Driving to Damascus | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1999 | |||
Recorded | Rockfield Studios, Monmouth, Wales, 1999 | |||
Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 56:49 | |||
Label | Track | |||
Producer | Big Country, Rafe McKenna | |||
Big Country chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
Singles from Driving to Damascus | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic (Driving to Damascus) | [1] |
AllMusic (John Wayne's Dream) | [2] |
Record Collector (Driving to Damascus) | [3] |
Driving to Damascus is the eighth studio album by Scottish rock band Big Country. It was released in 1999 as both a standard edition and a limited edition digipack,and with bonus tracks in 2002. In the U.S.,it was released under a different name,John Wayne's Dream. [2] The limited edition version featured different cover artwork,and included two tracks by Stuart Adamson's alt-country side project,The Raphaels ("Shattered Cross" and "Too Many Ghosts",subsequently released on the 2001 album "Supernatural"),although there was no indication in the credits that these were not by Big Country.
Driving to Damascus marks the band's last studio album to feature vocalist Stuart Adamson (who would die in 2001) and bassist Tony Butler (who retired from the band in 2012),and the last studio album until The Journey was released in 2013 with the Alarm vocalist Mike Peters taking over for Adamson and Simple Minds bassist Derek Forbes replacing Butler.
The album was re-released on both CD and vinyl format to celebrate the band's 30th anniversary in 2012.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Driving to Damascus" | Stuart Adamson, Mark Brzezicki, Bruce Watson | 3:58 |
2. | "Dive in to Me" | Adamson, Brzezicki, Tony Butler, Watson | 5:02 |
3. | "See You" | Adamson | 3:50 |
4. | "Perfect World" | Adamson, Brzezicki, Butler, Watson | 4:02 |
5. | "Somebody Else" | Adamson, Ray Davies | 4:04 |
6. | "Fragile Thing" | Adamson, Watson | 4:33 |
7. | "The President Slipped and Fell" | Adamson, Brzezicki, Butler, Watson | 2:57 |
8. | "Devil in the Eye" | Adamson, Davies | 4:15 |
9. | "Trouble the Waters" | Adamson, Brzezicki, Watson | 4:10 |
10. | "Bella" | Adamson | 3:34 |
11. | "Your Spirit to Me" | Adamson | 5:13 |
12. | "Grace" | Adamson, Brzezicki, Butler, Watson | 5:10 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
13. | "Loserville" | Adamson, Brzezicki, Butler | 5:18 |
14. | "This Blood's for You" | Adamson | 3:43 |
15. | "I Get Hurt" | Adamson | 4:28 |
16. | "John Wayne's Dream" | Adamson, Brzezicki, Butler | 8:44 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
13. | "Shattered Cross" | Adamson, Boonstra | 4:02 |
14. | "Too Many Ghosts" | Hummon, Adamson | 4:12 |
Chart (1999–2000) | Peak position |
---|---|
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [4] | 96 |
Scottish Albums (OCC) [5] | 60 |
UK Albums (OCC) [6] | 82 |
The Crossing is the debut album released by Scottish band Big Country. The album reached #3 in the UK; overseas, it hit #4 in Canada on the RPM national Top Albums Chart and #18 in the US on the Billboard 200 in 1983. It went on to be certified platinum in the UK and Canada. It contains the song "In a Big Country" which is their only U.S. Top 40 hit single. Stuart Adamson and fellow guitarist Bruce Watson used the MXR Pitch Transposer 129 effect pedal to create a guitar sound reminiscent of bagpipes. Also contributing to the band's unique sound was their use of the e-bow, a hand-held device which, through the use of magnets, causes the strings of an electric guitar to vibrate producing a soft attack which sounds more like strings or synthesizer.
The Seer is the third studio album by the Scottish band Big Country, released in 1986. The album featured very traditional Scottish musical settings, reminiscent of the band's debut album The Crossing (1983). Kate Bush worked on the title song in a duet with lead singer and lyricist Stuart Adamson. The album's first single, "Look Away", was an Irish number one, and was also the group's biggest hit single in the UK, reaching #7.
No Place Like Home is the fifth studio album by Scottish band Big Country, released in 1991.. Its title derives from a quote in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which is referenced by the first track, "We're Not in Kansas". Dorothy's statement was in turn taken from the famous poem and song Home! Sweet Home! by John Howard Payne and Henry Bishop.
The Buffalo Skinners is the sixth studio album by the Scottish band Big Country, which was released in 1993. Two songs, "We're Not In Kansas" and "Ships", are re-recordings of songs from their previous album. The difference is more noticeable on "Ships" which features heavy use of guitars. The album featured two UK top 30 hits, "Alone" and "Ships".
Why the Long Face is the seventh studio album by Scottish band Big Country, released in 1995. It was produced by Chris Sheldon and members of the band.
William Stuart Adamson was a Scottish rock guitarist and singer. Adamson began his career in the late 1970s as a founding member and performer with the punk rock band Skids. After leaving Skids in 1981, he formed Big Country and was the band's lead singer and guitarist. The group's commercial heyday was in the 1980s. In the 1990s, he was a member of the alternative country band The Raphaels. In the late 1970s the British music journalist John Peel referred to his musical virtuosity as a guitarist as "a new Jimi Hendrix".
Anthony Earle Peter Butler is a British bassist, best known for his work with Scottish rock band Big Country. He has also worked with On the Air, The Pretenders, Roger Daltrey, and Pete Townshend, among others.
The discography of Big Country, a Scottish rock band which formed in 1981, consists of nine studio albums, eighteen live albums, twenty-five compilation albums, one extended play (EP), and twenty-nine singles released on Mercury Records, Reprise Records, Vertigo Records and Cherry Red Records.
Big Country are a Scottish rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife, in 1981.
"Fields of Fire" is one of the biggest hits by the Scottish rock band Big Country. It was first released in the United Kingdom in 1983 as the second single from the band's debut album The Crossing.
The Journey is the ninth studio album by Scottish rock band Big Country, released on 8 April 2013 through Cherry Red Records. The Journey is the first and only Big Country album with The Alarm vocalist Mike Peters taking over for the late Stuart Adamson, who died on 16 December 2001 at the age of 43, and former Simple Minds bassist Derek Forbes replacing Tony Butler, who retired in 2012. It is also the first album to feature Jamie Watson, who joins his father Bruce Watson on guitar. The elder Watson along with drummer Mark Brzezicki are the sole remaining members of the band's classic lineup present on this album.
"Save Me" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, which was released in 1990 as a single from their compilation album Through a Big Country: Greatest Hits. The song was written by Stuart Adamson and produced by Tim Palmer. It reached No. 41 on the UK Singles Chart and remained in the Top 100 for three weeks.
"Fragile Thing" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, released in 1999 as the lead single from their eighth studio album Driving to Damascus. It was written by Stuart Adamson and Bruce Watson, and produced by Rafe McKenna and Big Country. "Fragile Thing" reached number 69 in the UK Singles Chart. A music video was filmed to promote the single.
"Peace in Our Time" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, which was released in 1989 as the third and final single from their fourth studio album Peace in Our Time (1988). It was written by Stuart Adamson and produced by Peter Wolf. "Peace in Our Time" reached No. 39 in the UK and remained in the charts for three weeks. A music video was filmed to promote the single.
"Hold the Heart" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, which was released in 1986 as the fourth and final single from their third studio album The Seer. It was written by Stuart Adamson and produced by Robin Millar. "Hold the Heart" reached No. 55 in the UK and remained in the charts for two weeks.
"Heart of the World" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, which was released in 1990 as a non-album single. It was written by Stuart Adamson and produced by Tim Palmer. "Heart of the World" reached No. 50 on the UK Singles Chart and remained in the Top 100 for three weeks.
"I'm Not Ashamed" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, which was released in 1995 as the lead single from their seventh studio album Why the Long Face. It was written by Stuart Adamson, and produced by Big Country and Chris Sheldon. "I'm Not Ashamed" reached No. 69 on the UK Singles Chart.
"You Dreamer" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, which was released in 1995 as the second and final single from their seventh studio album Why the Long Face. It was written by Stuart Adamson, and produced by Big Country and Chris Sheldon. "You Dreamer" reached No. 68 on the UK Singles Chart.
"See You" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, released in 1999 as a double A-side single with "Perfect World". It was the second single to be released from their eighth studio album Driving to Damascus and reached number 77 in the UK Singles Chart. "See You" was written by Stuart Adamson and "Perfect World" was written by Adamson, Mark Brzezicki, Tony Butler and Bruce Watson. Both tracks were produced by Rafe McKenna and Big Country.
"Somebody Else" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, released in 2000 as the third and final single from their eighth studio album Driving to Damascus (1999). The song was written by Stuart Adamson and Ray Davies, and was produced by Rafe McKenna and Big Country. "Somebody Else" reached number 126 in the UK Singles Chart and was the band's final single release prior to lead vocalist and guitarist Stuart Adamson's suicide in 2001.