tom tom tattoos that was such a recognisable feature of the old Big Country sound has gone. In its place a more conventional set of rhythmic patters is sketched with new vigour from a palette of bold primary colours. The howling slide guitar which graces the opening bars of "Republican Party Reptile" - more dustbowl blues than highland fling - sets the tone for a collection that quarries deep into the rock face and taps into the traditions of country, folk and southern blues with an authority that transcends the dictates of either formula or fashion. "I grew up playing R' n 'B music", Adamson says, recalling the days before the Skids when he was a 15 year old apprentice in Dunfermline based covers group Tattoo. "So it's still completely natural for me to play it now". Big Country has used mandolins and acoustic guitars before, but the banjo and honky tonk piano which contributes to the mellow celtic-country swing of "Beautiful People" is undoubtably a first. With its crisp, open-ended production, "No Place Like Home" is an album of bountiful extremes, encompassing the simple voice-and-piano ballad of "Ships", the belting instrumental coda of "Into The Fire" and the mounting paranoia of the Middle Eastern scnario of "The Hostage Speaks", with its grainy, dessert-baked rift and neurotic wah wah embellishments. "We're trying to do traditional things in a contemporary style", is how Adamson sums the album up. "It's a new chapter, but for me it's always been about writing songs that make a difference in people's lives, songs that connect with people. There's no master plan. this is what we do now". -David Sinclair July 1991 |
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ORIGINAL ALBUM CREDITS Tony Butler Bruce Watson Additional Musicians Produced and Engineered Pre-production Big Thanks to Music Special Thanks to Pete Keane / Bob Lopez / Billy Worton / Ron Manigley / Joe Seabrook / Baron Beatmol Troy / Mick Brennan / Steve Hillier and Stuart from Winterland / Ian Calder / Pete Barnes / Big Dennis / Country Club / Inwards Fanzine / We Save No Souls Fanzine and Our Families. Hair & Make up / Vicky Newman Clothes Designer / Belinda and Mandy for Hammond Laing Fan Club / Country Club, Photography / Peter Anderson Design & Artwork / Zarkowski Designs This Album Is Respectfully Dedicated to Richie Close CD1 Tracks 1-10 Ⓟ 1991 Mercury Records Limited. Tracks 11-17 Ⓟ 1990 Mercury Records Limited. RE-ISSUE
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