Runrig

Scottish folk music moves comfortably into the rock arena thanks to Runrig, an outfit that has perfected the crossover between Gaelic traditions and contemporary, stadium-suited grandeur since its formation back in the late '70s. Kick off with the band's signature crowd-pleaser, "Loch Lomond", a track powerful enough to squeeze a tear from any eye, Scottish or otherwise. For more sounds as big and impressive as the Highlands, cue up Runrig's Next Steps.

Runrig followed their 1978 Gaelic-language debut album with '79s The Highland Connection, and it was on tracks like "Going Home" — where plaintive yet distinctly rock guitars lace what is in essence a gentle folk ballad — that the band's genius for generic crossover becomes fully apparent. By the mid-'80s their guitars had even taken on hints of new wave, as you'll hear on "Skye". Hear Runrig in mellifluous Gaelic, and covering Bob Dylan, in Deep Cuts.

It sounds nothing like Dylan, but Runrig's cover of "The Times They Are A-Changin'" (from a 1989 Nicky Campbell radio session) has an irresistible energy and showcases the band jammin' it up live. The song powers along like a Big Country track, which may have something to do with the fact that former Big Country member Pete Wishart earned a spot on keyboards in the classic Runrig lineup.

Runrig made its breakthrough in 1981 with Recovery, a concept album that dealt with political identity within Scotland's Gaelic community. It would come as no surprise when — further down the line — a couple of the band's members (singer Donnie Munro, replaced by Canadian Bruce Guthro, and Pete Wishart) switched careers from music to politics, Wishart rising to prominence within the Scottish National Party. A fierce pride in heritage runs through all of Runrig's output, filling many tracks with an explosive energy that has produced a fistful of classic anthems and forced us to amend our definition of Highland folk.