Big Big Train Appreciation - Progressive Rock Music Forum

My Dreaming Hill wrote:

Second Brightest Star is their best release since English Electric. Fight me.

well nearly a year on and I have to agree

btw off topic a tiny bit but I note that Nick is back playing drums with Spock's Beard. Please tell me this isn't permanent?! (or can he do both?).

Great news on the new live album 'Merchants of Light' coming out on July 29th, with a 'Swan Hunter' single release just before! Pre-order already in. Bring it on!

“Living in their pools, they soon forget about the sea.”

Cambus741 wrote:

I'm not deliberately trying to be contrary but I've tried and tried with BBT, and just cannot get into them.

Bit of a shame as I am interested in railways

shame indeed. They do write a lot of songs about the British industrial past (not just railways) and I find that very interesting as someone from Swindon. Musically they are a long way from being 'dark and edgy' which tends to put them a bit at odds with the modern trends in prog. However the songs are wonderfully refreshing and they are not scared of melody that is for sure although it might make them seems as if they are at the 'pop' end of prog a bit. For me it wasn't instant though. Sometimes its better to not try to hard to like a band too much and then it might just creep up on you. I found this to be true of Gentle Giant and Porcupine Tree who I also like a lot now but it wasn't always the case.

Yep I'll be there!

richardh wrote:

I wonder how many BBT members are footie fans?? England now only one match from semi final and guess when that is on

They could play 'Fat Billy Shouts Mine' to keep in the football spirit! "jumpers for goalposts......"

“Living in their pools, they soon forget about the sea.”

^ Welcome back to the top tier! It's going to be an exciting season for your lads.

“Living in their pools, they soon forget about the sea.”

Squonk19 wrote:

^ Welcome back to the top tier! It's going to be an exciting season for your lads.

cheers, hopefully we can ruffle a few feathers

Hi, folks! I'm new to the PA Forum. I thought I'd share my great appreciation for BBT. I found out about BBT through PROG magazine a number of years ago, and finally got around to listening to their recordings very recently. I started with the English Electric CDs.

If I had to summarize the BBT appeal in one phrase, I would say that they are real people playing real music about real things. There's an emotional honesty conveyed by their songs that I can only compare to those of the band Renaissance. In particular, "East Coast Racer" and "Curator Of Butterflies" are unbelievably moving songs.

Cheers to all BBT fans!

I enjoyed the Anvil gig (of course) but for me the sound wasn’t great.

I love watching and listening to NDV but the drums were too loud, drowning out most of the subtleties that BBT are so good at. There is no point having 13 instruments in the mix and allowing the drums to totally dominate.

And David Longdonks voice was a little muffled much of the time. I couldn’t actually understand what he was saying between tracks.

(Longdonk....!! Great typo, I’ll Leave it there!)

I made my comments on the ultra positive (worshipful?) Facebook group in a very supportive and respectful manner (as did a number of others) and incurred Mrs NDV’s displeasure!

Sounds like they absolutely killed it at Loreley, which will do them no harm at all.

Thought you’d all love to see a nice review in the Daily Express of the new live album from Big Big Train.

Big Big Train.

Merchants of Light.

(English Electric).

***** 5 Stars.

To convert the age-old adage 'a picture is worth a thousand words' to audio sums up this remarkable record release by Big Big Train. It smartly narrates itself as it sinks deep into the listener's psyche.

Intriguing song titles: A Mead Hall In Winter, Experimental Gentlemen, The Transit Of Venus Across The Sun, Telling The Bees and Victorian Brickwork is accompanied by an exquisite blend of melodious English folk prog sounds.

However, it's the superior musicianship splicing the whole show together that wins out.

Just listening to the supercharged sound of a group of musicians hitting their stride and showing their class, as brass blends with string instruments, on A Mead Hall In Winter is a thrilling ride alone.

Singer David Longdon brings a Gabriel style rasp to his vocals harking back to early Genesis, especially when joined by mellotron sounds and Greg Spawton's bass pedals. All of which reinforces BBT's unique approach to incorporating their impeccable musical influences to create their own distinctive sound.

This rare live outing recorded last year at The Cadogan Hall, London, reveals a band breezing full steam ahead on these hot polished tracks.