Album Review: Big Country - The Journey

This is a blast from the past with the reincarnation of an '80s stadium band. Big Country was a massive UK success story, and their demise was typical of bands from that era. The bombastic use of Celtic rhythms and huge guitar hooks was what set the band apart from other contenders. The Journey, their first album release in 14 years, is a strange amalgam of their usual traits with a new singer and bass player at the helm.

Mike Peters from The Alarm (another forgotten band from the '80s) fronts the band and has big boots to fill after the tragic death of original singer Stuart Adamson in 2001. Adamson was pivotal to their sound and is deeply missed on this new album. Fortunately, Peters brings charm and personality to the band and does his best to keep the spirit of the band alive. As you would expect the album opens with bombastic Celtic drums of In A Broken Promise Land, a song that lets you know the band has lost none of their fire. The closest Peters gets to the original Big Country sound is on Return, one of the best songs on the album.

To many listeners The Journey will sound a little too steeped in '80s bombast to make a lasting impression. Bands like The Cult and U2 shared some of these epic qualities but moved away from their bleached roots for good reasons. Big Country are trapped in their own world of heartfelt lyrics and epic rock riffs, most of which went out of fashion 20 years ago. Without Adamson the band can never get close to their original power and influence. What makes this an album worth listening to is the care and love poured into it by the players themselves as they pay tribute to their lost singer.