Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Big Big Train

Another week means only one thing; back to the search for all things prog!  Welcome once again fellow progheads as this time the journey finds The Closet Concert Arena stretching the parameters a bit.  While I have been reviewing specific albums for quite a while, something I truly enjoy, this week I chose to spend time with a band that has been around a while boasting members with impressive resumes of their own.

The Concert Closet has been graced in the past--just recently as a matter of fact--with bands that fall into this same category...but this week it just feels different.  With the music catalog Big Big Train has, I felt it would be unfair to limit my review to a single album...thus I am reviewing a bit of a cross-section of their career over time.  So while I stay on the other side of the pond one more week, I am hopeful you will come away feeling so much better for the experience...and enough talk...

 

Forgive a fan's indulgence as I begin near the starting line with a tune from 1994's "Goodbye to the Age of Steam" called "Blue Silver Red."  As a matter of full disclosure my headphones are streaming the 2011 re-release, but no matter...the song opens clean and crisp, the curtain pulls back, and Big Big Train washes over your auditory sensors like sea foam as the tide ebbs.Top notes of early Yes fold seamlessly into aromatics of Van der Graaf Generator for a sound that is uniquely theirs.      
  
                                                                                                                                                       

Crossing the prog garden at several junctures only adds to the allure this band has.  The music is a soothing balm at the end of a chaotic day, the emotional and mental cleansing your mind needs to prepare for round two...which happens to be "Powder Monkey" from the 2004 release "Gathering Speed."  Big Big Train paints a myriad of emotions over the canvas; the gentle hues of a summer evening rain shower sweeping across the plains, yielding to the brisk bite of an autumn breeze as the sun sets earlier and the leaves do their  chameleon impression while slowly falling to earth.  All at once you feel at ease and excited as piano and guitar work together, weaving a musical tapestry to wrap around your mind and imagination...see the raindrops pelt the windows as the train rushes gently through the prog garden...

Liner Notes...Big Big Train has a big big history which began in the 1980's when Greg Spawton and Andy Poole met, discovering a mutual admiration for prog music.  From this "bonding  moment" the seed was planted and Big Big Train started its long illustrious journey...

Greg and Andy put a band together and Big Big Train toured and recorded; their first release being the aforementioned "Goodbye to the Age of Steam."  An adventurous pilgrimage through the prog garden enabled them to build quite an impressive catalog; eleven studio albums, several EP's, and two live albums...with a new release scheduled for early 2019.  

In addition to founding members Greg Spawton writing the songs and playing bass and Andy Poole  the uber-talented multi-instrumentalist, the current line-up of Big Big Train includes Danny Manners on keyboards, David Longdon on vocals, Rikard Sjoblom on guitar and keyboards, Dave Gregory on guitars, Rachel Hall on violin, and Nick D'Virgilio on drums.  Robin Armstrong also joined the band for their 2018 live tour and looks to become a more permanent passenger.  Despite leaving the band earlier this year, Andy is still listed as a member, because once you're in the family...
Big Big Train is a band greater than the sum of its parts--and the parts have individual resumes to impress even the casual prog fan.  The prog garden flourishes in part because artists of this caliber are able to come together and produce music that is, in a word, magnificent.  The emotional outpouring from each song is as real and tangible as the scent of an oncoming summer thunderstorm or the aromas that pour forth from a French patisserie...all you want is more...

One more cut, this one taken from their 2018 live album "Merchants of Light" called "A Mead Hall in Winter."  Once again Big Big Train spills a beautiful sound all over the stage.  With top notes of The Style Council and perhaps a hint of The Strawbs channeling through the headphones, the resulting sound is ornate without being overbearing.  Keyboards lay under just low enough to allow Rachel's violin to caress your senses.  Guitars weave effortlessly throughout, wrapping around the silky smooth horns that burst delicately, allowing you to become fully immersed and get absolutely lost...

Learn more about Big Big Train at their website Big Big Train.  You will have access to the band's music catalog--do yourself a favor and make a purchase! You will also find their music at iTunes and 
Google play  Big Big Train has a YouTube channel and  Facebook.  If these options still leave you wanting, try the links on their website for Spotify and LastFM--but be sure and make a purchase...  
                                                                                                                                                          

I decided to offer you "Swan Hunter" as your ear candy for the week.  This was a tough decision--mainly because the options were so abundant.  However, this cut is a glimpse behind the present day curtain with vocals that are meringue smooth and a band working in the background that works so well together they must be conjoined at the soul.  Delicate horns that lay a carpet for guitar and keyboard work that simply transcends...watching candles burn down as the curtain closes, you need to remind yourself this is a live recording; no studio dubbing, mixing, or other alterations.  Big Big Train takes you back to that time when you listened to music simply because you liked the way it made you feel...    

                      


Yet another week winds down and the taste in the air is bittersweet...Big Big Train has had a huge impact on the prog garden, which is all the more stunning when you realize they are not a "mainstream" band garnering big time radio airplay.  Fortunately for those of us who focus on quality and substance more than swag and bravado, Big Big Train delivers on so many levels.

The prog garden has provided so much pleasure to the fans of the genre and bands like Big Big Train allow loyal listeners to relish each note, knowing the soil is still extremely fertile.  The search for all things prog has taken me to many places exotic, tranquil, scenic, wild, and modest.  Big Big Train stops at so many stations offering the listener a prog garden experience that is, above everything else, immensely satisfying.  And isn't that what we wandered into the prog garden looking for in the first place?  As always, the search continues--because there is so much more to discover...until next time...

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