Podcasts by The Great Divide - The Big Country Podcast
An audio fanzine for legendary Scottish rock band Big Country, displaying incredible levels of geekitude when it comes to the discussion of Big Country minutiae.
Further podcasts by The Great Divide
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The Great Divide, Episode 1 from 2023-12-13T18:42:00.470271
The first episode of the show features Thomas Kercheval talking about how he became a fan of the band in the 1980s. Anyone who grew up in America during that time will feel a good bit of nostalgia ...
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The Great Divide, Episode 1 from 2022-03-07T06:55:25.279461
The first episode of the show features Thomas Kercheval talking about how he became a fan of the band in the 1980s. Anyone who grew up in America during that time will feel a good bit of nostalgia ...
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The Great Divide, Episode 2 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.198249
Thomas goes into his track-by-track analysis of Big Country?s first album, The Crossing. He compares demos to final tracks and offers thoughts on Stuart?s songwriting.
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The Great Divide, Episode 3 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.197309
New co-host Svein Hjorthaug joins the show and shares his stories about becoming a Big Country fan back in the late 1700s. Svein and Thomas then begin a two-part Top Ten countdown of their favorite...
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The Great Divide, Episode 4 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.196424
Svein and Thomas continue their Top Ten countdown of their favorite Big Country rarities and b-sides. They also argue over what constitutes a b-side.
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The Great Divide, Episode 5 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.195523
This is the first part in our No Place Like Home trilogy. Before we get into a track-by-track analysis of the album in the next two episodes, we talk about all the changes the band was going throug...
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The Great Divide, Episode 6 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.194371
Svein and Thomas begin a track-by-track analysis of the No Place Like Home album, released in 1991. This is the second part of the NPLH trilogy extravaganza.
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The Great Divide, Episode 7 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.193451
Svein and Thomas continue their track-by-track analysis of the much-debated No Place Like Home album. This is the final part of the NPLH trilogy extravaganza.
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The Great Divide, Episode 8 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.192552
We call this episode the"Non-Barren Barren Years,"as we were all surprised to find out just how busy members of the band were musically from 2002 through 2009. We talk about as many of the members?...
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The Great Divide, Episode 9 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.191655
In this episode, we talk about our reactions to Tony leaving the band, Ian leaving as manager, and the new songs that Big Country have been playing in preparation for their next studio album. Featu...
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The Great Divide, Episode 10 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.190491
Recorded in October, 2012, this special tenth episode of the only Big Country podcast on the interwebs features part one of a three-part, in-depth interview with none other than Bruce ?Flower of Sc...
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The Great Divide, Episode 11 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.189492
Released in November, 2012, this is part two of our three-part, in-depth interview with none other than Bruce ?Flower of Scotland? Watson himself.
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The Great Divide, Episode 12 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.188604
Released in December, 2012, this is part three of our three-part, in-depth interview with none other than Bruce ?Flower of Scotland? Watson himself. Bruce discusses BC releases from PIOT through DT...
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The Great Divide, Episode 13 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.187716
Released in December, 2012, this episode serves as a look back on the year that was and a look ahead to 2013. Tom and Svein discuss their favorite moments, episodes and more.
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The Great Divide, Episode 14 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.186626
This episode begins what will be a three-part discussion and dissection of The Seer album, the third Big Country album, released in 1986. We talk about what led up to the album, the choice of a new...
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The Great Divide, Episode 15 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.185705
This episode continues our discussion of Big Country's album The Seer, released in 1986. In this episode, we give our thoughts on the tracks The Teacher, I Walk the Hill, Eiledon, One Great Thing, ...
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The Great Divide, Episode 16 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.184799
This episode concludes our discussion of Big Country's album The Seer, released in 1986. In this episode, we give our thoughts on the tracks Remembrance Day, The Red Fox, The Sailor and Song of the...
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The Great Divide, Episode 17 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.183900
In this episode, Tom and Svein discuss their feelings as we near the release of the first Big Country album in nearly 15 years: The Journey. We also hear our first user submissions to the show via ...
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The Great Divide, Episode 18 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.182627
In this episode, Tom and Svein begin to dissect the new Big Country album, The Journey. This episode also features reviews from our listeners.
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The Great Divide, Episode 19 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.181687
In this episode, Tom and Svein continue their discussion of the new Big Country album, The Journey. This episode also features more reviews from listeners and a special acoustic track at the end by...
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The Great Divide, Episode 20 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.180714
In this episode, Tom and Svein continue their discussion of the new Big Country album, The Journey, beginning with the track Another Country. This episode also features more reviews from listeners.
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The Great Divide, Episode 21 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.179807
In this episode, Tom and Svein discuss the band's tour of America, their first since 1993. They also discuss Tom's experience opening for the band in Leesburg, Va., and joining them onstage. More o...
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The Great Divide, Episode 22 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.178632
In this episode, Tom and Svein continue their discussion of the band's tour of America, their first since 1993. More of your SpeakPipe reviews are played, a couple songs from the Leesburg performan...
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The Great Divide, Episode 23 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.177719
Episode 23 of The Great Divide features an exclusive 30-minute interview with the legendary Mike Peters. Mike talks about Big Country's just-completed North American tour, plans to rerelease Steelt...
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The Great Divide, Episode 24 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.176847
This episode is a real coup for the show, in that, thanks to the help of our listeners, we've managed to track down the man responsibe for the iconic artwork on the first three Big Country albums. ...
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The Great Divide, Episode 25 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.175943
Tom and Svein continue their discussion of the artwork of Big Country's major studio releases, picking up with The Seer and continuing through The Journey. A fan SpeakPipe submission is played and ...
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The Great Divide, Episode 26 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.174781
Tom and Svein discuss the recent Live at the BBC Box Set.
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The Great Divide, Episode 27 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.173864
Tom and Svein begin their three-part discussion of the Why the Long Face album, released in 1995.
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The Great Divide, Episode 28 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.172960
Tom and Svein continue their three-part discussion of the Why the Long Face album, released in 1995.
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The Great Divide, Episode 29 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.172032
Tom and Svein conclude their three-part discussion of Big Country's "Why the Long Face" album.
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The Great Divide, Episode 30 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.170742
Tom and Svein interview Bruce, Derek and Jamie about the parting of ways with Mike Peters and what's to come for Big Country in 2014. This is also the second annual "Yuletide" episode, and much hol...
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The Great Divide, Episode 31 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.169620
Tom and Svein return from hibernation with another exclusive interview with Bruce Watson. Actually, this is more like a rapid fire fan interview, as Bruce is asked many questions sent in from our l...
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The Great Divide, Episode 32 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.168709
Big Country's notorious non-participant in social media, Mark Brzezicki, joins Tom and Svein for the first part of an in-depth, career-spanning interview. Mark is open and forthright in his comment...
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The Great Divide, Episode 33 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.167815
In part 2 of our exclusive interview with Mark Brzezicki, Mark discusses a wide variety of topics, from the DTD era to his use of an ash tray on the recording of "Steeltown" to fighting with Bruce ...
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The Great Divide, Episode 34 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.166678
Tom and Svein begin their Top Ten countdown of their favorite Big Country videos of all time.
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The Great Divide, Special PSA from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.165758
This is a special PSA from The Great Divide, alerting our listeners to the petition designed to convince Universal Music to release the fabled Robin Millar mix of The Seer, which has recently been ...
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The Great Divide, Episode 35 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.164825
Tom and Svein continue their Top Ten countdown of their favorite Big Country videos of all time.
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The Great Divide, Episode 36 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.163914
Tom and Svein discuss what's new in BC-land, including their reviews of the new Big Country remasters of "The Seer," "Peace in Our Time" and "No Place Like Home."
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The Great Divide, Episode 37 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.162703
In a first for the show, Tom and Svein welcome three fellow fans - Arlin Bartels, CJ Wade and Kenny Henderson - to discuss what Steeltown meant to us when it was first released and what it continue...
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The Great Divide, Episode 38 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.161724
Tom and Svein play your SpeakPipe submissions on what Steeltown means to you. We also read some of the bad reviews that coincided with the albums release and let you know what we think of them.
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The Great Divide, Episode 39 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.160755
Tom and Svein begin their meticulous analysis of Steeltown, track by track.
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The Great Divide, Episode 40 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.159837
In this super-sized, extra large episode, Tom and Svein continue their meticulous analysis of Steeltown, track by track. And after two hours, they're STILL not done.
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The Great Divide, Episode 41 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.158595
Part 3 of our ongoing Steeltown discussion. Once again ... we only make it through two songs on this one. Looks like we're gonna need a bigger podcast. However, this episode DOES feature a musical ...
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The Great Divide, Episode 42 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.157644
The fourth and FINAL part of the Steeltown Deep Dive. Once again, only two songs are covered, but they are covered .... deeply. Stay tuned at the end for some great selections from a 1984 concert f...
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The Great Divide, Episode 43 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.156616
Tom and Svein look back on the year, answer listener questions, and reveal the moments listeners ranked as their favorites in 2014. Also, a BC cover song is performed by Svein! Happy Holidays to all!
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The Great Divide, Episode 44 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.097960
Tom and Svein are back, with special guest Tim Eldred. The three discuss the classic Big Country book "A Certain Chemistry," leading into a discussion about Tim's idea to create a DIY audiobook of ...
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The Great Divide, Episode 45 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.097096
As promised, we play the fan-created, fan-driven audiobook of "A Certain Chemistry" in its entirety. Thanks to Tim Eldred for spearheading this great project, and to all those who lent their wonder...
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We Were Here - The Infomercial from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.095840
This is NOT an episode of The Great Divide podcast. Episode 46 will be coming soon. Although Tom and Svein are present and doing their usual thing here, the discussion centers around Tom's new CD, ...
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The Great Divide, Episode 46 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.094654
Tom and Svein, with JfnG occasionally contributing from Tom's hallway, take a closer look at the band's recent, current and possible near future activities. What's been going on, what is going on, ...
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The Great Divide, Episode 47 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.093627
Svein and guest co-host Arlin Bartels take a look at Tony Butler's activities during Big Country's hiatus in 1997, including the launch of Great Western Records and his first solo album The Great U...
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The Great Divide, Episode 48 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.092187
Svein and Arlin are back with the second and final part of their track-by-track discussion on Tony Butler's 1997 solo album The Great Unknown.
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The Great Divide, Episode 49 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.090882
Svein and special guesting co-host CJ Wade take a look at Big Country cover versions and do a top 10 countdown of their favourites. They discover significant discrepancies in their lists. They also...
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The Great Divide, Episode 50 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.089891
Tom returns to the show after a five month absence just in time to celebrate the fiftieth episode of the podcast. Svein and Tom discuss current happenings in Big Country land and receive a congratu...
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The Great Divide, Episode 51 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.088740
Kirsten Adamson joins us for an in-depth discussion about her debut self-titled album. For the synaptically challenged among you, that means it's called "Kirsten Adamson." We go through the album t...
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The Great Divide, Episode 52 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.087800
It's that time of year again. Svein and Tom sit down in their respective palatial estates to ruminate on the meaning of the holiday season, to discuss the year that was, the year that may yet be an...
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The Great Divide, Episode 53 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.086598
It's the return of the roundtable! Tom and Svein sit down with three new guests - Cara Cuiule, Jason Allen and Tim Eldred - to talk about the band's landmark Buffalo Skinners album. This will lead ...
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The Great Divide, Episode 54 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.085595
Tom and Svein jump into another one of their notorious album deep-dives. This time they delve into The Buffalo Skinners from 1993, and after nearly two hours they have managed to cover four of the ...
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The Great Divide, Episode 55 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.084068
Tom and Svein continue their dissection of The Buffalo Skinners. This episode takes them from "Long Way Home" through "Ships." Listener SpeakPipes are also played.
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The Great Divide, Episode 56 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.082739
Tom and Svein continue their dissection of The Buffalo Skinners. This episode takes them from "All Go Together" through "Pink Marshmallow Moon". More listener SpeakPipes are also played.
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The Great Divide, Episode 57 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.081724
Tom and Svein finally conclude their epic deep-dive of The Buffalo Skinners with "Chester's Farm" and the song "Buffalo Skinners." They tie up loose ends with brief discussions about the return of ...
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The Great Divide, Episode 58 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.080739
Tom and Svein welcome guest Martin Warner to the show. Martin ran the official Country Club fanzine from issues 3-7 in 1983, and he shares some great, fun stories from the early days of Big Country...
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The Great Divide, Episode 59 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.079730
Tom and Svein welcome two great Aussie guests, Andy Inkster and Dwayne Bunney, who share their insights, experiences and emotions from Big Country's recent and first ever tour of Australia. Multipl...
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The Great Divide, Episode 60 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.078478
The legendary Bruce Watson joins Tom and Svein once again to help celebrate 60 episodes of the podcast. Bruce talks about all sorts of subjects, from working with Robin Millar, the coming Seer tour...
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The Great Divide, Episode 61 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.077454
Tom and Svein are digging deep again as they delve into the Peace In Our Time album - one of the most divisive albums in Big Country's timeline. In this first part, they cover the general time peri...
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The Great Divide, Episode 62 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.076472
Tom and Svein pick up the pace a bit - just a bit - in Part 2 of the PIOT Deep Dive. In this episode, they cover the songs "Thirteen Valleys," "Thousand Yard Stare" and "From Here to Eternity." Yes...
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The Great Divide, Episode 63 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.075478
Tom and Svein continue flapping their fat mouths about Big Country's most divisive album, "Peace in Our Time." And they still don't finish. In this episode, they tackle "Everything I Need," "Peace ...
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The Great Divide, Episode 64 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.074260
Tom and Svein finally finish their latest minutiae-laden Deep Dive, Part 4 of the "Peace in Our Time" dissection. In this one, they take on "River of Hope," "In This Place," and "I Could Be Happy H...
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The Great Divide, Episode 65 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.073218
Tom and Svein somehow manage to release their annual Yuletide episode after a blizzard of activity. What's more, it's the longest episode ever at more than three hours! They are visited by the spir...
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The Great Divide, Episode 66 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.072253
It's the return of the Great Divide egg-timer in this episode! After breezing through recent releases and BC-related activity, Tom and Svein continue to tackle a myriad of Big Country-related quest...
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The Great Divide, Episode 67 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.071284
The time was finally right! We are very happy to welcome bass player extraordinaire Tony Butler to the show. He comes armed with a number of announcements, reveals what he has been up to during his...
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The Great Divide, Episode 68 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.069974
This is the second part of our conversation with Tony Butler. He touches on The Great Unknown album and recalls early memories of meeting the BC guys and joining the band. We discuss Live Aid what-...
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The Great Divide, Episode 69 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.069030
The third and final part of our conversation with Tony Butler is here. This completes his reflections on each and every Big Country album, as he recalls working with Robin Millar and Kate Bush on T...
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The Great Divide, Episode 70 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.068083
We finally set off to Damascus, probably the album they've been dreading the most to dissect. The reason? There's just so much material, so much emotional baggage, so much to talk about. In this ep...
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The Great Divide, Episode 71 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.066899
Tom and Svein start the actual Driving To Damascus song discussion, and manage to get all of TWO songs into the album this time! You know the drill - look for the ultimate breakdown of music and ly...
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The Great Divide, Episode 72 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.065846
Tom and Svein actually get three songs in this time, as they take apart "See You," "Perfect World" and "Somebody Else" from Big Country's "Driving to Damascus" album. The usual hijinks ensue.
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The Great Divide, Episode 73 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.064880
Tom and Svein continue delving into Damascus with a show as bloated as Dom Deloise after an all-night binge at a Denny's buffet. Three more songs are discussed: "Fragile Thing," "The President Slip...
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The Great Divide, Episode 74 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.063931
Tom and Svein continue slogging their way toward Damascus with three more songs discussed: "Trouble the Waters," "Bella" and "Your Spirit to Me." Only one song remains until we finally arrive.
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The Great Divide, Episode 75 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.062750
Tom and Svein finally make it to Damascus. They celebrate by launching a celebratory, egg-timer-based discussion of the 24 non-album tracks from this period. The result is an episode that's longer ...
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The Great Divide, Episode 76 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.061792
Yule is the time for traditions. Some of the traditions of the Great Divide crew are to do a sweep through the Big Country-related releases of the past year, look back at the podcast activities sin...
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The Great Divide, Episode 77 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.060866
After their longest break ever, Tom and Svein try to get back into the swing of things. So many things have happened in the past eight months, and our hosts do a good sweep through all of them to c...
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The Great Divide, Episode 78 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.059907
Fans have been asking for new music, and in this episode, they get it, although not quite in the format they may have expected. Tom, Svein and a lurking JfnG are joined by Bruce and Jamie Watson to...
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The Great Divide, Episode 79 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.058694
The final BC album deep-dive is upon us, as Tom and Svein get out their scuba gear and jump in at the deep end to explore The Crossing. This first part sets the stage for the song discussion that w...
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The Great Divide, Episode 80 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.057752
Tom and Svein delve into the actual songs on The Crossing in this episode. They cover "In A Big Country" and "Inwards," and break the record for longest time spent on a single song in the process. ...
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The Great Divide, Episode 81 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.056723
The crossing of The Crossing continues in this nearly 3-hour epic. Tom and Svein discuss "Chance", "1000 Stars" and "The Storm" in this episode. You'll also hear some rare interview clips and a Spe...
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The Great Divide, Episode 82 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.055803
We take a break from The Crossing for our annual Yuletide episode! Expect the usual year-end summaries and related musings from your hosts. Marvel at the news of (and samples from) an unreleased Bi...
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The Great Divide, Episode 83 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.054621
The deep-dive of The Crossing continues with "Harvest Home" and "Lost Patrol." What was meant to be a nice and easy episode become the deepest of deep-dives with Tom and Svein going to unforeseen d...
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The Great Divide, Episode 84 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.053645
Tom and Svein continue to dissect The Crossing in the bloated manner of which only they are capable of. Three more hours, two more songs: "Close Action" and "Fields of Fire". We'll also hear some o...
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The Great Divide, Episode 85 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.052653
Tom and Svein finish The Crossing deep-dive series with an entire episode devoted to the final song on the album: "Porrohman". The most epic song gets the most epic discussion: three hours of the d...
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The Great Divide, Episode 86 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.051717
This episode is about the 'Return To Steeltown' 35th Anniversary Tour, focusing on the very first show at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. As it happens, Svein was at that show and brings stories, sou...
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The Great Divide, Episode 87 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.050516
Is it Yule again already? Tom and Svein celebrate the year that has been in terms of podcast episodes, the WKW crowdfunding project, and other musings. The King of the Bogans, Andy Inkster, provide...
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The Great Divide, Episode 88 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.049464
WKW has released their new album Men of Steel on CD, a feat which would have not been possible without so many generous pledgers. One of those pledge tiers got the benefactor an appearance on the s...
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The Great Divide, Episode 89 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.048368
Tom and Svein speak with two more WKW pledgers from WKW's "Men of Steel" campaign: Gene Melang and John Lewis. Gene and Tom speak a good bit about WKW, which includes a segment with Bruce Watson an...
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The Great Divide, Episode 90 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.047471
Bruce Watson and John Gouveia join Tom and Svein in discussing Big Country's recent shows on the US East coast. Bruce also gives an update on how the current COVID-19 virus outbreak is impacting th...
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The Great Divide, Episode 91 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.046219
In this final installment of our WKW Pledger episodes, Tom and Svein are joined by Americans Jim Schubilske and Steve Coulter and by UK native Iain Chambers. A variety of Big Country topics are dis...
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The Great Divide, Episode 92 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.045224
After a bit of a break since our last proper episode, Tom and Svein are joined by Bruce Watson and John Gouveia. Expect a bit of general catch-up and LOTS of questions submitted by BC fans on the G...
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The Great Divide, Episode 93 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.044231
The Yuletide that nearly didn't happen is here. Join Tom and Svein for a look at the things that didn't happen this year, the things that happened, and the things we all have to look forward to. We...
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The Great Divide, Special PSA v2 from 2022-03-04T07:05:47.043268
When we recorded the first Millar Mix petition in 2014, we didn't know what to expect. After years of this seeming like a lost cause, developments in 2021 have left us more hopeful than ever. Pleas...
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