03-03-2024, 07:43
BIG BIG TRAIN ~ The Likes of Us
![[Image: 220px-The_Likes_of_Us_BBT.png]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a9/The_Likes_of_Us_BBT.png/220px-The_Likes_of_Us_BBT.png)
Their first release since the tragic and premature death of David Longdon. Not easy to fill those shoes – Longdon had an ineffable quality and was very much loved and admired by his bandmates. Alberto Brevin stepped up to the role of lead vocalist, amongst other duties. He’s been around the block a few times, playing music since the age of three and has a diploma in singing. He’s a multi-instrumentalist and arranger and has performed with PFM from 2015 (second line – not as frontman) – not a shabby CV!
What is good about this band is that they aim to create albums that work as a whole – that draw you in. And there’s no evidently massive ego – there is a leader, for sure, Greg Spawton, but it’s a cohesive unit. All the parts work together nicely – a well oiled machine. Whether or not you enjoy this brand of English so called ‘prog’, there is no question that they work to a certain standard – they’re serious about what they produce.
There are a few moments that are overly bombastic for my present tastes (which seem to fluctuate! Wildly!) but then those are in fact tempered, so looking at it as objectively as possible, there’s a balance – a good occasional helping of rumpy pumpy with melodic and lyrical at the other end of the scale. Hmmm – I will listen again to get a proper feeling for it all. At the end of the day, from my inexpert perspective, there is not much to fault technically and there is still heart, which is sometimes lost at the expense of super clean production (IMHO). Not that the production is anything less than spot on either, I might say. It was a brave recording as the band are all still hurting, and in a funny way, I expect that awareness probably did them a favour.
In keeping with general motifs appearing lately! ... "Skates On"
Full album playlist - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_HDaizi...6m2I5xCXba
Their first release since the tragic and premature death of David Longdon. Not easy to fill those shoes – Longdon had an ineffable quality and was very much loved and admired by his bandmates. Alberto Brevin stepped up to the role of lead vocalist, amongst other duties. He’s been around the block a few times, playing music since the age of three and has a diploma in singing. He’s a multi-instrumentalist and arranger and has performed with PFM from 2015 (second line – not as frontman) – not a shabby CV!
What is good about this band is that they aim to create albums that work as a whole – that draw you in. And there’s no evidently massive ego – there is a leader, for sure, Greg Spawton, but it’s a cohesive unit. All the parts work together nicely – a well oiled machine. Whether or not you enjoy this brand of English so called ‘prog’, there is no question that they work to a certain standard – they’re serious about what they produce.
There are a few moments that are overly bombastic for my present tastes (which seem to fluctuate! Wildly!) but then those are in fact tempered, so looking at it as objectively as possible, there’s a balance – a good occasional helping of rumpy pumpy with melodic and lyrical at the other end of the scale. Hmmm – I will listen again to get a proper feeling for it all. At the end of the day, from my inexpert perspective, there is not much to fault technically and there is still heart, which is sometimes lost at the expense of super clean production (IMHO). Not that the production is anything less than spot on either, I might say. It was a brave recording as the band are all still hurting, and in a funny way, I expect that awareness probably did them a favour.
In keeping with general motifs appearing lately! ... "Skates On"
Full album playlist - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_HDaizi...6m2I5xCXba
"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us." ~ Bill Watterson