Driving to Damascus
Studio album by
Big Country
Released1999
RecordedRockfield Studios, Monmouth, Wales, 1999
GenreAlternative rock
Length56:49
LabelTrack
ProducerBig Country, Rafe McKenna
Big Country chronology
Eclectic
(1996) 		Driving to Damascus
(1999) 		The Journey
(2013)
Alternative cover
Cover of the 2002 U.S. remaster of the album, renamed John Wayne's Dream.
Singles from Driving to Damascus
  1. "Fragile Thing"
    Released: 3 August 1999
  2. "See You" / "Perfect World"
    Released: 25 October 1999
  3. "Somebody Else"
    Released: 30 May 2000
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
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.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Driving to Damascus"Stuart Adamson, Mark Brzezicki, Bruce Watson3:58
2."Dive in to Me"Adamson, Brzezicki, Tony Butler, Watson5:02
3."See You"Adamson3:50
4."Perfect World"Adamson, Brzezicki, Butler, Watson4:02
5."Somebody Else"Adamson, Ray Davies4:04
6."Fragile Thing"Adamson, Watson4:33
7."The President Slipped and Fell"Adamson, Brzezicki, Butler, Watson2:57
8."Devil in the Eye"Adamson, Davies4:15
9."Trouble the Waters"Adamson, Brzezicki, Watson4:10
10."Bella"Adamson3:34
11."Your Spirit to Me"Adamson5:13
12."Grace"Adamson, Brzezicki, Butler, Watson5:10
John Wayne's Dream extra tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Loserville"Adamson, Brzezicki, Butler5:18
14."This Blood's for You"Adamson3:43
15."I Get Hurt"Adamson4:28
16."John Wayne's Dream"Adamson, Brzezicki, Butler8:44
Limited edition digipack extra tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Shattered Cross"Adamson, Boonstra4:02
14."Too Many Ghosts"Hummon, Adamson4:12

Charts

Chart (1999–2000) Peak
position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[4] 96
Scottish Albums (OCC)[5] 60
UK Albums (OCC)[6] 82

References

  1. ^ Badgley, Aaron. "Big Country: Driving to Damascus > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  2. ^ a b Schnee, Steve. "Big Country: John Wayne's Dream > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  3. ^ Record Collector | Big Country - Driving to Damascus | Album Review
  4. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Big Country – Driving to Damascus" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Big Country | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
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