Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Big Big Train
Label: English Electric
Released: 2017
Duration: 70:23
Rating: 4/5
The wildly ambitious British prog-rock revivalists Big Big Train have become a byword for hyperproductivity, especially since the band grew into an octet. »The Second Brightest Star« is already their second studio album in the same year, after they put out »Grimspound« in April 2017. The band went for such a feat because they still had plenty of new music left over after recording »Grimspound«. That kind of thing was nothing unusual for progressive rock in the seventies, when King Crimson, Yes and Van Der Graaf Generator, for instance, each released two masterpieces in a single year, while these days it has become a serious rarity. »The Second Brightest Star« is the final part of the folk-romantic trilogy that Big Big Train kicked off with »Folklore« (2016) and continued with »Grimspound«, two thoroughly ‘English’ records that, atmospherically speaking, lead the listener across grassy meadows, through the changing seasons with their various customs from rich English folklore, and all the way up to the stars.
In that sense, »The Second Brightest Star« is the perfect follow-up to »Grimspound«, since the two albums are remarkably similar, which, for now at least, is no bad thing. Just let it not become standard practice. Besides eight new songs, it features two epic suites, »Brooklands Sequence« and »London Plane Sequence«, which are made up of rearranged pieces of songs that appeared on »Folklore« and »Grimspound«. A somewhat unusual move, one that prog fans don’t usually take too kindly to, but Big Big Train expanded and rearranged their ‘old’ songs like »On the Racing Lane«, »Brooklands«, »Turner on the Thames« and »London Plane«, so well, and merged them into two separate epic suites, that the whole thing still comes out plenty interesting. The new pieces are by no means ‘half-baked’ either, and in quality they’re mostly on par with the material from the previous two albums. The title track is a thoroughly characteristic creation of the modern Big Big Train, true masters at combining complexity with melodicism. Besides some ‘old-school’ symphonic prog finesse, Big Big Train occasionally flirt with the Canterbury scene, jazz fusion, folk prog and art rock on it.
»Haymaking« is a short but tasty instrumental, with the playful violin of the band’s only woman, Rachel Hall, up front. She softens the melancholic atmosphere that otherwise rules most of the record a little. On »Skylon«, the biggest wow is the romantic harmonies in the chorus, which are in perfect symbiosis with the symphonic arrangements. The guitar harmonies courtesy of Dave Gregory and Rikard Sjoblom are once again a chapter of their own when it comes to creating a romantic and melancholic mood. The ever-charismatic singer David Longdon, whose voice occasionally recalls a younger Gary Brooker (Procol Harum) and a little bit of Peter Gabriel (ex-Genesis), is the key member who ties it all together into a perfect whole. His vocal mastery is heard at its best on the fragile, piano-driven ballad »The Passing Window«. The ambient beauty of the modern Big Big Train doesn’t let up on »The Leaden Stour« either, where gorgeous symphonic arrangements and ethereal guitar harmonies from both guitar masters reign supreme. The classic opening section is followed by an interesting twist into a colorful instrumental passage with spiky wind arrangements, and a romantic, jazzy ending.
All the incurable romantics will be swooning again. In terms of songwriting and atmosphere, »The Second Brightest Star«, the third chapter of Big Big Train’s folklore trilogy, doesn’t bring anything particularly new compared to its two predecessors, and both epics, the key pieces on the album, are built from rearranged »Folklore« and »Grimspound« compositions. But it’s all played so brilliantly and sung with such fire that you can happily overlook these ‘shortcomings’. »The Second Brightest Star« thus very successfully continues the story of Big Big Train’s transformation from a promising but obscure, quality-wise inconsistent art-rock band into one of the best groups in modern progressive rock. The only two original members, Andy Poole and Greg Spawton, probably never dreamed in a million years that after such relatively modest beginnings Big Big Train would become such important representatives of the modern English prog-rock scene, one that people talk about a lot more these days than they did just a few years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDFrZ5gYK-o
Lineup
David Longdon – lead vocals, backing vocals, flute, melodica, electric and acoustic guitar, banjo, piano, celesta, synthesizer, mandolin, lute, percussion
Dave Gregory – 6- and 12-string electric guitar
Andy Poole – acoustic guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Rikard Sjöblom – guitar, keyboards (1), backing vocals
Danny Manners – keyboards, double bass
Rachel Hall – violin, viola, cello, backing vocals, string arrangements
Greg Spawton – bass guitar, bass pedals, backing vocals
Nick D’Virgilio – drums, percussion, backing vocals
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Dave Desmond – trombone, wind arrangements
John Storey – euphonium
Nick Stones / French horn
Ben Godfrey – trumpet, cornet
Jonathan Truscott – tuba
Lucy Curnow – violin
Keith Hobday – viola
Evie Anderson – cello
Philip Trzebiatowski – cello
Production
Big Big Train
Track list
1. The Second Brightest Star (7:17)
2. Haymaking (3:23)
3. Skylon (6:44)
4. London Stone (2:01)
5. The Passing Widow (5:33)
6. The Leaden Stour (7:19)
7. Terra Australis Incognita (4:16)
– Grimlore :
8. Brooklands Sequence (17:33) :
– On The Racing Line
– Brooklands
9. London Plane Sequence (13:14) :
– Turner On The Thames
– London Plane
10. The Gentlemen’s Reprise (3:03)
