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Big Big Train Appreciation
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POTA View Drop Down
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Points: 178 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote POTA Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 10 2015 at 18:29
I was just reading an interview with bassist Greg Spawton from a couple weeks ago and it contains some huge news.

A new album called Folklore (to be released June 2016) with an hour of new music.

And here's the big one: a three-disc album called Station Masters which covers the music of the band up until Folklore -- and the new lineup is going to re-record any songs pre-David Langdon (to be released Spring 2017). 
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Duke of Rother View Drop Down
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Points: 99 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Duke of Rother Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 29 2015 at 03:54
Interesting.

What elements do you hear that are reminiscent of / influenced by ELP? (I've not heard that observation before.)


Edited by Duke of Rother - August 29 2015 at 03:55
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richardh View Drop Down
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Points: 30370 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote richardh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 28 2015 at 07:42
I'm enjoying Wassail quite a lot probably because dare I say there is some ELP influence creeping in. Probably explains the hateSmile
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Points: 99 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Duke of Rother Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 26 2015 at 09:37
I do prefer the David Longdon vocals but Sean Filkins did a fine job.

Have you heard ex drummer Steve Hughes' debut solo album, Tales a From The Silent Ocean?

It's very good.

Incidentally the band have just made deleted album Bard, and EPs The Infant Hecules and From The River To The Sea available to download via their Facebook page - only payment is voluntary the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (or some such).
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Points: 16952 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Horizons Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 25 2015 at 19:28
^ Agreed. Gathering Speed is fantastic. 
Crushed like a rose in the riverflow.
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Originally posted by symphonicman symphonicman wrote:

I really like Big Big Train. My favourite albums are,  The Underfall Yard, Far Skies Deep Time, English Electric part one and part two and War And Peace & Other Short Stories by former vocalist Sean Filkins.

I've been in a phase the past few months in which I've really only been listening to Sean Filkins Big Big Train. Gathering Speed is now my favorite album. His voice is like David's on steroids. Songs like The Road Much Further On and Powder Monkey are just insanely good. 
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Points: 114 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote symphonicman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 24 2015 at 18:57
I really like Big Big Train. My favourite albums are,  The Underfall Yard, Far Skies Deep Time, English Electric part one and part two and War And Peace & Other Short Stories by former vocalist Sean Filkins.
Master James of St. George.
Of the fields and the sky.
He used to build castles of stone, steel, and blood.
But lines get broken down.
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It was that comment that made me decide the review was relevant to post. Obviously not a groupie!
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Originally posted by Duke of Rother Duke of Rother wrote:

Big Big Train Saturday night at Kings Place, London.

Best gig ever for me.

Just awesome.

Absolutely awesome

Can't even express my jealously. Really glad to hear it went so well. I can't wait till the release the video and audio.  

On another note, I can't believe the reviewer had never heard The Underfall Yard and Kingmaker prior to the concert. They are two of the band's best tracks.
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Big Big Train Saturday night at Kings Place, London.

Best gig ever for me.

Just awesome.

Absolutely awesome


Final paragraphs of a review of Friday's 1st night. (not mine, even though he uses the same adjective!)
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For a band who haven’t played live as such especially on this scale they were nothing shy of awesome and i don’t use such an overused word very often. What struck me afterwards in the bar was the affection of the people who attended. The word fan doesn’t seem to do them justice they were more like a mature family and i was made to feel part of it. As the band mingled with those frequenting the bar they were greeted with congratulations and fond appreciation. Speaking to founder member Andy Poole afterwards i informed him “something very special has just happened in there”. I was not exaggerating. i felt humbled by the whole event. The multi talented musicians on the stage to the fantastic brass section which really did fill out the sound hugely to the man at the helm, sound engineer Rob Aubrey. I count myself lucky to have been there on the night that Big Big Train brought to life the music that many people have enjoyed two dimensionally for many years.  I have no doubt in my mind that the bands following two gigs won’t be hampered by the same glitches and first night nerves as that Friday evening in August when Big Big Train brought their music to life and put faces and gesture to photographs on album covers and made real stories that their music tells.

Once more for the record, awesome.

And the full article. http://progmeister.com/big-big-train-kings-place-14th-august-2015


Edited by Duke of Rother - August 16 2015 at 16:25
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Originally posted by Dellinger Dellinger wrote:

So, I just got my English Electric, Full Power CD a few months ago, this being my first encounter with the band. I must say I really enjoyed this album(s). I think it's a very nice kind of prog, mostly stripping all the weirdness and experimentation it might have, and using all the knowledg gained from said experimentations to make a wonderful sound, complex, but not for the sake of being complex and showing off... they do what the music asks them to do. And it's all so pastoral and nice, using as many instruments as necessary. I feel this would have been the natural evolution for Genesis, had they continued on the path set with Foxtrot and Selling England... actually, I would say this albums sound much more like Genesis than Marillion ever did.
That's a good summary, from someone who also started out with 'Full Power'.  I also have The Underfall Yard now and may go on to others based on the feedback here.
 
Maybe they need a new category - Wholesome Prog
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Points: 6253 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kati Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 28 2015 at 20:05
I absolutely to date like this song so much!
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Points: 918 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mr. Maestro Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 28 2015 at 19:48
I still think The Difference Machine is their best work.

I dunno, guys - am I the only one who really likes the new EP?  I dig the rich, folky atmosphere in the title track, and I love the vocal arrangements in "Lost Rivers of London."  And all the melodies are so infectious!  I can't help but think it's a reasonably strong effort. Ah, well.
"I am the one who crossed through space...or stayed where I was...or didn't exist in the first place...."
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I've been listening to some of their stuff without David Langdon the past two weeks. It too is really, really good music. I can't stop playing English Boy Wonders and Wind Distorted Pioneers. Check out this track from EBW called "Two Poets Meet." 


It's unfortunately not on YouTube, but I was able to play the entire track in that link.


Edited by POTA - June 30 2015 at 09:15
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Greg Spawton is a tremendous talent, both as bassist and (main) composer. Plus he has ample knowledge of all things Prog, past and present.
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Originally posted by Green Shield Stamp Green Shield Stamp wrote:

I have all of the band's albums, so I like them very much. My favourite is Gathering Speed. One criticism though....some of their material can be a bit long-winded, where the same melancholy mood is sustained a little too long.

Gathering Speed is one of my Top 3 i'd say as well. 

I think my Top 3 is something like..

Difference Machine
English Electric 1
Gathering Speed
Crushed like a rose in the riverflow.
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I have all of the band's albums, so I like them very much. My favourite is Gathering Speed. One criticism though....some of their material can be a bit long-winded, where the same melancholy mood is sustained a little too long.
Haiku

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With seventeen syllables
Is very diffic....
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(Shrugs)
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Points: 16952 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Horizons Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 03 2015 at 20:19
Originally posted by Duke of Rother Duke of Rother wrote:

And from Lost Rivers of London...

Lost rivers of London
Long lost rivers of London
By the palace and the abbeys
By the lakes in the parks
Black waters rise
From one hundred springs and wells

Lost rivers of London Town
Long lost rivers of London Town
Underneath the houses on the Old Kent Road
If you listen very hard
You can hear the river flow

Headwaters out on the hills and the meadows run through the fields
To the city streets paved with stone
And after the rain through the cracks in the pavement
The rivers will rise as they make their way to the shore

Another bad lyric.

(Shakes head)

And yes these are pretty lame LOL
Crushed like a rose in the riverflow.
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Points: 16952 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Horizons Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 03 2015 at 20:18
Originally posted by Duke of Rother Duke of Rother wrote:

Originally posted by Horizons Horizons wrote:

Unfortunately i'm not too much of a fan of the EP myself. 

I think the background vocals are a bit predictable and the lyrics are just.. bad.

The music throughout the EP is fine, nowhere near the degree of earlier releases. 

A weaker EP than their last, and overall i'd say the sound is a bit uninspired. 


Return to the womb
Deep down in the earth
Wait for the spring rebirth
The clayen cup
We douse the roots
With cider kept from last year's fruits
Cut in twain
A five pointed star
A sign of who we are
Let spirits fly
The apple of my eye
Wassail

That's a BAD lyric????

Oh well, can't please 'em all I suppose.

You forgot the rest of the lyrics, the 1000 wassails, and every other bit of vocals. 
Crushed like a rose in the riverflow.
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