''Eclectic'' is a live album by the Scottish rock band

Big Country Big Country are a Scottish rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife, in 1981. The height of the band's popularity was in the early to mid 1980s, although it has retained a cult following for many years since. The band's music incorporated Scott ...

, released in 1996 by

Castle Communications Castle Communications, also known as Castle Music, was a British independent record label and home video distributor founded in 1983 by Terry Shand, Cliff Dane, and Jon Beecher. Its video imprint was called Castle Vision. The label's product ...

. It was produced by Big Country and

Gary Langan Gary Michael Langan (born 19 April 1956) is an English engineer, record producer, mixer and musician. Biography His career started at age 18 when he worked as an assistant engineer at Sarm East Studios, learning the craft from Gary Lyons and M ...

, and reached No. 41 in the UK. In 2001, a video version of ''Eclectic'' was released under the same name by Castle. ''Eclectic'' was recorded at

Dingwalls Dingwalls was a live music and comedy venue adjacent to Camden Lock, Camden, London, England. The building itself is one of many industrial Victorian buildings that were put to new use in the 20th century. The original owner of the building, ...

in London on 20–21 March 1996 and features guest appearances by Bobby Valentino,

Kym Mazelle Kym Mazelle (born Kymberly Grigsby; August 10, 1960) is an American singer. She is regarded as a pioneer of house music in the United Kingdom and Europe. Her music combines R&B, soul, funk, house music, dance, and pop. She is credited as " The ...

, Carol Laula, Steve Harley, Aaron Emerson,

Hossam Ramzy Hossam Ramzy ( ar, حسام رمزي; 15 December 1953 – 10 September 2019) was an Egyptian percussionist and composer. He worked with English artists like Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, Siouxsie Sioux, as well as with Arabic music artists like R ...

(and his percussion section) and Mohammed Toufiq.

Critical reception

On its release, Aaron Badgley of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

described ''Eclectic'' as a "terrific album", "interesting due to the choice of songs" and full of "great songs, played very well". He concluded, "While fans of Big Country will love this collection, it has a wide appeal to music fans in general."

Track listing

Personnel

;Big Country *

Stuart Adamson William Stuart Adamson (11 April 1958 – 16 December 2001) 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 ...

- lead vocals, acoustic guitar * Bruce Watson - acoustic guitar, mandolin * Tony Butler - acoustic bass, backing vocals *

Mark Brzezicki Mark Michael Brzezicki ( , ; born 21 June 1957) is an English musician, best known as the drummer for the Scottish rock band Big Country. He has also played with the Cult, Ultravox, From the Jam, Procol Harum, Rick Astley, the Crazy World of ...

- drums, backing vocals ;Guest musicians *

(The Hossam Ramzy Percussion Section), Mohammed Toufiq - percussion (tracks 1, 3, 7, 9, 11-12) * Bobby Valentino - violin (all tracks) *

- guest vocalist (tracks 2, 5) * Carol Laula - guest vocalist (track 3) * Steve Harley - guest vocalist (track 9) * Aaron Emerson - keyboards (tracks 2, 4-6, 8, 12-13) ;Production *

- producers *

- producer, recorded by * Alan Morrison - live sound ;Other * Zarkowski Designs - design * Justin Thomas - booklet photography * Hugh Gilmour - front and back cover design and photography * Ian Grant Management - management

References

{{Big Country 1996 live albums Big Country albums Castle Communications live albums