Grand Tour (Big Big Train album)

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Released17 May 2019
StudioEnglish Electric Studios, Abbey Road Studios, Real World Studios, Sweetwater Studios
GenreProgressive rock
Length74:11
Grand Tour
Studio album by
Big Big Train
Released17 May 2019
StudioEnglish Electric Studios, Abbey Road Studios, Real World Studios, Sweetwater Studios
GenreProgressive rock
Length74:11
LabelEnglish Electric
ProducerLongdon, Spawton
Big Big Train chronology
The Second Brightest Star
(2017)		 Grand Tour
(2019)		 Common Ground
(2021)

Grand Tour is the twelfth studio album by the English progressive rock band Big Big Train. It contains all new songs unlike the previous, The Second Brightest Star. Thematically it broadens the lyrical landscape for the group into the European world, previously having a largely domestic British focus. It moves from English folklore and landscape, to the 17th and 18th century habit of well-to-do Europeans going on the 'Grand Tour' to experience a wider circle of art and science.[1] It is the last studio album to feature band members Dave Gregory, Rachel Hall, and Danny Manners who left in 2020,[2][3] and first without co-founder Andy Poole, who had departed in January 2018.[4]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Daily ExpressStarStarStarStarStar[1]
The TimesStarStarStar[5]
The Imaginative Conservative(very favorable)[6]

Initially well received, The Times says of this release, "A prog rock album that doesn't yield its secrets straight away and repays repeated listening".[5] Tony Colvill in his review had been critical of the last two releases but then writes of this offering, "it's something new, a little bit different, but to the same high standards," presumably harking back to the 'railway inspired' subject content of English Electric: Full Power.[7] He continues to heap praise on this offering with repeated and positive comparisons with Genesis both vocally and instrumentally.[7] Daily Express writer Paul Davies also make comparisons to Genesis and adds a reference to Queen. Noting the subject of the Renaissance when referring to progressive music in general, he clearly underlines the band's significance. He assigns a rating of 5 out of 5.[1] The album won the award of Best Album at the 2019 Progressive Music Awards.[8]

Track listing

Grand Tour[9]
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Novum Organum"Greg SpawtonNick D'Virgilio, Spawton2:25
2."Alive"David LongdonLongdon4:34
3."The Florentine"LongdonLongdon8:17
4."Roman Stone"
  • "Foundation"
  • "Rise" (instrumental)
  • "Ne Plus Ultra"
  • "Fall" (instrumental)
  • "Legacy"
SpawtonSpawton13:33
5."Pantheon" (instrumental) D'Virgilio6:12
6."Theodora in Green and Gold"SpawtonD'Virgilio, Longdon5:32
7."Ariel"
  • "Come Unto These Yellow Sands"
  • "Noises, Sounds and Sweet Airs"
  • "New Place"
  • "O! There Are Spirits of the Air"
  • "Music, When Soft Voices Die"
  • "Casa Magni, 1822"
  • "Approach, My Ariel, Come"
  • "Coda: The Triumph of Life"
LongdonLongdon14:28
8."Voyager"
  • "On the Ocean"
  • "The Farthest Shore"
  • "The Pillars of Hercules"
  • "Further Beyond" (instrumental)
  • "Grand Finale" (instrumental)
  • "The Space Between the Stars"
  • "Homecoming"
SpawtonSpawton14:20
9."Homesong"SpawtonSpawton4:50
Total length:74:11
Japan bonus track[10]
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
10."Journey's End"SpawtonSpawton4:38
Total length:78:32

Personnel

Charts

References

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