WELCOME TO THE PLANET

Firstly, deepest condolences to the band and their friends and families following the tragic passing of Big Big Train's lead vocalist David Longdon on 20th November 2021. "Welcome to the planet" was already complete before the passing and it must have been a difficult decision whether to go ahead and release this album which came out on the 28th of January 2022. I am very new to this band. In fact, I only heard of them when I saw a You Tuber called "Notes reviews" had reviewed this album. I haven't watched the video yet, but I decided just to see what I thought of it first. And my first impressions were that I was quite taken aback by its magnificence. It was after a few listens I looked them up on Facebook and found out about the sad news. To be honest I wouldn't have reviewed this album if I didn't like it given the circumstances. However I do have a very minor critique which I will go into on what in general is sensational.

First of all, let's give a bit of background to the band. They formed in Bournemouth in 1990, releasing their debut album "Goodbye to the age of Steam" in 1994. There has been a lot of people involved with the band over the years with many line-up changes as well as members who just join them for touring. For this, their 14th album, the line-up was David Longdon on lead vocals, flute, keyboards and guitar. Greg Spawton on bass guitar, guitar, keyboards and backing vocals. Nick D'Virgilio on drums, percussion, guitars and keyboards. Rikard Sjöblom on guitars, keyboards and backing vocals. As you can see with all the members chipping in playing different instruments you can see why they need those extra members when touring.

"Welcome to the Planet" is a nine-track album sitting at 47 minutes and 16 seconds. The album opens with the glorious sun ray of a track that is "Made from Sunshine" and you can feel the warmth coming out from your speakers when listening to this song. The guitars, the vocals, the keyboards and the brass section combine to make such a wonderful, uplifting opening to the album. And the guitar solo at the end of the track has the perfect tone to match.

The thing I love about this album is that every track feels so different. It's like they put the emphasis on different people's abilities and vary the prominent instrument on each track. The second track "The Connection Plan" for instance, the violin is really prominent, particularly early on in the track. The short, sharp, snappy playing makes the intro so inviting. The third track "Lanterna" is currently my favourite track on the album. The song starts gently with David's vocals along with one of the backing vocalists intertwining to make a blissfully magic track which builds so perfectly. David's vocals are noticeably excellent throughout the album. You can really feel the emotion he puts into the delivery. "Laterna" is just a fantastic progressive rock song sitting at 6 minutes 30 seconds long and again finishes with a fine solo.

"Proper Jack Froster" is another classic progressive track which also features a female vocalist which again mixes things up for the album. The way the album keeps moving in different directions and still maintaining the feel that they all belong together is one of the reasons which makes it so good and keeps me listening to this album over and over again. This again happens on the penultimate "Bats in the Belfry" which has this great electronic vibe and finishes with a drum solo which in 2022 feels special as it feels quite rare for bands to do this these days, particularly on a studio album. It is still commonplace I think on the live circuit for drummers to get their moment in the limelight with an extra drum fill in a song. But to do it on an album makes it not only stand out on this album but also when comparing to other albums out at the moment.

The album finishes with the title track "Welcome to the Planet" and it starts off amazingly and in a kind of big brass band kind of feel making a big entrance. The song then calms down for the majority, with the vocals being delivered in a kind of freestyle type form which sounds refreshing before going into a nice climax to finish. It is slightly strange to me closing an album with title and lyrics saying "Welcome" a lot. It feels like a way to start the album rather than finish one. But at the same time the climax at the end does end up closing it nicely. But that's really my only minor critique bit of the album.

Overall, this album is ridiculously good, and I mean every track is great. I hope the warmth, positivity and outstanding musicianship on this album give comfort to the people affected by the loss of David Longdon. I have seen a statement by the band recently saying that David wished the band to continue if this event was to occur and now the band have come out and said they wish to fulfil David's wishes and continue as a band. I wish them all the best. And I do hope I can start working my way through Big Big train's back catalogue as if the other albums are up to "Welcome to the planet" standard. They'll be worth a listen.