The Cutter and the Clan is the fifth album by the Scottish Celtic rock band Runrig. It was the band's breakthrough album, taking them from cottage industry to the international stage. It was also the first Runrig album to feature keyboard player Pete Wishart – forming the "classic" line-up of the band through what would be their most commercially successful period.

Background and release

The bands first four albums – Play Gaelic (1978), The Highland Connection (1979), Recovery (1981) and Heartland (1985), failed to have any impact on national charts, leading the band to part ways with two record companies in the process – Neptune Records and Ridge Records. Eight out of the ten tracks on The Cutter and the Clan had lyrics in English, and the album had material dealing with Gaels who had moved away from Scotland to the new world. Originally, The Cutter and the Clan was recorded on the band's own Ridge label, it was taken on board by Chrysalis Records as part of a 1987 major recording contract which heralded a string of hit albums that would last until the mid-1990s with singer Donnie Munro's departure from the band a decade later. The release of The Cutter and the Clan marked their first release by Chrysalis Records. In 2024, The Cutter and the Clan the album was remastered, printed, and pressed entirely in Scotland, and released through original record label for its initial release, Chrysalis.

Promotion

Highlights include the song "An Ubhal as Àirde", which was later to become the first and only Scottish Gaelic language song to reach the UK Top 20, reaching #18 in 1995, following its use in an advert for Carlsberg lager.

Commercial performance

Upon its release, the album followed a similar trend to the bands previous albums in which it failed to chart. In 1995, the album debuted at number forty-five on the UK Albums Charts, where it remained for two weeks. The Cutter and the Clan was certified Silver by the BPI in the United Kingdom in 1995, seven years following its original release. In their native Scotland, it reached a peak of thirty one on the Scottish Albums Charts, again, in 1995 upon its re–release. In August 2024, The Cutter and the Clan re–entered the albums charts in their native Scotland at number twelve.

Track listing

All songs written by Calum Macdonald and Rory Macdonald.

Chart performance

1995 release

2024 re–issue

Personnel