Big Big Train

[PeterG]

Rapidly becoming my favourite band of the 21st century.

That is all!

PS I wonder if Americans understand the cultural significance and meanings of song titles like Swan Hunter, The Permanent Way, East Coast Racer?

Q: Is there any BBT vinyl available?

[Scrotum Scissor]

They're ok. I'm not too crazy about them, but they're fairly good. There's a "suspension of disbelief" thing going on with them and their relation to Genesis et al., but this in passing...

[PeterG]

The sample of Sir John Betjeman reading makes an already great song (The Permanent Way) sublime. BBT has something that fewer and fewer bands have nowadays for me, a cultural connection to my childhood.

[JKL2000]

They're ok. I'm not too crazy about them, but they're fairly good. There's a "suspension of disbelief" thing going on with them and their relation to Genesis et al., but this in passing...

Not sure what you mean by this - do you mean they sound more like Genesis than some people will admit? I personally don't think they sound like Genesis in general, though there are times when Longdon or whatever his name is does sing like Phil Collins in 80s Genesis.

[PeterG]

Personally I don't think they sound like Genesis at all.

[moecurlythanu]

PS I wonder if Americans understand the cultural significance and meanings of song titles like Swan Hunter, The Permanent Way, East Coast Racer?

We're still trying to figure out if the "Big Big" is a stutter or intentional.

[miamiscot]

I like Big Big Train. Good band.

Even if I don't know what the hell they're singing about.

[Progbear]

Personally I don't think they sound like Genesis at all.

Not anymore. Early on, they struck me as a very typical (i.e.: Marillion-esque) neo-prog band, so I was rather surprised to learn what they had evolved into by the time of, say, The Difference Machine. Just goes to show that you can never count anyone out.

[spacefreak]

Q: Is there any BBT vinyl available?

Unfortunately almost all their work is exclusively on CD. The only albums that got the vinyl treatment are English Electric Part One and English Electric Part Two. However in my opinion you don't need anything that came before The Difference Machine album; they are mediocre neo-prog works, very derivative of the 80s pomp scene and it's like listening to a completely different band.

[iguana]

certainly the most english (sounding) band of recent years. which is very fine by me.

[Scrotum Scissor]

in my opinion you don't need anything that came before The Difference Machine album; they are mediocre neo-prog works, very derivative of the 80s pomp scene and it's like listening to a completely different band.

I agree with this 100%. And while I think their recent albums are very good efforts at the "formatted prog" thing, I suspect that my erstwhile ambiguity may be due to the fact that there now - as opposed to 10-20 years ago - are so damn many truly original progressive bands emerging in the UK; Karda Estra, Trojan Horse, Schnauser, Knifeworld, Thieves' Kitchen, TFKoE, Thumpermonkey, Sanguine Hum, Stars in Battledress etc. I guess what I've least come to expect is for a British band to do "prog the ol' way" - although, as stated, BBT are doing this in just about the best possible manner.

[Jerjo]

I don't get all the Anglo references and such but I have four albums: Underfall Yard, Far Skies Deep Time, English Electric Pt 1, and English Electric Pt 2. The vocals get a little Genesis-like but the music and performances are stellar.

[ChrisXymphonia]

Don't agree with the dismissal of their early work. I really like their first three albums which showed a serious love of indie pop and an XTC influence, which set them really apart from their 90s contemporaries. English Boy Wonders (albeit the second, more fleshed out edition) is their first small masterpiece. I actually think their two albums following EBW were a lot less interesting. They were necessary steps in their evolution but I found that a lot of songs never really grabbed me which might be due to the fact that I don't like Sean Filkins' voice, who sang lead on those albums. They really upped their game, especially in a melodic sense, when Longdon joined, and became superb musical storytellers.

[JKL2000]

Don't agree with the dismissal of their early work. I really like their first three albums which showed a serious love of indie pop and an XTC influence, which set them really apart from their 90s contemporaries. English Boy Wonders (albeit the second, more fleshed out edition) is their first small masterpiece. I actually think their two albums following EBW were a lot less interesting. They were necessary steps in their evolution but I found that a lot of songs never really grabbed me which might be due to the fact that I don't like Sean Filkins' voice, who sang lead on those albums. They really upped their game, especially in a melodic sense, when Longdon joined, and became superb musical storytellers.

Ah, so that's where Sean Filkins came from! Did he ever do a second solo album?

[ChrisXymphonia]

^^ Sean Filkins' history goes even further back I discovered as he was part of UK neoprog bands Soma and Lorien:

https://www.discogs.com/artist/12775...0&type=Credits

[moecurlythanu]

Soma was part of the free festival neo-Psych scene.

[rickawakeman]

Rapidly becoming my favourite band of the 21st century.

That is all!

PS I wonder if Americans understand the cultural significance and meanings of song titles like Swan Hunter, The Permanent Way, East Coast Racer?

Please enlighten those of us from across the pond.

[ChrisXymphonia]

Please enlighten those of us from across the pond.

Greg Spawton and David Longdon both have online blogs which detail a lot of the inspiration behind the songs. Here are Spawton's notes about East Coast Racer:

http://bigbigtrain.blogspot.nl/2013/...ast-racer.html

When I watched the Stone And Steel BluRay this past weekend, which has a live performance of East Coast Racer recorded live at last years gigs in London at Kings Place, David Longdon mentions in the introduction to this song that it is a song about a certain train that departed from King's Cross station .... which is pretty much a stone's throw away from Kings Place. I don't think it was entirely coincidental that those gigs were held at that place: availability and size was key I guess but the fact it is on the location it is might have eventually sealed the deal.

[Orcopian]

Don't agree with the dismissal of their early work. I really like their first three albums which showed a serious love of indie pop and an XTC influence, which set them really apart from their 90s contemporaries. English Boy Wonders (albeit the second, more fleshed out edition) is their first small masterpiece. I actually think their two albums following EBW were a lot less interesting. They were necessary steps in their evolution but I found that a lot of songs never really grabbed me which might be due to the fact that I don't like Sean Filkins' voice, who sang lead on those albums. They really upped their game, especially in a melodic sense, when Longdon joined, and became superb musical storytellers.

yes I fully agree with the above, I have followed the band since their goodbye to the age of steam and those early albums have a lot of charm and some great moments. English boy wonders has a very haunting vibe to it. Whilst they are now a seriously good band with top class performers I do get a bit irked by fans who have come on board more recently being fairly dismissive of the earlier albums. Its like comparing moving pictures to fly by night, for example.

[Sunlight Caller]

I love BBT, and was one of those lucky enough to see them at Kings Place last year, such a memorable and moving night. I don't wholly agree with the Genesis thing, other than sharing a certain English quality that comes across in the subject matter.

[spacefreak]

Soma was part of the free festival neo-Psych scene.

Yes and a great band they were! Unfortunately they got into neoprog territories for theit last album (with Sean Filkins) before they disappeared.

[Scrotum Scissor]

^ The Soma who made the underground classic Epsilon got into neoprog?!!

That's just... Bizarre. Imagine SubArachnoid Space or Melting Euphoria or Praise Space Electric getting into that dorky style. Rather gratefully unthinkable.

[spacefreak]

^ The Soma who made the underground classic Epsilon got into neoprog?!!
That's just... Bizarre. Imagine SubArachnoid Space or Melting Euphoria or Praise Space Electric getting into that dorky style. Rather gratefully unthinkable.

Have you ever listened to their 1995 Dreamtime album on the italian Beard Of Stars label (sub label of Vinyl Magic)? If they are samples on YT, do spare 5 mins of your precious time to get an idea. I got it upon release and the next hour I was back to my local retailer to swap it...

[bill g]

Just received the new one, 'Folklore'. Looking forward to spinning it after work. With BBT, I love Greg Spawton's compositions, such as Kingmaker, Winchester From St. Giles' Hill, East Coast Racer, Swan Hunter, the latter of which is cowritten, but it has a homey vibe that I find rather poignant. The instrumental passage in 'Winchester...' is just stunningly beautiful. David Longdon's tracks I find okay, but they don't have the emotional layers for me that Mr. Spawton's tracks do.

They've carved a nice little niche for themselves, and some compare them a bit to IQ, but I like them a hundred times more than IQ, personally, and I don't really hear the connection that much anymore, past their 2nd album.

[PeterG]

Please enlighten those of us from across the pond.

Swan Hunter = shipyard in north east England
Permanent Way = the actual rail "road"
East Coast Racer = express train on the East Coast mainline