Some 18 years after "In a Big Country" hit the U.S. charts, Scotland's Big Country has continuously churned out exciting and innovative music. It would continually bug me to hear radio stations and VH-1 put this band into the "where are they now" catagory, when it's been pretty easy for me to follow their career through the 80's and 90's. 1993's single "The One I Love" was even a minor hit in the States, and I think the band has improved steadily since their 1983 debut. "Under Cover" is nothing more than a tribute album of various cover songs, much in the vein of Duran Duran's "Thank You", Bryan Ferry's "Taxi", and Paul McCartney's "Run Devil Run". This particular collection shows that this band has a lot of heart and soul, and do a great job in covering these various songs.
"Under Cover" starts off with two Alice Cooper songs; "I'm Eighteen" and "Teenage Lament". Big Country's versions here are good, but lack the general "edginess" that Cooper used to usher in the early 70's hard rock sound. Regardless, Big Country makes these two songs their own with nice tight arrangements. The band does a better job towards the middle of the cd. Neil Young's "Hey Hey My My (Into the Black)" gets a loose and gritty treatment from the band; not too unlike the fuzzy original. Canned Heat's "On the Road Again" maintains all its blues appeal of the 1969 original. Hard pounding drums from Mark Brzezicki blend in well with the stellar slide guitarwork of Bruce Watson (or is it Stuart Adamson?). "Don't Fear The Reaper" is probably the most unlikely hit on this collection. A major hit for Blue Oyster Cult in 1976, Big Country's version is eerily similar. Tony Butler's bass playing is key in maintaining the fluid and soulful pace of the song. Other surprise covers include Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" (heavy metal guitar sound and attitude with a splash of punk), early Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well" (this version rivals the original), and a live 1986 rendition of The Rolling Stone's "Honky Tonk Woman". You can tell that the latter song really brought an already enthusiastic NYC crowd to a frenzy! The cd ends with the roughly recorded, yet inspiring "Killiekrankie". Probably a traditional Scottish folk song, the echoed guitar effect mimicks the broad sound of bag pipes... which is one of the main elements that makes me appreciate this band. This particular song is quickly becoming my favorite on the release.
The listener should know that the majority of these songs were recorded in 1993, with a few early 80's recordings and the most recent take is from 1997. The album doesn't sound "patched" together at all and is very fluid and loose in performance. It sounds like these songs were a great escape for this band, and the recordings prove it. I read rumours that Big Country have recently broken up this year. I hope that this split is temporary or only a rumour, because it's rare to hear a band like this play songs with such passion.
