''Why the Long Face'' is the seventh studio album by Scottish 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 1995. It was produced by

Chris Sheldon Chris Sheldon (born 25 September 1962) is an English record producer, particularly of rock music based in London, England. He has produced or mixed records for the Foo Fighters, Garbage, Big Country, Feeder, Therapy?, Biffy Clyro, Oceansize, Pix ...

and members of the band. The album received a reissue as a deluxe four-disc box-set by Cherry Red Records in 2018. In addition to a remaster of the original album on disc one, the three additional CDs contain demos, B-sides and single edits, as well as the band's 1996 live album ''

Eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...

''.

Background

''Why the Long Face'' was recorded between August 1994 and January 1995. The new material was met with a lukewarm response from the head of the band's label Compulsion, Chris Briggs, who felt the band needed to do more work on the material. Compulsion ended up dropping Big Country and the band subsequently signed to

Transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film) ...

in March 1995, with ''Why the Long Face'' being released on the label in June 1995. Speaking to ''

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'' in 1995, lead vocalist and guitarist

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 ...

said of the album, "I think that this album flows well and that there is no filler on it. It's strong enough for us to do most of it live on stage." He added to the ''

Evening Herald ''The Herald'' is a nationwide mid-market tabloid newspaper headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and published by Independent News & Media who are a subsidiary of Mediahuis. It is published Monday–Saturday. The newspaper was known as the ''Even ...

'', "It's not a departure from or a return to anything really. This time round though, I think the songs are more intimate and personal as opposed to being about big impersonal issues. They've got real characters, strong verses and choruses."

Critical reception

On its release, Neil McKay of '' Sunday Life'' felt ''Why the Long Face'' failed to meet the same standard as ''The Buffalo Skinners''. He wrote, "Solid and workmanlike, it lacks real inspiration. 'Sail into Nothing', 'God's Great Mistake', 'Wildland in My Heart' and 'Blue on a Green Planet' all try hard, but diminishing returns seem to be setting in." Chris Heath of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' described the album as "rather good" and noted, "It was with minimal interest that I put on their new album, and with astonishment that I heard tune after tune of the sort which, if they had released them in 1987, would have saved their career."

Track listing

Original release (1995)

Cherry Red deluxe edition (2018)

Disc One – ''Why the Long Face''

Disc Two – Bonus Tracks

Disc Three – ''
Eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...
''

Disc Four – Demos

Charts

Personnel

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

e-bow The EBow, short for electronic bow or energy bow, is an electronic device used for playing string instruments, most often the electric guitar. It is manufactured by Heet Sound Products, of Los Angeles, California. It was invented by Greg Heet i ...

, slide guitar,

B-Bender A B-Bender is a guitar accessory that enables a player to fluidly alter the pitch of a guitar's B-string. This works by mechanically bending the B-string through the use of a series of levers and/or pulleys attached to an external lever that is ...

guitar, lead 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,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

* Tony Butler -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Bruce Watson -

, mandolin ;Additional personnel * Josh Phillips -

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

* James McNally -

low whistle The low whistle, or concert whistle, is a variation of the traditional tin whistle/pennywhistle, distinguished by its lower pitch and larger size. It is most closely associated with the performances of British and Irish artists such as Tommy Make ...

on "God's Great Mistake"

References

{{Authority control Big Country albums 1995 albums Transatlantic Records albums