THE UNDERFALL YARD

When I bought this album and listened to it a couple of times I was slightly disappointed with the result. After all this was a highly acclaimed effort according to many and then you expect a lot. I could hardly believe it and decided to give it more spins before doing the review. And I'm glad I did because after more than 10 times my opinion has changed quite a lot.

And the reason is the fact this album is a real grower. The more you listen to it the more the songs get into your system and that's important with an album like this. First two listening experiences I was slightly disappointed with the small number of instrumental passages I detected. Some reviews I had read promised me that especially the long epic at the end had to be something special with tremendous music but I only heard a few minutes of that and felt a bit let down in that department. But after the more and more spins I learned the class of this album isn't just some great instrumental passages but there was also the coherence between the songs and the re-occurring themes there are to be experienced throughout the album. And that 's what I mean when I say this album has to grow on you before you can truly appreciate it.

In the end the final epic is indeed a wonderful conclusion of a great album, a sort of long recapitulation of everything that has happened in the previous tracks. The compositions are marvelous, the vocals are good, the instrumental handling is excellent (with stand out flute) and the coherence is even the strongest aspect of all. So after all a great release by Big Big Train and probably the magnum opus of their career. Indeed worthy of the 4,4 stars they have received by now. Just missing out on the masterpiece status in my opinion because it all isn't really mindblowing for my personal taste. But excellent for any prog rock collection for sure. Highly recommended.