Big Big Train v. "The Likes Of Us" OUT NOW; European Tour Sept/Oct 2024!

[HOF]

It was cool that they sneaked in a photo of David with Robert Plant (he sang backing vocals for him during a charity concert several year back if I recall right). Too bad they didn’t get the recent shot of David and Greg with Peter Gabriel in there.

Really was a very touching video and it’s remarkable how well the song itself fits (I believe it was written by Greg for his wife several years ago, but it was appropriate for David too). Definitely choked up a bit watching it the first time. Really a great example of David’s vocal ability too.

[The Letter M]

It was cool that they sneaked in a photo of David with Robert Plant (he sang backing vocals for him during a charity concert several year back if I recall right). Too bad they didn’t get the recent shot of David and Greg with Peter Gabriel in there.

Really was a very touching video and it’s remarkable how well the song itself fits (I believe it was written by Greg for his wife several years ago, but it was appropriate for David too). Definitely choked up a bit watching it the first time. Really a great example of David’s vocal ability too.

I went back and listened to the demo version they released on the first week that The Passengers Club went up and yeah, it's amazing how appropriate the song's lyrics were, despite their original meaning as described by Greg in the Passengers Club post.

-Marc.

[HOF]

New animated video for Proper Jack Froster. Choking back tears again.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR0Q8ldDvEEFfpms79S0wtJQv0_Z3qcqsJFfM0GHAG5Z4qyUJfYlR4GS004&v=Fju33DnyNoQ&feature=youtu.be

The band have also confirmed that the March 2022 UK and summer 2022 US tours have been cancelled, though they have advised people to retain their tickets for the September 2022 UK dates, so that suggests they intend to continue and play those dates somehow.

[The Letter M]

Watched the video for PJF earlier this morning and really enjoyed it! It's a bit of a sad story, as well, but the music is so good that you sort of forget it's about a sad childhood.

Here's what Greg recently posted:

We are sad to announce the cancellation of Big Big Train’s March 2022 UK tour and of the 20 date tour of North America which had been booked for May and June next year and which was shortly to have gone on sale. At present we are simply not able to consider playing any shows.

However, the music and films which Big Big Train and its associates have been working on in recent months form part of David’s and the band’s musical legacy and so we have decided to continue with our scheduled release plans.

Today, we are sharing a beautiful new film for a winter-themed Big Big Train song called Proper Jack Froster. The film was made by Swedish animator Love Andreas Gson Fagerstedt and tells the story of a Midlands childhood. Love has previously worked with BBT on a video for Brew and Burgh and with Rikard Sjöblom on his song They Fade (where Rikard also reflected on his childhood).

Everyday we get closer to WTTP, the small swelling sadness in my heart grows a bit more knowing it'll be the last album with David. It's like we still have this one piece of his work to look forward to but after that, everything is unknown and uncertain for the band.

-Marc.

[RoeDent]

It's just absolutely gut-wrenching that there will be no more of this. David truly was a one-of-a-kind singer who fit this music absolutely perfectly. I feel like they were still on this incredible upward trajectory of recognition after all this time, and now it's been completely cut off and nothing will ever be the same again.

[HOF]

Watched the Proper Jack Froster video several times again last night. Really is a touching video, but the song really comes alive too. Greg is really going for it with his bass tone on this track. He really anchors the song. I know some people are waiting for the album to hear it, but whenever you do you're in for a treat.

[axeman90210]

Is there a particular BBT album I'd be best off starting with? Maybe a live release?

[The Letter M]

Is there a particular BBT album I'd be best off starting with? Maybe a live release?

I would suggest starting with The Underfall Yard, which just recently had a Remix and Remaster version released. It was their first album with David Longdon and Nick D'Virgilio, and stands as one of the band’s best works.

If you want a live album, I'd suggest A Stone's Throw From The Line, which contains some songs from TUY, as well as many songs from their English Electric albums (which were released after TUY).

Or, if you're willing, just start from the beginning and work your way forward, but know that their first five studio albums have a different lineup than the one they're mostly known for and have been known for since 2009, but there's still lots of good music in their first five albums/fifteen years as a band, I just personally think their last 12 years has been their best material.

-Marc.

[HOF]

I agree with starting at The Underfall Yard, which is the start of the David Longdon era and still probably my favorite BBT album. That said, the English Electric albums may be a better singular representation of the band just in terms of the range of material on it (there are two parts, but look for the Full Power version that assembled them as one double album). The run of The Underfall Yard, Far Skies Deep Time, and English Electric is tremendous, so you really can’t go wrong with any of those.

[Fritzinger]

I would also highly suggest starting with The Underfall Yard and moving forward chronically. In my opinion, their earlier albums (with the exception of The Difference Machine) can't hold a candle to their later output. I agree though, English Electric: Full Power may be the album that covers their musical spectrum the most. I specifically said EE: FP, because in my opinion, this is the DEFINITIVE version of this album.

Have fun discovering this amazing band, Axeman, you are about to get to know a TON of beautiful music.

[HOF]

In my opinion, their earlier albums (with the exception of The Difference Machine) can't hold a candle to their later output.

I would not recommending starting with the first four albums either, but I do think very highly of all of them. I actually really like Martin Reed’s voice on the first two albums. English Boy Wonders is one that I would probably rank up there with some of the Longdon era stuff. The “For Autumn” suite of songs is one of the best things Greg Spawton has written. I think Gathering Speed and The Difference Machine are also pretty high level prog. The band was on an upward trajectory even before Longdon joined.

But the band was really just a hobby back then. It wasn’t until Longdon, NDV, and Dave Gregory joined (and Greg Spawton switched from guitar to bass) that the band really had the personnel and capacity to take everything to the next level. It’s one of the things that makes Longdon’s loss so crushing. He was the perfect partner for Greg to achieve his vision for the band. He was the perfect voice for the band, but also brought so much to the table as a multi-instrumentalist and writer.

Have fun discovering this amazing band, Axeman, you are about to get to know a TON of beautiful music.

Absolutely this. There is so much there to discover. Once you’ve made your way through the Longdon material, it’s definitely worth checking out the early stuff as well.

[Kram]

Is there a particular BBT album I'd be best off starting with? Maybe a live release?

I can also recommend starting with The Underfall Yard.  I recently started my discovery of BBT a couple of month ago, and thanks to recommendations here, I started with The Underfall Yard as well.  I have since gotten Far Skies Deep Time (thanks Letter M for the recommendation) and now English Electric Full Power.  All I can say is you're in for a treat!  They have quickly become one of my favorite bands based on these three works alone!  The loss of David Logdon is just absolutely crushing for everyone.  I still have a lot of his work with the band to discover though, so I'm taking them slow and enjoying each release to it's fullest.  Incredible stuff!  Enjoy the journey

[The Letter M]

Is there a particular BBT album I'd be best off starting with? Maybe a live release?

I can also recommend starting with The Underfall Yard.  I recently started my discovery of BBT a couple of month ago, and thanks to recommendations here, I started with The Underfall Yard as well.  I have since gotten Far Skies Deep Time (thanks Letter M for the recommendation) and now English Electric Full Power.  All I can say is you're in for a treat!  They have quickly become one of my favorite bands based on these three works alone!  The loss of David Logdon is just absolutely crushing for everyone.  I still have a lot of his work with the band to discover though, so I'm taking them slow and enjoying each release to it's fullest.  Incredible stuff!  Enjoy the journey

Happy to help! Anything to spread the good word of BBT to music fans!

For new fans, TUY just had a remaster and remix, which is probably the best way to get the album. Then there is the 2016 Remaster of English Electric: Full Power that has greater dynamic range than the original release (which already sounded pretty great to begin with). Far Skies Deep Time likewise had a re-release in 2017 that features all six songs that two versions of the EP had, now making for a complete experience (though I personally move "Master Of Time" to the front of the album because "The Wide Open Sea" is a much better album closer).

Bard is set for a new release sometime next year, thankfully, being the last Pre-Longdon album to not get a re-issue in the last 15 years. Their other four Pre-Longdon albums have all had remasters/remixes/re-issues, some with expanded tracklists/bonus tracks as well, though I'm not sure how hard it is to get some of those physically, but they're all available digitally on their Bandcamp page. If you are a digital-only listening/buyer of music, that's probably the best place to get everything that's currently available for download.

-Marc.

[RoeDent]

I'll believe it when I see it re. Bard. The band absolutely hate it, apparently.

Done a discog run over recent months and the early albums are *very* 90s neo-prog.

[Nel]

I'll believe it when I see it re. Bard. The band absolutely hate it, apparently.

Yeah, Bard's the only one I don't have specifically *because* it wasn't one of the reissues. 

[The Letter M]

The band have released "Bats In The Belfry" which will be the last single before the release of Welcome To The Planet.

https://youtu.be/qE78_5_1AoQ

BATS IN THE BELFRY

Bats In The Belfry is the final single we will be making available in advance of the Welcome To The Planet album which will be released on 28th January 2022.

Bats In The Belfry was composed by BBT drummer, Nick D'Virgilio.

Nick: 'Big Big Train has many songs where the drum parts are challenging and we have a few instrumentals now, but I wanted to write something to really give me the room to stretch out on the drums. I wanted the song to be fast but groovy. I've also enjoyed writing more specific parts for our brass ensemble. The song started with the bass line and grew from there. Next came the main melody in the opening section. From there I was off to the races. I was able to add fast "drum-n-bass" style drum solos over the top of some nice counterpoint brass lines, a rocking middle part, and an end section where I changed the beat around just for fun. One thing I have to say is that no matter what I throw at this band they can handle it and then some. The first time I heard Rikard's "surf" sounding guitar on the fast middle section I burst out laughing with musical joy! ‘

https://open.spotify.com/track/6hrDS83dQDpCnog5GVakPj?si=a628df3528a945e3

Six songs have been released by the band, five as singles and one as part of a tribute video to David Longdon a few weeks ago ("Capitoline Venus"), totaling roughly 29 minutes of the forthcoming album (17:17 from Part 1, and 11:32 from Part 2).

Now I've got to wonder how long the remaining three songs will be as I hope there's still at least 20 minutes of unheard music left to discover in "A Room With No Ceiling", "Oak And Stone", and the closing title track!

-Marc.

[HOF]

The band have released "Bats In The Belfry" which will be the last single before the release of Welcome To The Planet.

https://youtu.be/qE78_5_1AoQ

BATS IN THE BELFRY

Bats In The Belfry is the final single we will be making available in advance of the Welcome To The Planet album which will be released on 28th January 2022.

Bats In The Belfry was composed by BBT drummer, Nick D'Virgilio.

Nick: 'Big Big Train has many songs where the drum parts are challenging and we have a few instrumentals now, but I wanted to write something to really give me the room to stretch out on the drums. I wanted the song to be fast but groovy. I've also enjoyed writing more specific parts for our brass ensemble. The song started with the bass line and grew from there. Next came the main melody in the opening section. From there I was off to the races. I was able to add fast "drum-n-bass" style drum solos over the top of some nice counterpoint brass lines, a rocking middle part, and an end section where I changed the beat around just for fun. One thing I have to say is that no matter what I throw at this band they can handle it and then some. The first time I heard Rikard's "surf" sounding guitar on the fast middle section I burst out laughing with musical joy! ‘

https://open.spotify.com/track/6hrDS83dQDpCnog5GVakPj?si=a628df3528a945e3

Six songs have been released by the band, five as singles and one as part of a tribute video to David Longdon a few weeks ago ("Capitoline Venus"), totaling roughly 29 minutes of the forthcoming album (17:17 from Part 1, and 11:32 from Part 2).

Now I've got to wonder how long the remaining three songs will be as I hope there's still at least 20 minutes of unheard music left to discover in "A Room With No Ceiling", "Oak And Stone", and the closing title track!

-Marc.

Awesome! Only listened to part of this to try and save it for the release. Amazing that it’s just a month away.

[Kram]

The band have released "Bats In The Belfry" which will be the last single before the release of Welcome To The Planet.

https://youtu.be/qE78_5_1AoQ

BATS IN THE BELFRY

Bats In The Belfry is the final single we will be making available in advance of the Welcome To The Planet album which will be released on 28th January 2022.

Bats In The Belfry was composed by BBT drummer, Nick D'Virgilio.

Nick: 'Big Big Train has many songs where the drum parts are challenging and we have a few instrumentals now, but I wanted to write something to really give me the room to stretch out on the drums. I wanted the song to be fast but groovy. I've also enjoyed writing more specific parts for our brass ensemble. The song started with the bass line and grew from there. Next came the main melody in the opening section. From there I was off to the races. I was able to add fast "drum-n-bass" style drum solos over the top of some nice counterpoint brass lines, a rocking middle part, and an end section where I changed the beat around just for fun. One thing I have to say is that no matter what I throw at this band they can handle it and then some. The first time I heard Rikard's "surf" sounding guitar on the fast middle section I burst out laughing with musical joy! ‘

https://open.spotify.com/track/6hrDS83dQDpCnog5GVakPj?si=a628df3528a945e3

Six songs have been released by the band, five as singles and one as part of a tribute video to David Longdon a few weeks ago ("Capitoline Venus"), totaling roughly 29 minutes of the forthcoming album (17:17 from Part 1, and 11:32 from Part 2).

Now I've got to wonder how long the remaining three songs will be as I hope there's still at least 20 minutes of unheard music left to discover in "A Room With No Ceiling", "Oak And Stone", and the closing title track!

-Marc.

Love it.  Awesome drumming by Nick.  Everything I hear from BBT I just absolutely love!!

[HOF]

I just rewatched Empire this morning for the first time since Davis passed. Just a tremendous performance, and definitely one of the best sounding live concerts I’ve ever heard. Picture quality is also tremendous. It’s a must-own for BBT fans and anyone else who enjoys live music really.

[The Letter M]

I just rewatched Empire this morning for the first time since Davis passed. Just a tremendous performance, and definitely one of the best sounding live concerts I’ve ever heard. Picture quality is also tremendous. It’s a must-own for BBT fans and anyone else who enjoys live music really.

It is bittersweet that Empire exists as the last concert to feature David, as well as Rachel Hall and Dave Gregory. I'm really glad we've got that piece of musical history to hold on to now, especially as the future seems so uncertain for the band, particularity with regards to live performances. If they decide to continue as a band, as BBT, and get a new lead vocalist, it could be awhile before they decide to tour again.

Also, the new album comes out in four weeks, and while I've already heard over half of it because of the four (technically five) singles that have been released, I am still excited for the whole album.

-Marc.

[HOF]

I just rewatched Empire this morning for the first time since Davis passed. Just a tremendous performance, and definitely one of the best sounding live concerts I’ve ever heard. Picture quality is also tremendous. It’s a must-own for BBT fans and anyone else who enjoys live music really.

It is bittersweet that Empire exists as the last concert to feature David, as well as Rachel Hall and Dave Gregory. I'm really glad we've got that piece of musical history to hold on to now, especially as the future seems so uncertain for the band, particularity with regards to live performances. If they decide to continue as a band, as BBT, and get a new lead vocalist, it could be awhile before they decide to tour again.

Also, the new album comes out in four weeks, and while I've already heard over half of it because of the four (technically five) singles that have been released, I am still excited for the whole album.

-Marc.

I find myself anticipating the new album despite having heard most of it. Knowing it will be the last with Longdon (assuming they don’t have enough leftover material for another release) probably adds to it. It will be bittersweet, but in some ways it helps that there is more material yet to come.

Greg’s recent comments on Facebook do not seem at all certain about the future of the band. I’m hoping at the most they will take an extended absence to regroup before moving forward in some way, but I could also see them discontinuing BBT and perhaps moving on with a different band name and direction. But it would probably be better not to discard the name and history. I’m confident Greg and the others have plenty more music to make whenever they feel they are ready to. But I’m also sure it will be hard to replicate exactly what they had with David. It might be easier to start off in a whole new direction somehow.

[The Letter M]

I just rewatched Empire this morning for the first time since Davis passed. Just a tremendous performance, and definitely one of the best sounding live concerts I’ve ever heard. Picture quality is also tremendous. It’s a must-own for BBT fans and anyone else who enjoys live music really.

It is bittersweet that Empire exists as the last concert to feature David, as well as Rachel Hall and Dave Gregory. I'm really glad we've got that piece of musical history to hold on to now, especially as the future seems so uncertain for the band, particularity with regards to live performances. If they decide to continue as a band, as BBT, and get a new lead vocalist, it could be awhile before they decide to tour again.

Also, the new album comes out in four weeks, and while I've already heard over half of it because of the four (technically five) singles that have been released, I am still excited for the whole album.

-Marc.

I find myself anticipating the new album despite having heard most of it. Knowing it will be the last with Longdon (assuming they don’t have enough leftover material for another release) probably adds to it. It will be bittersweet, but in some ways it helps that there is more material yet to come.

Greg’s recent comments on Facebook do not seem at all certain about the future of the band. I’m hoping at the most they will take an extended absence to regroup before moving forward in some way, but I could also see them discontinuing BBT and perhaps moving on with a different band name and direction. But it would probably be better not to discard the name and history. I’m confident Greg and the others have plenty more music to make whenever they feel they are ready to. But I’m also sure it will be hard to replicate exactly what they had with David. It might be easier to start off in a whole new direction somehow.

Even though the band have had a celebrated (mostly unchanged) popular line-up for the last 12+ years, they've had line-up changes before, though replacing a lead vocalist/frontman is *never* easy, but I think if Greg still has more to say and write about, he'll continue on with the band. It's been quite fortuitous that the band have slowly gotten into letting multiple vocalists take lead in their songs, starting with Nick, and on Common Ground, giving lead spots to Rikard and the other new members. I think their first album without David will continue that by allowing Rikard, Nick, and the others to have more lead-vocal moments, if not whole songs. It could be the way going forward, whether or not that get a new primary vocalist. I do hope, whoever they get, that they find someone who can also play flute, just to help cover David's parts on the songs from the last 9 albums where David played flute. If not, a multi-instrumentalist could be good regardless of what instrument they play.

-Marc.

[Kram]

I haven't updated my BBT discovery, as after David's death, it just didn't seem right and I couldn't really bring myself to say much.  I still don't have a lot to say, but wanted to update you guys.  I now have The Underfall Yard, Far Skies Deep Time and English Electric Full Power.  They have become one of my favorite bands of all time (and current most listened to by far) based on these 3 works alone.  Absolutely incredible stuff.  English Electric is probably my favorite (TUY is close).  There's really not a bad song on any of these three albums.  The crescendo, towards the latter half of East Coast Racer, is maybe the greatest piece of music I have ever heard!!  Talk about epic.  WOW!!  I guess my next step is to pick up Folklore and continue the journey chronologically.  I am tempted to get the new album later this month though - but might just wait and take my time with this discovery.

[soupytwist]

Dunno if it's just me but I feel their last two album (Tour and Common) have been lacking that spark found on Underfail to The Folklore trilogy of albums.  Far from bad albums, but I do find them a little bland in comparison.

[The Letter M]

Dunno if it's just me but I feel their last two album (Tour and Common) have been lacking that spark found on Underfail to The Folklore trilogy of albums.  Far from bad albums, but I do find them a little bland in comparison.

I'm a bit of the opposite, I've found Grand Tour and Common Ground to be quite refreshing and uplifting after some of the heavier themes from Folklore/Grimspound/TSBS trilogy, which I kind of overplayed after awhile, and a lot of TSBS feels like leftovers they decided to release because they could, as they're all very slow, mellow songs that make the album feel very depressing for me. It's an amazing trio of albums, don't get me wrong, but I feel like they knew they were hitting a wall musically and lyrically because they went into Grand Tour to explicitly distance themselves from the English pastoral themes and history. I think I like the variety of the last two albums (and so far of WTTP) makes them a bit more exciting than the previous trio of albums, but only time will tell.

I haven't updated my BBT discovery, as after David's death, it just didn't seem right and I couldn't really bring myself to say much.  I still don't have a lot to say, but wanted to update you guys.  I now have The Underfall Yard, Far Skies Deep Time and English Electric Full Power.  They have become one of my favorite bands of all time (and current most listened to by far) based on these 3 works alone.  Absolutely incredible stuff.  English Electric is probably my favorite (TUY is close).  There's really not a bad song on any of these three albums.  The crescendo, towards the latter half of East Coast Racer, is maybe the greatest piece of music I have ever heard!!  Talk about epic.  WOW!!  I guess my next step is to pick up Folklore and continue the journey chronologically.  I am tempted to get the new album later this month though - but might just wait and take my time with this discovery.

I would definitely continue chronologically if you can. Folklore is a fabulous album (despite what I may have said above). Don't forget to also check out the "Merry Christmas/Snowfalls" single they released during that period! I would say try to get Folklore, Grimspound, and The Second Brightest Star all at once as the latter contains expanded tracks from the previous two albums.

-Marc.

[HOF]

Dunno if it's just me but I feel their last two album (Tour and Common) have been lacking that spark found on Underfail to The Folklore trilogy of albums.  Far from bad albums, but I do find them a little bland in comparison.

I don't think you're alone really. I was a bit less enthused by Grand Tour at the time it came out (though revisiting it recently, I think it is really strong in places). I kind of think at that point the band needed something to shake it up a bit, and while I didn't want to see anyone leave, I think pairing down to the core four members helped them do that. Common Ground seemed like a real rejuvenation to me. It sounded fresh, and I liked some of the more pop elements, but it still had lots of proggy goodness as well.

[Pettor]

Damn, I haven't seen the news of David's passing until now. How tragic 😥 Really can't think about this right now, his family must be devistated through all of this. Somehow also reminded me of Mike Baker's (Shadow Gallery) tragic passing for some reason. David will be sorely missed 😔

[Orbert]

I only first learned about Big Big Train sometime last year, but I checked out some videos of them and thought they were pretty cool, so I put Empire on my Christmas List.  I love live concert videos.

It's amazing, easily my favorite gift!  (To be fair, the competition included new slippers and some shirts.)

I heard about David's passing right before Christmas, and read that Rachel, Danny, and Dave had all left the band prior to that (but after the recording of Empire, which was in 2019).  So it's like I discovered this amazing band just as it "ended", or at least will be going through some major changes.  Empire will be the document of the final form of this band.

I also had English Electric Full Power on my list, but it's only available as a download, and my wife didn't want to deal with that.  But I'll be working through the back catalog.

[HOF]

I only first learned about Big Big Train sometime last year, but I checked out some videos of them and thought they were pretty cool, so I put Empire on my Christmas List.  I love live concert videos.

It's amazing, easily my favorite gift!  (To be fair, the competition included new slippers and some shirts.)

I heard about David's passing right before Christmas, and read that Rachel, Danny, and Dave had all left the band prior to that (but after the recording of Empire, which was in 2019).  So it's like I discovered this amazing band just as it "ended", or at least will be going through some major changes.  Empire will be the document of the final form of this band.

I also had English Electric Full Power on my list, but it's only available as a download, and my wife didn't want to deal with that.  But I'll be working through the back catalog.

Awesome! I think you’re gonna love them.

[The Letter M]

The band have published the first of two videos discussing the tracks on their upcoming album.
https://youtu.be/lcnQw8zWpHE

I only first learned about Big Big Train sometime last year, but I checked out some videos of them and thought they were pretty cool, so I put Empire on my Christmas List.  I love live concert videos.

It's amazing, easily my favorite gift!  (To be fair, the competition included new slippers and some shirts.)

I heard about David's passing right before Christmas, and read that Rachel, Danny, and Dave had all left the band prior to that (but after the recording of Empire, which was in 2019).  So it's like I discovered this amazing band just as it "ended", or at least will be going through some major changes.  Empire will be the document of the final form of this band.

I also had English Electric Full Power on my list, but it's only available as a download, and my wife didn't want to deal with that.  But I'll be working through the back catalog.

Yeah, it was a bit of a gut-punch that Dave was leaving, it was another big punch when Rachel and Danny decided to leave, but looking back on it, I think their departure kind of gave the band the big push to fully reinvent themselves and refocus on their musical and lyrical directions. Common Ground, while sounding similar in places, is a bit of a stylistic departure from their previous albums, but Grand Tour was already steering the band into that direction by moving away from the kinds of themes they had already explored in the English Electric albums, and the Folklore/Grimspound/TSBS era of BBT.

I'm happy to hear that you've begun your exploration of BBT. There's a lot to take in, especially in the Longdon-Era from 2009 to now, where the majority of their work sits. Prior to his joining, there were only 5 studio albums and a couple of demo albums before their debut. Since David joined, we've gotten 8 (soon to be 9) studio albums, several EPs and singles, a compilation, and a few live CDs/BDs from their shows over the last 6 years. The band really bloomed over the last decade, so I hope they continue forward with the momentum they've built up.

Also, if you liked Empire, definitely check out their other live shows. There's a digital-download of their King's Place shows from 2015 on their Vimeo account, and their 2017 concert is available as Reflectors Of Light on BD (and Merchants Of Light on CD). Last fall, I binged through all of the BD material they had released (including the live-in-studio Stone And Steel video, which shows the band playing songs at Real World Studios in 2014 as a way to test out whether or not the band could actually be a live band and put on a concert).

-Marc.

[Kram]

I only first learned about Big Big Train sometime last year, but I checked out some videos of them and thought they were pretty cool, so I put Empire on my Christmas List.  I love live concert videos.

It's amazing, easily my favorite gift!  (To be fair, the competition included new slippers and some shirts.)

I heard about David's passing right before Christmas, and read that Rachel, Danny, and Dave had all left the band prior to that (but after the recording of Empire, which was in 2019).  So it's like I discovered this amazing band just as it "ended", or at least will be going through some major changes.  Empire will be the document of the final form of this band.

I also had English Electric Full Power on my list, but it's only available as a download, and my wife didn't want to deal with that.  But I'll be working through the back catalog.

You're going to love them.  I just started my BBT journey last summer, and they've quickly become one of my favorite bands.  Definitely pickup English Electric Full Power.  It has some of the best music I've ever heard on it.  The Underfall Yard is also a must get.  Awesome stuff!  Enjoy.

[Kram]

I picked up English Electric Full Power a month or two ago and it's become one of me all-time favorites.  I assumed the first half was part one and the second half part two.  But I was just looking around on their Bandcamp site, and it appears that's not the case.  It looks like they just mixed the two albums together and created a completely different running order.  I find it interesting that they did that.

[HOF]

I picked up English Electric Full Power a month or two ago and it's become one of me all-time favorites.  I assumed the first half was part one and the second half part two.  But I was just looking around on their Bandcamp site, and it appears that's not the case.  It looks like they just mixed the two albums together and created a completely different running order.  I find it interesting that they did that.

I believe the reason for the new running order was partly because they wanted it to flow more as one piece rather than two complete individual pieces put together, but also (maybe more) because they added three new tracks to give people some incentive to buy the Full Power release (they also released those tracks on the Make Some Noise EP so people didn’t have to buy the two disc set to get all of the new songs).

[Kram]

I picked up English Electric Full Power a month or two ago and it's become one of me all-time favorites.  I assumed the first half was part one and the second half part two.  But I was just looking around on their Bandcamp site, and it appears that's not the case.  It looks like they just mixed the two albums together and created a completely different running order.  I find it interesting that they did that.

I believe the reason for the new running order was partly because they wanted it to flow more as one piece rather than two complete individual pieces put together, but also (maybe more) because they added three new tracks to give people some incentive to buy the Full Power release (they also released those tracks on the Make Some Noise EP so people didn’t have to buy the two disc set to get all of the new songs).

I knew about the additional songs but had no idea which ones they were, and when I looked to see which were the bonus songs, that's when I noticed the new running order.  They did a great job IMO.  It plays like one real long epic - incredible stuff!

[The Letter M]

I believe the reason for the new running order was partly because they wanted it to flow more as one piece rather than two complete individual pieces put together, but also (maybe more) because they added three new tracks to give people some incentive to buy the Full Power release (they also released those tracks on the Make Some Noise EP so people didn’t have to buy the two disc set to get all of the new songs).

I believe it was four new songs from the EP:
Make Some Noise
Seen Better Days
Edgelands
The Lovers

The EP also included two new edits - "Keeper Of Abbeys (Branch Line Edition)" and "Curator Of Butterflies (Branch Line Edition)", only available on the EP.

I picked up English Electric Full Power a month or two ago and it's become one of me all-time favorites.  I assumed the first half was part one and the second half part two.  But I was just looking around on their Bandcamp site, and it appears that's not the case.  It looks like they just mixed the two albums together and created a completely different running order.  I find it interesting that they did that.

Did you get the 2016 remaster? I got the original 2013 limited edition digibook (which comes with a THICK 96-page booklet inside the case, making it one of the thickest digibook albums I own), but last year I acquired the 2016 remaster digitally and the dynamic range was definitely improved. That isn't to say the original 2013 version is a brick-walled mess, but the remaster brings the songs closer in line with their post-EE albums in terms of DR.

As for the running order, once EEFP was released, I all but abandoned listening to the individual EE albums and stuck with the Full Power version. It's just nice to have all 19 songs in one go, and with the new order and segues, it just flows to perfectly from start to finish. Making "East Coast Racer" the penultimate track was a brilliant move, and I like how they kept "Hedgerow" and "Curator Of Butterflies" as the closing tracks of each half. The album is incredibly well-balanced and is probably one of my top 10 albums of all time.

In other BBT news, reviews for WTTP have been coming in, and for the couple that I've read, it seems that reviewers have really enjoyed the album although something about the closing title-track seems a bit off for some. We're just 12 days from release, so I'm avoiding reading too many more reviews so I can at least appreciate the last three unheard songs with some fresh ears. I've actually not really listened to any BBT so far this year in an effort to dive back into them when WTTP comes out, despite having already heard 6 of the album's 9 songs.

-Marc.