GATHERING SPEED

I became a fan of the Big Big Train sound back when Andy and Greg were running the show, treading water with a revolving door of musicians to collaborate with--before "The Underfall Yard." This is probably the reason that 2007's "The Difference Machine" remains my favorite album of theirs (the new stuff is often a bit too over-the-top bombastic). In "Gathering Speed"--Andy Poole and Greg Spawton's fourth self-produced album--the boys continued their affinity for expressing their admiration for under-recongnized "heroes" of British (and often, more specifically, English) history (mostly of recent history, i.e. the modern Industrial Age). This album is dedicated entirely to the RAF heroes of World War II. The story is well done, the music quite well composed and performed to top notch professional standards by collaborators such as keyboardist Ian Cooper (playing on the last of his four albums with Andy and Greg), drummer Steve Hughes (who also was playing on his last BBT album, played on albums by THE ENID and KINO, but who would go on to release a string of well-regarded prog albums under his own name from 2014 to the present), and singer and multi-instrumentalist SEAN FILKINS, and there is one super-outstanding five star song that has remained on my frequent playlist in "Powder Monkey" but, overall, the music and stories fail to engage the listeners as fully and consistently as their albums to come. Still, as with all BBT albums, I offer high recommendations for any and all fans of modern British history.