Ingenious Devices

Product Information

Band History – Going independent (1995–2002)". bigbigtrain.com. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014 . Retrieved 16 April 2016. Sometimes it can be hard to imagine that songs this good can be improved, but as the band has grown, their access to additional resources makes subtle improvements possible. The biggest difference is the inclusion of a 17-piece string section instead of the original string quartet used on East Coast Racer and Brooklands. These new sections were recorded at Abbey Road in 2018 when the strings were recorded for Grand Tour. Thus, the band has had Ingenious Devices in the works for at least five years.

Band History – Going independent (1995–2002)". Bigbigtrain.com. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014 . Retrieved 16 April 2016. Big Big Train announce surprise new album Welcome To The Planet". Loudersound.com. 21 October 2021 . Retrieved 21 October 2021. sounding muddied or confused. There is a delicacy and space within "Atlantic Cable", a poignancy perfectly captured The plan for these songs was to completely re-record them, but the death of lead singer David Longdon meant that the vocals from the original recordings would have to be used. [2] On the decision to re-record the songs, founder and bassist Gregory Spawton said "I was always happy with the original recorded version of 'East Coast Racer', but adding the strings at Abbey Road gave the song a further lift and the new recording also features Dave Gregory's guitar solo on the closing section, a solo which has only previously featured on live performances of the song. I am pleased we now have the definitive studio version on Ingenious Devices. By contrast, I was never entirely satisfied with 'Brooklands' and felt it got a bit overlooked on the Folklore album, which is perhaps why we've not played the song live yet. The Abbey Road strings have significantly enhanced the song and I'm delighted with the outcome. The changes to 'Voyager' are more subtle but still elevate the song beyond the version on our Grand Tour album." [1] English boys wondering how to play our old songs". Bigbigtrain.blogspot.com. 5 February 2008 . Retrieved 16 April 2016.Bungey, John. "The Times review of Big Big Train at Cadogan Hall". The Times . Retrieved 26 October 2016. Lewry, Fraser (20 November 2021). "Big Big Train singer David Longdon dead at 56". loudersound . Retrieved 22 November 2021. Wild River’, the first solo album from David Longdon has been re-mixed, re-mastered and expanded and will be released on 20th October. It is preceded by a single ‘Always’, which is available now. Wild River’ represented a transitional period for David, both artistically and emotionally. His father, Eric, had passed away in 1994, he had been through a divorce, and he’d auditioned to be the lead singer of Genesis following the departure of Phil Collins. However, after a protracted audition-cum-rehearsal process, he was immensely disappointed to lose out on the role. Which, with hindsight, was a blessing in disguise.

Ingenious Devices consists of new versions of East Coast Racer, Brooklands and Voyager, which feature an elite 17-piece string section recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. New BBT vocalist Alberto Bravin comments: “Atlantic Cable was recorded at our second show of the tour last year. It’s not an easy song to play at all and we were both amazed and relieved that we pulled it off so well. I experienced a real baptism of fire playing that show in front of over 1,000 passionate BBT fans, but their response to the song and the rest of our live set that night was truly motivating.”At the start of 2014 Beardfish frontman Rikard Sjöblom was confirmed as a touring keyboardist and guitarist. [19] In August, the band convened at Real World Studios for a week to try out a live line-up that also included violinist Rachel Hall and a five-piece brass band under the directorship of trombonist Dave Desmond, who had featured on recent Big Big Train albums. The positive outcome led to the band announcing that its first live performances in seventeen years would take place in August 2015 at Kings Place in London, [20] and that Sjöblom and Hall were now full band members for both live and studio work. [21] Three dates were announced, selling out within days, and the gigs were voted Event of the Year by the readers of Prog magazine. [22] Gregory Spawton explains: “I was always happy with the original recorded version of East Coast Racer, but adding the strings at Abbey Road gave the song a further lift and the new recording also features Dave Gregory’s guitar solo on the closing section, a solo which has only previously featured on live performances of the song. I am pleased we now have the definitive studio version on Ingenious Devices. The timing of this release also deliberately ties in with the 85th anniversary of the Mallard’s speed record which inspired the lyric. The album closes with a live version of Atlantic Cable, recorded at the Friars Aylesbury show in September 2022. While this isn't part of the "mankind and machine" trilogy, it certainly fits in that vein, as the song is about the laying of the first telegram cable connecting North America with Europe: "the continents are joined together again with the thrill of the line." Band History – New voice, new sound (2003–2008)". Bigbigtrain.com. Archived from the original on 1 May 2014 . Retrieved 16 April 2016.

With all that has been happening inside the band recently, it seems like a worthwhile project to fill a gap before new music emerges, but is there enough on this release to satisfy the BBT Passengers and the wider prog community?

Voyager” embarks on a musical odyssey, an exploration of sound that resonates like a journey. The brass instruments echo into the distance, creating peaks and troughs and more deviation than msny manage in a career. The band's earliest songs were released on a demo tape in October 1991, and the band's first demo album, From the River to the Sea, was released in May 1992. During this time, the band continued to perform live dates, gradually playing to larger crowds in higher profile venues. Big Big Train are delighted to announce 15 further shows in the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland and the UK to take place in August and September 2023. Rikard Sjöblom adds: “I have been campaigning for a long time for Big Big Train to come to Sweden, so I am really pleased that we’re bringing the band for the first time not only to my home country for two shows but also to play two other dates in Denmark and Norway. I hope the Scandinavian prog fans will come out in force to see us live!” Some of the new songs were debuted live at The Astoria, London, the only live show the band performed during this period. English Boy Wonders was finally released in autumn 1997, although to a much less positive reaction than Age of Steam. At this stage, after a less than pleasurable recording experience, a poorly received second album, and with a record label which had stopped returning calls, it appeared that the band had run its course.