Big Country burst onto the music scene about the same time as fellow Isles rockers, U2. What is amazing after listening to this CD is that they didn't enjoy even slightly comparable sucess. The hard driving riffs and lyrical imagery of "Wonderland" is reminicant of U2's earliest work. Unlike U2, Big Country preserves more of the folk sounds of their native Scotland. "Harvest Home" roars; "Fields of Fire," another 80s US MTV hit, is one of the best on the CD; "In a Big Country" of course has the sounds that help define the brit pop new wave of the first half of the 1980s without the techno silliness of groups like Flock of Seagulls. As with many greatest hits CDs, some of the songs trail toward the end just as their careers did in the early 90s. To first time listeners, Big Country sounds like a cross between early U2, a bit of the Chieftans and maybe even a hint of the melodies and senisbilities of Dexy's Midnight Runners "Come on Eileen." In short, if you are looking for a good greatest hits CD that doesn't have the jumbled feel that many greatest hits CDs have, buy this one.

This album features some great music from an extraordinary band... Unfortunately it suffers from terrible remastering. Straying far from Big Country's trademark bass-heavy, echoey, drum-heavy mix (listen to the Crossing & Seer), the engineer on this reissue leans more for a brittle, clean, dry, highly treble sound that is altogether displeasing & far from Big Country's original vision. I recommend instead purchasing the reissue of "The Crossing" which has been masterfully remastered AND includes several stunning bonus tracks that date from Big Country's early & most prolific era!

This is a good retrospective of one of the most underrated bands of our time. This anthemic, honest, Celtic-influenced real rock is not for everyone, but for those it touches, there is nothing that compares. This music is withstanding the test of time and these guys just released the finest collection of their career with 1999's "Driving To Damascus". "The Buffalo Skinners" is another essential latter-day release. This "best of" is almost identical to the U.K. release, "Through A Big Country". Unfortunately, the fine tracks, "The Seer" and "Eiledon", were dropped and the ok "Heart of the World" and the positively annoying political rant, "Republican Party Reptile", were added. "Through A Big Country" (remastered) gets the 5 stars. Stay alive.

If you're a Big Country fan and own all their CDs, stay away because you'll already have all of the songs on the CD. If you're a casual Big Country listener, this is the CD for you. Awesome collection of BC's best. If you only want one BC album, purchasing this is the way to go. All of their best music is on this disc. But my advice is to spend some extra cash (even go into the zShop) and buy the first 4 studio albums instead, along with the last studio album. I always find greatest hits albums a little pretentious, especially when the band only has 2 or 3 "legitimate" hits.

I can not say enough good things about Big Country. Music that stirs the soul, with awesome guitar work, meaningful lyrics, and drums that just drive. This CD stays in my CD changer.

One down side to the Best Of, is the drum work in the beginning of "In A Big Country" is cut short.

Aside from that criticism, I highly recommend The Best Of.

One of the best tracks on this CD is "Just A Shadow". Giving this song a listen is more than worth the price of the CD.
Give it a listen!

In my listmania list I placed The Best Of Big Country as No. 1 for music with meaning.