The Big Wheel (album)#Flower of the West

The album was released on 10 June 1991 via Chrysalis Records and was released in the United Kingdom, Greece, Canada, Japan as well as mainland continental Europe. In 2001, the album was re–released as part of a 3 CD boxset was released including The Cutter and the Clan and Amazing Things, and again as part of a 3 CD boxset alongside The Cutter and the Clan in 2002. In 2014, it was again re–released, this time as part of a five CD box set which included four other studio albums released by the band.

To promote the release of the album, the band appeared on Brag broadcast on BBC Two Scotland which documented the recording and rehearsal sessions of The Big Wheel. On 6 September 1991, Runrig performed "Hearthammer" on Top of the Pops on BBC One and their concert, Runrig On The Rock, was broadcast that same year on STV.{{cite web |title=1991 |url=https://runrig.rocks/N/1991.html |website=runrig.rocks |access-date=30 December 2024}}

During the recording sessions for The Big Wheel, the band were joined by several session musicians in the studio, mostly for backing vocals. Lorna Bannen, Ann Turner, Colin Chisholm, Patrick Logan and Chris Harley accompanied Runrig during the recording sessions for the album, providing backing vocal arrangements on several of the albums tracks.

{{album ratings

|rev1 = Calgary Herald

|rev1score = B{{cite news |last1=Alberts |first1=Sheldon |title=Recent Releases |work=Calgary Herald |date=3 Nov 1991 |page=C4}}

}}

The Kitchener-Waterloo Record wrote that "Donnie Munro's vocals drive the songs, but Iain Bayne's superbly produced drums power the band itself."{{cite news |last1=Howe |first1=Steve |title=The Big Wheel Runrig |work=The Kitchener-Waterloo Record |date=31 Oct 1991 |page=C9}} The Calgary Herald labelled the album "an inoffensive, watered-down brand of Celtic rock... Uninspiring but professional."

All songs written by Calum Macdonald and Rory Macdonald.

1. "Headlights" - 5:09
2. "Healer in Your Heart" - 5:34
3. "Abhainn an t-Sluaigh" (The Crowded River) - 5:17
4. "Always the Winner" - 5:41
5. "This Beautiful Pain" - 4:15
6. "An Cuibhle Mòr" (The Big Wheel) - 6:07
7. "Edge of the World" - 5:00
8. "Hearthammer" - 4:27
9. "I'll Keep Coming Home" - 2:33
10. "Flower of the West" - 6:36

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|artist=Runrig|title=Big Wheel|type=album|relyear=1991|certyear=1991|award=Gold|access-date=2025-01-02|id=902-1727-2}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

;Runrig

• Iain Bayne - drums, percussion
• Malcolm Jones - guitars, banjo, accordion
• Calum Macdonald - percussion
• Rory Macdonald - bass guitar, vocals
• Donnie Munro - lead vocals
• Peter Wishart - keyboards

{{Infobox song

| name = Flower of the West

| cover = Flower of the West by Runrig.jpeg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Runrig

| album = The Big Wheel

| B-side = Ravenscaig

| released = 28 October 1991

| recorded =

| studio = Castlesound Studios, Edinburgh, Scotland

| genre =

| length =

| label = Chrysalis – CHS 3451

| writer =

| producer = Chris Harley

| prev_title = Every River

| prev_year = 1989

| next_title = Wonderful

| next_year = 1993

}}

"Flower of the West" is the only single from the album, released on 28 October 1991.{{cite web |title=Music Week - 2 November 1991 |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1991/MW-1991-11-02.pdf#search=%22runrig%22 |website=Musicweek |access-date=7 September 2024}} It became the highest-charting entry for the band on the UK Singles Charts, following its peak at number forty-three.{{cite web |title=RUNRIG |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/19958/runrig/ |website=Official Charts |access-date=1 September 2024 |language=en |date=8 January 1983}}

"Flower of the West" features an "intensely emotional evocation of a micro-historical landscape", as described by the National Museums Scotland.{{cite web |title=Music, Land and People: Runrig and Highland History |url=https://blog.nms.ac.uk/2019/07/28/music-land-and-people-runrig-and-highland-history/ |website=National Museums Scotland Blog |access-date=1 September 2024 |language=en |date=28 July 2019}} AllMusic said that "Flower of the West concludes The Big Wheel "in typical grandiose Runrig fashion".{{cite web |title=The Big Wheel Runrig |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-big-wheel-mw0001890998#review |website=AllMusic |access-date=1 September 2024 |language=en}}

The release of "Flower of the West" brought Runrig the closest they had been to entering the UK Top 40 Singles Charts, after the song debuted at number forty-three in the United Kingdom. It spent a total of two weeks within the UK Top 100 Singles Charts, falling to number forty-seven in its second and final week, before falling out of the UK Top 100.{{cite web |title=RUNRIG |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/19958/runrig/ |website=Official Charts |access-date=1 September 2024 |language=en |date=8 January 1983}}

1. "Flower of the West" – 4:55
2. "Ravenscraig" – 4:30
3. "Chi Mi'n Geamhradh" (featuring Karen Matheson) – 4:12
4. "Harvest Moon" (Live at Loch Lomond)

1. "Flower of the West" – 4:55
2. "Chi Mi'n Geamhradh" (featuring Karen Matheson) – 4:12

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{{Runrig}}

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Category:Runrig albums

Category:1991 albums

Category:Chrysalis Records albums

Category:Scottish Gaelic music