Independent Album of the Year...The Underfall Yard

Jason Warburg, editor of The Daily Vault (one of the oldest and most well-stablished review sites on the web) has just announced that The Underfall Yard is his independent album of the year.

Jason's eloquent review of The Underfall Yard is here .

Another great review can be found on the progressive world web page.
"To my ears, Big Big Train has released something that challenges my favourite release (Astra's The Weirding) for prog album of the year."

Stocks have been running low of the Gathering Speed and The Difference Machine CD's and rather than re-order a fresh supply of the existing jewel-case CD's, we've decided to give them a makeover.

Gathering Speed will shortly be re-issued as a digipack with an 8 page poster booklet featuring previously unseen artwork and including, for the first time, the lyrics. The album has also been remastered by Rob Aubrey. The Difference Machine will be re-issued in January as a digipack, again with previously unreleased artwork.

The Difference Machine re-issue will also feature an additional track called Hope You Made It*. This song was part of the concept for the album and was recorded during The Difference Machine sessions. However, its inclusion took the album to around the 60 minute mark and we were looking for a tighter track-listing so decided to leave it off the original album.

Finally, we were looking to re-issue a re-mastered version of our first album, Goodbye to the Age of Steam, as an iTunes-only release in 2010. However, Rob Aubrey has kindly agreed to completely re-mix the original album from the master tapes so the re-issue will be of the highest possible quality. I'm not sure yet whether we'll do a limited pressing of Age of Steam or just go with the download-only version; we'll have a think about that in the next few weeks.

Anyway, the smell of mulled-wine is luring us to the kitchen, so we would just like to take this opportunity to wish all of the readers of this blog a very Merry Christmas and to thank you for your support.

Andy, David and Greg  

* If anyone has the original version of the album and is keen to have the unreleased track without having to buy the CD again, please e-mail us at bigbigtrain@hotmail.co.uk and, when the album is re-issued, I will send you a link to a free downloadable version of the song in CD quality.

USA Progressive Music Poll

We've been nominated for the top prog album of the year on USA Progressive Music, so if anyone wants to vote for us (or, indeed, any of the other albums on the list) please check the shortlist out. I doubt we'll get very far because the album has been released so late in the year and therefore will have had less reach than the others, but it would be good to pick up a few votes.

David Longdon is the new vocalist on Big Big Train's album, "The Underfall yard" and is currently working on a follow up to his first solo album.



WILD RIVER (David's first solo album) was recorded during a period of change (from one century to another), "My old life was changing into an exciting/terrifying period in which I wondered what my new life would be like. The title track is about the death of my father. The album is about the passing of time, love, death and the inevitable impermanence of everything. It is not a Prog album but it has elements of progressive rock within it. It's an eclectic mix and I had an interesting journey making it".




The Wild River (2004) featured many musicians collectively known as The Magic Club. The CD contains guitar playing and Mellotron work of XTC’s Dave Gregory.  The CD will soon be available from bigbigtrain.com

As an introduction we will be featuring a new song from the album each week, with some background provided by David - first up is the opening track ALWAYS.

Always

David Longdon

Some songs are about destinations, places and people.

My parents had me in the mid nineteen-sixties when they were in their mid thirties. By the time I was thirty years old, many of my family members had died of old age. A world I knew had slowly gone. I still have memories of course and I have photographs in shoe boxes showing my ancestors in the various significant stages of their lives, weddings, christenings, anniversaries, family holidays and so on. Some things aren’t meant to last.

This song is about Janie. She is at The Tidal House, the coastal home of her parents. Her mother died several years ago and she is looking through the personal effects of her recently deceased father. The crying of seagulls and the relentless crashing of waves is the soundtrack to this scene.

If you live with something long enough, it becomes your life.

The tidal house is full of memories but it now feels empty. Her father’s belongings are lifeless without his presence to give them purpose and bring them to life. Although her father is gone she catches occasional glimpses of him in certain expressions played out on the faces of her sons and also in her own as she grows older. Happy and a little sad. She will always be a part of The Tidal House and it will always be part of her.

I intended to originally title the song Tidal House but went with Always because of the refrain in the chorus. Andy’s drums were recorded at our rehearsal room in Jean’s Trent Rifle Lodge. I remember the tropical island mural on the wall, the power station lights in the distance and the maniac caw of the parrots. Don’t ask!

Always works well performed live as a solo piece on acoustic guitar. Audiences sing along in unison with the chorus and it sounds to me like collective acceptance of the inevitable impermanence of life.

‘It’s time to put away the past,

because some things aren’t meant to last.’

Can't wait to hear more? Check out David's myspace page

The Underfall Yard Podcast

I am very pleased to announce that David 'Wilf' Elliott's latest radio show in The European Perspective series is devoted entirely to Big Big Train and The Underfall Yard.

David Elliott has kindly made available a permanent link to the show here.

The European Perspective is an unmissable progressive rock show which is broadcast every week on The Dividing Line website. The show can be streamed or downloaded from The Dividing Line (the last four episodes are hosted on the site so The Underfall Yard episode will be online there for the next month.)


Duration: 282:48 minutes  - Filetype: mp3 - Bitrate: 160 KBPS - Frequency: 44100 HZ

'This week the European Perspective is given over entirely to a celebration of this uniquely English band. Starting with a look at some of the music from the albums that the band themselves say "made Big Big Train", we then talk to Greg and Andy about the evolution and future for Big Big Train, and then to David Longdon, their new vocalist. Finally The Underfall Yard gets an airing, in its entirety, with a commentary from Messrs. Spawton and Poole.

Part 1. A section of 10 songs from albums which have most influenced BBT:

◦Genesis - Dancing with The Moonlit Knight from Selling England By The Pound, 1973

◦Prefab Sprout - Jordan: The Comeback from Jordan: The Comeback, 1998

◦Premiata Forneria Marconi - Appena Un Po' from Per Un Amico, 1972

◦XTC - The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead from Nonsuch, 1992

◦Mew - Am I Wry? No from Frengers, 2003

◦Sigur Ros - Hoppipolla from Takk..., 2005

◦Anthony Phillips - The Geese And The Ghost fromThe Geese And The Ghost, 1977

◦Van Der Graaf Generator - Scorched Earth from Godbluff, 1975

◦Elbow - The Bones Of You from The Seldom Seen Kid, 2008

◦Steve Hackett - Jacuzzi from Defector, 1980

Part 2. An interview with Greg Spawton and Andy Poole about the history of the band featuring some of thier older tunes:

◦Wind Distorted Pioneers from Goodbye To The Age Of Steam, 1994

◦The Shipping Forecast from English Boy Wonders (Remastered), 2008 (originally released 1997)

◦For Winter from Bard, 2002

◦High Tide, Last Stand from Gathering Speed, 2004

◦Summer's Lease from The Difference Machine, 2007

Part 3. An interview with David Longdon about his background in music, including his solo career, his time in the Genesis machine, working with Martin Orford and joining Big Big Train. Some songs from David's solo album Wild River and from The Old Road are featured during the interview.

◦David Longdon - About Time from Wild River, 2004

◦Martin Orford - Ray Of Hope from The Old Road, 2008

◦David Longdon - In Essence from Wild River, 2004

◦David Longdon - Wild River from Wild River, 2004

◦Martin Orford - Endgame from The Old Road, 2008

◦David Longdon - This House from Wild River, 2004

◦David Longdon - On To The Headland from Wild River, 2004

Part 4. The Underfall Yard is played in full with commentary from Greg Spawton and Andy Poole:

◦Hope This Finds You (from The Difference Machine)

◦Evening Star
◦Master James of St. George
◦Victorian Brickwork
◦Last Train
◦Winchester Diver
◦The Underfall Yard'

Hope you enjoy it, Greg.

New interview online

There are quite a few interviews and articles due to be published about Big Big Train in the next few weeks (plus an in-depth podcast on the band - more news on this later.)

Read what greg had to say in one of the first of the interviews - online now on the Caerllysi music site (Caerllysi are specialist dealers in progressive music.)






First reviews

The first reviews have been very good.

Posted at prognosis: "Time will tell if The Underfall Yard remains in my unofficial top 10 albums of all time list. For now, I can't help myself thinking of the best songs on A Trick of the Tail ("Entangled","Mad Man Moon"...) when I listen to this CD. Certainly my best album of 2009, and there has been many good ones (Porcupine Tree, Steve Hackett, IQ...). My highest recommendation indeed."

The Daily Vault had this to say: "With The Difference Machine and now the Underfall Yard, Big Big Train has firmly established itself as one of the most impressive and affecting progressive rock acts working today."

5 Star Review posted on prog archives..."And the title track is 22 minutes of modern. prog. perfection and without a doubt the best progressive rock epic to come out this year. It's certainly leagues more interesting than Porcupine Tree's 'The Incident' and more dynamic than the ever-praised Transatlantic's 'The Whirlwind'. "

Special Price

All outstanding pre-orders have been despatched.  The Underfall Yard will be released on 15th December. That means there is just one week to go to buy the album at the introductory price of just £8 (which includes worldwide shipping.) Pre-orders will ship to arrive on or just before the release date.

From the 15th December, the price will increase, although we'll try to keep the price as low as we can as we know that money is tight at the moment.

Our secure online shop can be found at our homepage here. The title track on The Underfall Yard is still available as a full free download - 23 minutes of epic prog but only for a limited time.

The next three tracks appeared on the original and now deleted Goodbye To the Age of Steam album as one continuous piece.

Track 7: Expecting Snow was a brief interlude between the two longest pieces on the album. This was the last thing written for Age of Steam, demo'd in one evening just before the band went into the studio. It was inspired by an Alan Garner novel, the Stone Book Quartet.

Get the download here

..

Lyrics:

6. Blow the House Down

Came a shadow, fast behind him,
forty years had gone by
in the twinkling of an eye
there was nothing more
than dust and fire.
Like the past had come to greet us
many thousands of miles away.
And the hardest thing of all
is to face up to just where we lie
right here and now.

Here’s a reckoning
a fallen star blown into millions of little pieces.
Maybe you and I
with our backs against the wall.
You and I just dying in this strange place
get to blow the whole house down
tear it to the ground
turn it all around.
She’s crowned with the dead and gone.

Cold light upon the water
trapped in flickering gleamings.
Commanding the heights of technology
as darkness falls over the harbour.

Here’s a reckoning of where we are,
did you ever feel elated baby?
Here’s a summary, a fallen star
blown into millions of little pieces.

To hold you in my arms.
And fill all the wasted hours.
In my dreams there’s no time
but time with you always.

Always at her side.
Always at her dark side….

..

watch more video on bigbigtrain on youtube

Watch out for the final tracks in the next few weeks - enjoy.

To avoid the song being capped by myspace we have loaded the title track from the new album in two parts.  Part 1 is about 10 minutes long and part 2 around 12 minutes. We split the track using a very crude fade out and fade in at the 10 minute mark (right through one of David's flute solos).  The original is one continuous piece of music.

Remember you can still download the track free here

The song The Underfall Yard features:

Nick D'Virgilio Drums

Dave Desmond Trombone

Francis Dunnery Guitar solo, guitar

Rich Evans Cornet

Jon Foyle Cello

Jem Godfrey Synthesizer solos

Dave Gregory Guitar solos, guitars, electric sitar

David Longdon Vocals, flute, glockenspiel

Andy Poole Bass, keyboards

Greg Spawton Guitars, keyboards, bass

Nick Stones French horn

Jon Truscott Tuba

To answer some of the specific questions Francis Dunnery's main parts are at 4.37 to 6.25, Jem Godfrey's at 6.26 to 7.20 and 19.18 to 20.10, and Dave Gregory's at 13.10 to 14.45 and 21.10 to 22.15. Dave Gregory also plays electric sitar in a number of places in the song.   You'll have to download the full track to make sense of the timings.

Song illustration and lyric sheet from CD booklet shown below:







Check out the Underfall photo album to see the other pages from the CD booklet.

Next up is:

Landfall - slightly off the lyrical theme and more of a political song.

Revernation link

Track 4. Landfall

“People don’t understand,”
that is what you say to yourselves
as you nibble away
at our rights, our freedoms,
spending far too long in the dark
all alone
with your mandate for power,
for ruling, such as it is.
It’s enough for ruin.

All we have is unreal.
Nothing so unwritten is safe
insecurity and power
is a force to be feared.
Seems it’s an impossible thing
to be open
and cover your backs
from those who put you there
in the place that is your home.

To scorn our deepest fears
and take it on themselves
to take it all and do it in our names.
This land is so afraid.
For in the fading light
this land, in time may fall.

Plant some reality here.
here into the front of my home
if they take you apart
have to fight for yourselves.
Funny how it’s always the same
it don’t matter who’s holding
the key to the garden.
The limit of my understanding is reached.

Ten years on from the day they broke down the line,
red man Arthur was proved right all along.

Loose your big train of thought
take it to a wall with some writing:
“question authority”
and then it says “why?”
What we have to say to ourselves
as we marvel at all of the facts
and the figures at the fingertips
of the men in power.