Login
Login

Long Distance (Runrig album)

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}

{{Use British English|date=August 2013}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Long Distance

| type = Compilation

| artist = Runrig

| cover = Longdistancethebestoff.jpg

| alt =

| released = 7 October 1996

| recorded = Various times

| venue =

| studio =

| genre = Celtic rock

| length = 1:18:12

| label = Chrysalis Records

| producer = Runrig

| prev_title = Mara

| prev_year = 1995

| next_title = Beat the Drum

| next_year = 1998

}}

Long Distance (released as The Best of Runrig – Long Distance) is a 1996 compilation album released by the Scottish Celtic rock band Runrig on 7 October 1996 via Chrysalis Records.{{cite web |title=Long Distance |url=https://runrig.rocks/discography/albums/the%20best%20of%20runrig%20-%20long%20distance.html |website=Runrig Rocks |access-date=30 December 2024}} It is the second compilation album to be released by the band, following the release of Alba: The Best of Runrig (1992).

==Background and promotion==

The compilation album covers releases by the band from the beginning of the release of The Cutter and the Clan (1987) to Mara (1995), with the live versions of "Loch Lomond" and "Skye" (both lifted from Once in a Lifetime (1988) also being included. Both songs in studio form had appeared on The Highland Connection (1979), and Heartland (1985), respectively.

Two singles were released from the album – a cover version of "Rhythm of My Heart" which reached number ten and number twenty four in Scotland and the United Kingdom respectively, and a remix version of "The Greatest Flame" which was originally released in 1993. The remix version of "The Greatest Flame" reached number five in Scotland, and number thirty in the United Kingdom.{{cite web |title=RUNRIG |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/19958/runrig/ |website=Official Charts |access-date=30 December 2024 |language=en |date=8 January 1983}}

To promote the album and the single "Rhythm of My Heart", Runrig appeared on British show GMTV to perform the song. The band also appeared on The Nicky Campbell Show performing "The Dancing Floor" and "Lighthouse" the same year, and the Gerry Kelly Show on 20 September 1996, broadcast on Ulster TV.{{cite web |title=1996 |url=https://runrig.rocks/N/1996.html |website=runrig.rocks |access-date=30 December 2024}}

Release

The deluxe version of the album released in 1996 contained a bonus CD, which featured tracks from the band's early output from 1978 to 1985. In 2018, Chrysalis Records released a 2LP reissue of the album.

Following its release on 7 October 1996, the album debuted atop the albums chart in their native Scotland on 13 October 1996.{{cite web |title=Official Scottish Albums Chart on 13/10/1996 |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/scottish-albums-chart/19961013/40/ |website=Official Charts |access-date=30 December 2024 |language=en}} In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number thirteen on the UK Albums Charts in the same week, spending a total of sixteen weeks within the UK Top 100 albums chart.{{cite web |title=RUNRIG |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/19958/runrig/ |website=Official Charts |access-date=30 December 2024 |language=en |date=8 January 1983}} In Denmark, it reached number six on the albums chart{{cite web |title=Runrig |url=https://danishcharts.dk/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Runrig |website=danishcharts.dk |access-date=30 December 2024}} and number sixty in Germany, spending six weeks within the German Top 100.{{cite web |title=Offizielle Deutsche Charts |url=https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/album-details-29385 |website=www.offiziellecharts.de |access-date=30 December 2024}}

It was later certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI){{cite web |title=BRIT Certified |url=https://www.bpi.co.uk/brit-certified |website=BPI |access-date=30 December 2024 |language=en}} and Gold in Denmark.{{cite web |title=Home {{!}} IFPI |url=http://www.ifpi.dk/?q=content/guld-og-platin-i-august |website=www.ifpi.dk |access-date=30 December 2024}}

Track listing

  1. "(Stepping Down The) Glory Road" – 3:25
  2. "Alba" ("Scotland") – 4:00
  3. "The Greatest Flame" – 4:25
  4. "Rocket to the Moon" – 4:45
  5. "Abhainn an t-Sluaigh" ("The Crowded River") – 5:20
  6. "Protect and Survive" – 3:37
  7. "Rhythm of My Heart" – 4:42
  8. "Hearthammer" – 3:59
  9. "An Ubhal as Àirde (The Highest Apple)" – 3:47
  10. "Wonderful" – 3:55
  11. "The Mighty Atlantic / Mara Theme" – 6:43
  12. "Flower of the West" – 6:44
  13. "Every River" – 4:03
  14. "Sìol Ghoraidh" ("The Genealogy of Goraidh") – 5:21
  15. "Hearts of Olden Glory" – 2:16
  16. "Skye" – 5:07
  17. "Loch Lomond" – 6:11

=Bonus CD=

  1. "Saints of the Soil" 5:03
  2. "Ravenscraig" – 4:33
  3. "Solus na Madainn" – 3:38
  4. "Chi Mi'n Geamhradh" – 4:18
  5. "The Apple Came Down" – 3:21
  6. "Chi Mi'n Tir" – 3:28
  7. "Ribhinn o" – 5:39

Chart performance

=Charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
scope="col"| Chart (1996–2018)

! scope="col"| Peak
position

{{album chart|Denmark|6|artist=Runrig|album=Long Distance|rowheader=true|accessdate=12 February 2016}}
{{album chart|Germany|60|artist=Runrig|album=Long Distance|rowheader=true|accessdate=5 February 2016}}
{{album chart|UK2|13|date=1996-10-13|rowheader=true|accessdate=6 February 2016}}
{{album chart|Scotland|1|date=1996-10-13|rowheader=true|accessdate=6 February 2016}}
{{album chart|UKIndependent|38|date=2018-08-30|rowheader=true|accessdate=6 February 2016}}

=Certifications=

  • United Kingdom (BPI) – Gold
  • Denmark – Gold

References

{{reflist}}

{{Runrig}}

Category:Runrig albums

Category:1996 compilation albums

Category:Scottish Gaelic music