THE SECOND BRIGHTEST STAR

After releasing six splendid studio albums between 2007 and 2017, Big Big Train were treading water with this one. Only the first seven tracks were new, and most of them turned out to be rather lacklustre ballads. David Longdon sounds tired when singing about 'the new Elizabethans' in 'Skylon'. He's far more convincing in 'The Passing Widow', which was written by violinist Rachel Hall who also takes up harmony vocals; unfortunately the lyrics are terribly sentimental. Hall did a much better job with 'Haymaking', a jaunty instrumental that shows BBT at their best, providing Tull-like variations on an irresistibly folksy tune. The highlights of the album are the extended versions of 'Brooklands' (17 mins. 33 secs.) and 'London Plane' (13 mins. 14 secs.) that follow. Here the band's playing is highly energetic, and we get to hear some fascinating things. On 'Brooklands', for example, Longdon sounds so much like Peter Gabriel it's uncanny... On 'Turner by the Thames' (a new introduction to 'London Plane') there's an incredible fast passage featuring trombone, cello, flute, electric guitar and piano - all playing together but clearly distinguishable. Eventually all these instruments (including the rhythm section, of course) are enveloped by mellotron in its choral setting (going 'aaah, aaah'): no-one but Big Big Train would have dared it or could have pulled it off. 'London Plane' itself features a couple of brief but crazy organ solos, presumably played by Rikard Sjöblom, and a fast, very Tull-like instrumental workout for flute and electric guitar. (I don't really know what that workout is supposed to be doing in the middle of the tune, but I find it breath-taking.) To round the album off, 'The Gentlemen's Reprise' is another short but exuberant (almost-) instrumental, with virtuoso guitar playing from Dave Gregory.

Verdict:

Two stars for tracks 1, 3, 4, 6 & 7. Three stars for track 5. Four stars for tracks 2, 8, 9, 10.

That leaves us with about 36 minutes of first-rate Symphonic Prog, which is almost as much content as CLOSE TO THE EDGE, so I'll award the entire album three stars.

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