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Big Big Train - Welcome to the Planet CD (album) cover

WELCOME TO THE PLANET

Big Big Train

 

Crossover Prog

4.10 | 214 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

A Crimson Mellotron
Prog Reviewer
4 stars What we have here is a very, very good collection of songs and sadly a posthumous release for vocalist David Longdon; The fourteenth studio album by British prog-rockers Big Big Train should be taken more as an assembly of compositions, rather than a continuous, long-running piece that has all parts connected to each other - this most recent recording by one of England's most English bands is musically a bit of everything one could expect from the 7-piece that recorded 'Welcome to the Planet', this including lush instrumentation, pastoral passages, mellow guitar parts, fantastic drumming, countryside visions, and really impressive lead vocals and vocal harmonies.

Bassist Greg Spawton, drummer Nick D'Virgilio, guitarist and keyboard player Rikard Sjöblom, who currently make up the line-up of the band, are joined by Dave Foster who provides some guitars, Clare Lindley providing some violins and vocals, and Carly Bryant on keys and lead vocals on the title track and album closer, alongside the late David Longdon, are the people responsible for the great music on 'Welcome to the Planet'. In the dense release schedule that the band has had in the last couple of years, it is quite normal to expect that the quality of the albums will deteriorate and repetition will become an apparent moment in the music. Fortunately, this is not the case.

I hear tons of Genesis, a lot of Spock's Beard, and above all, heaps of Big Big Train - quite normal, given the background of the band, the roots of their sound, and the pedigree of the band members. Despite these facts, as I dare call them, this 2022 album is very impressive, the quality of the songs is enviable, they are all incredibly recognizable as Big Big Train compositions, and yet, they are all entirely enjoyable, calming, and beautifully composed. Opening track 'Made From Sunshine' is a lovely, peaceful track that gives off this aforementioned pastoral feel, so present in all of Big Big Train's works. Then comes the most Spock's Beard-y of all the songs, 'The Connection Plan', that even has NDV singing the leads; This one could have been a perfect fit on an album like 'X' or maybe even 'Snow'. 'Lanterna' is a fabulous exercise is building proggy musical English landscapes, 'Capitoline Venus' is a more vocally-centered piece, and 'A Room With No Ceiling' is the first of the two very excellent and intriguing instrumentals, concluding what is generally known as part one. 'Proper Jack Froster' and 'Bats in the Belfry' are the two big highlights of part two, with the latter being the other instrumental, a more drum-centered piece, with NDV simply going all technical. The final two tracks are a bit less memorable when compared to the rest but still manage to add something pleasant to the overall feel of the album.

'Welcome to the Planet', despite the tragic events accompanying it, will most certainly go down as one of the strongest and most uplifting releases of Big Big Train, marking an important episode in the band's career, a watershed moment even, if you please, as one could hardy imagine something more unbearable for a rock band than loosing its voice, the man who gives life to the words of the songs, the person who embodies all the different characters one could meet in the band's catalogue, and one of the most recognizable voices in the genre's modern story.

A Crimson Mellotron | 4/5 |

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