Alone (Big Country song)

Last updated
"Alone"
Big Country Alone 1993 single cover.jpg
Single by Big Country
from the album The Buffalo Skinners
Released1 March 1993 [1]
Length5:08
Label Compulsion
Chrysalis
Songwriter(s) Stuart Adamson
Producer(s) Big Country
Big Country singles chronology
"Beautiful People"
(1991)		"Alone"
(1993)		"Ships (Where Were You)"
(1993)

"Alone" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, released in 1993 as the lead single from their sixth studio album The Buffalo Skinners . It was written by Stuart Adamson and produced by Big Country. "Alone" reached number 24 in the UK Singles Chart and remained in the top 100 for three weeks. [2]

Contents

Background

The release of "Alone" as the album's first single was a band decision. Adamson told the fanzine Country Club in 1993, "I always wanted that as the first single. I wanted the first single to be a rock track and the record company were happy to go along with that." [3]

Music video

The song's music video was directed by Roger Pomphrey and features Martin Chambers on drums. [4]

Critical reception

Upon its release as a single, Larry Flick of Billboard commented, "Familiar traces of a Scottish accent in Adamson's strong, melodic vocal notwithstanding, the band effectively reintroduces itself on this single - and radio should welcome it back. Alternating passages of light and heavy pop are mixed with a crashing beat and blazing lead-guitar lines." [5] In a review of The Buffalo Skinners, Neil McKay of Sunday Life described the song as "rousing and tuneful as in [Big Country's] early heyday". [6] Dan Hyatt of the Albuquerque Journal noted: "The first song, "Alone," has all the earmarks of an anthem for the '90s, kind of a "what's my place in the world, and why" song." [7]

Kevin Belvins of The Leader-Post noted: "The album's refreshing tone is set immediately with the frantic opening cut "Alone"." [8] In a review of one of the band's 1993 concerts, Diana Aitchison of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch commented: "One song to watch for on the charts is "Alone," which opens with a moody staccato guitar and gels with the band's signature reeling bagpipe sound." [9] Johnny Loftus of AllMusic described the song as "a template for the entire album", with "churning guitar and bass", an "impossibly triumphant chorus" and "rangy solo". [10]

Track listing

Cassette single

  1. "Alone" – 5:08
  2. "Chance" (Live) – 7:28

CD single and UK 12-inch single

  1. "Alone" – 5:08
  2. "Never Take Your Place" – 4:01
  3. "Rockin' in the Free World" – 6:47

CD single (UK #1)

  1. "Alone" – 5:08
  2. "Rockin' in the Free World" – 6:47
  3. "Eastworld" – 4:39
  4. "Chance" (Live) – 7:28

CD single (UK #2)

  1. "Alone" – 5:08
  2. "Never Take Your Place" – 4:01
  3. "Winter Sky" (Live) – 4:36
  4. "Look Away" (Live) – 4:42

CD single (US promo)

  1. "Alone" (Album Version) – 5:08
  2. "Alone (Edit) – 4:06

Personnel

Big Country

Additional musicians

Production

Charts

Chart (1993)Peak
position
UK Singles Chart [2] 24

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References

  1. ↑ Glen, Allan (May 1, 2011). Stuart Adamson: In a Big Country. Birlinn. ISBN   9780857900265 – via Google Books.
  2. 1 2 "BIG COUNTRY | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
  3. ↑ "Country Club Issue 26 - Page 7". bigcountryinfo.com. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  4. ↑ "Country Club Issue 26 - Page 8". bigcountryinfo.com. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  5. ↑ Flick, Larry (20 November 1993). "Single reviews". Billboard.
  6. ↑ McKay, Neil (25 April 1993). "Album review". Sunday Life.
  7. ↑ Hyatt, Dan (18 November 1993). "Music: Tracks". Albuquerque Journal.
  8. ↑ Belvins, Kevin (19 July 1993). "Much more than standard rock fare". The Leader-Post.
  9. ↑ Aitchison, Diana (1 December 1993). "Big Country is big hit despite a slow start". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
  10. ↑ "The Buffalo Skinners - Big Country | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
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