EMI Europe Generic
2005
The Buffalo Skinners
About This Album
By 1993, ten years after their E-Bow-led domestic breakthrough, Big Country had largely given up on America. Without the novelty of their gingham shirts and bagpipe effects, the band's anthems didn't carry across the Atlantic, to say nothing of Stuart Adamson's call-to-action working-class lyricisms. Nevertheless, Big Country had sustained their trademark sound over that same period of time, charting here and there in the U.K. while not relying as heavily on gimmickry. Perhaps encouraged by the grassroots U.S. success of Glaswegians Del Amitri, Big Country's The Buffalo Skinners -- partly made up of a 1991 LP that hadn't kissed American soil -- was issued in the U.S. in 1993. It arrived with a shrug attached -- here it is, it seemed to say, whether you like it or not. But while Skinners forsook the E-Bow, it stood boldly, unabashedly behind its rousing, throaty rock sound and the righteous lyrics of Adamson. Opener "Alone" is like a template for the entire album. "I have been a lost and lonely sailor on your sea," the ever-dramatic Adamson croons, voice cracking a bit over tense, churning guitar and bass. This sets up the impossibly triumphant chorus, which in turn leads to a rangy solo.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 and 12)

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