Steeltown (remaster) (notes)

Things that shape us are rarely acknowledged until the mould is distant and we are cooled. I understand the power of music and had seen its effect long before I knew its language. I knew that a man with a song could be as persuasive as one with a gun, and was much less likely to harm innocent bystanders. As a child I watched people whose traditions denied them any show of emotion, pour out their hearts in song to those they shared a life with. The songs were their love, their longing and caring made public.

The music on this record grew out of those people. The alienated, the dispossessed, the exploited, the abused, the people we pass by, the people we are. The songs are very dark and dense, they come from hard times, fearful places. This is the sound of frustration, the words of the powerless, it is hard and brittle, cornered.

Hope is replaced by fear and dreams by survival, most of us get by. Here is my home movie, my video diary, where I from, where I am.

The recording was done at Polar Studios in Stockholm, owned and used by Abba. Out of the lightness, dark. The circle closes.

-Stuart Adamson

Stuart Adamson: Vocals, Guitars and E-bow
Mark Brzezicki: Drums, Percussion
Tony Butler: Bass Guitar, Vocals
Bruce Watson: Guitar, E-bow and Mandolin

1. Flame of The West 4:58
Ⓟ 1996 Mercury Records Ltd. (London)
2. East of Eden 4:28
Ⓟ 1984 Mercury Records Ltd (London)
3. Steeltown 4:38
Ⓟ 1984 Mercury Records Ltd (London)
4. Where The Rose Is Sown 4:58
Ⓟ 1984 Mercury Records Ltd. (London)
S. Come Back To Me 4:55
Ⓟ 1984 Mercury Records Ltd (London)
6. Tall Ships Go 4:37
Ⓟ 1984 Mercury Records Ltd (London)
7. Girl With Grey Eyes 4:46
Ⓟ 1984 Mercury Records Ltd (London)
8. Rain Dance 4:19
Ⓟ 1984 Mercury Records Ltd (London)
9. The Great Divide 4:40
Ⓟ 1984 Mercury Records Ltd (London)
10. Just A Shadow 5:30
Ⓟ 1984 Mercury Records Ltd. (London)
11. Bass Dance 1:39
Ⓟ 1996 Mercury Records Ltd (London)
12. Belief In The Small Man 5:17
Ⓟ 1996 Mercury Records Ltd (London)
13. Prairie Rose 4:47
Ⓟ 1996 Mercury Records Ltd (London)
14. Wonderland 12" 7:08
Ⓟ 1996 Mercury Records Ltd (London)
15. Winter Sky 3:22
Ⓟ 1996 Mercury Records Ltd. (London)

All Tracks Produced by Steve Lillywhite Engineered by Will Gosling
Except: Tracks 11.12, 14 and I5: Produced by Big Country
Recorded At:
Polar Studios • Stockholm
Rak Studios • London

Mixed At:
Rak Studios • London
Roundhouse Studios • London

Photography: Brian Aris

Published by EMI / 10 Music Ltd
Except:
Track 13 published by EG Music / Essex Music
Track 14 published by 10 Music Ltd / EMI /Big Country Music Ltd

All words by Stuart Adamson.
All music by Adamson, Brzezicki, Butler and Watson.
Except:
Track 11: by Tony Butler
Track 12: Lyrics by Stuart Adamson,
Music by Stuart Adamson. Mark Brzezicki, Tony Butler and Bruce Watson.
Track 13: Ferry / Manzanera.
Track 14: Lyrics by Big Country
Music by Big Country
Track 15: Lyrics by Stuart Adamson.
Music by Stuart Adamson and Bruce Watson.

For Big Country Information, Please Write Enclosing a SAE To: Country Club, PO Box 59, Ashwell, Herts, SG7 5NG.
Or Call: 0891 600 031
(Calls Charged at 39p per Minute Cheap Rate and 49p per Winote at Am Other Limes)

Management:
Ian Grant Management

Ⓟ 1984 Mercury Records Ltd (London) [Tracks 2 - 9]
Ⓟ 1996 Mercury Records Ltd (London) [Tracks 1, 11 - 14]