Big Big Train
Grimspound

“Albert you were special, one of a kind

The stars in your eyes turned others blind.

Did the gods want you back or the goddess cry

Were the heavens alone without you?

Were the angels sworn to take you back home

To the halls of Valhalla where the brave can roam

And the horn of honour in tribute be blown?”

The sky has always fascinated me, it's an axiom, indisputable.

On the other hand, however, I have never traveled much for purely economic reasons. I suffer from vertigo, but fortunately, this has never affected my rare flights, always with the window to my right.

I have always enjoyed the view of landscapes that only an aerial image can make us admire in its complexity, the infinite shades the sea gives us, from azure to cobalt, from aqua green to periwinkle; on the other hand, I have always been disturbed by spying on others' lives from a round window, but above all, I have always found myself struggling with a certain sense of detachment, as if everything on land did not truly belong to me or I had not yet managed to appreciate its substantive beauty.

Somewhere from the skies, in Annouellin, two steps from Belgium, a body was recovered, battered, on the brink of death.

A young woman, a farmer, fresh out of adulthood. Mademoiselle Lieppe-Coulon.

From the sky, along with the wreckage of a plane, a 21-year-old boy had fallen, shot down by who knows whom.

The engagement with the Red Albatross was seen, but nobody knows how things really went, maybe not even that girl, in whose arms Albert Ball exhaled his last breath of life.

This girl didn't know the incredible number of victories he had achieved for the English aviation during that first cursed conflict that involved the entire planet, she didn't know it, but his head rested on her knees at the moment of death.

It doesn't matter if it was a sniper from a bell tower or if it was the “Flying Circus” of the brothers Manfred (“Der Rote Baron”) and Lothar von Richtofen who shot down that boy, a lone wolf and creative in aerial combat, but what matters is that beyond war, this boy, just 21 years old, participated in a great battle, a great war, author of forty-four victories, his stele is in the sky and he was recognized as a national hero, because he took his country by the hand and brought it to the sky with him in an attempt to honor it.

It is life that makes people grow, not birthdays, and sometimes it is necessary to grow up sooner. Indisputable.

The “Big Big Train”, with their tenth studio album, start again from “Folklore”, their previous 2016 album, which aimed to rediscover a part of their country's history (Great Britain) and in this “Grimspound”, they expand the discourse, starting right with the long flagship track, “Brave Captain” (over 12’ of listening), dedicated to the memory of Albert “The Flying Romeo” Ball, articulated in four parts (“Captain Albert Ball Cradled In The Arms Of Mademoiselle Lieppe-Coulon, May 7th 1917”, “Memorial To Captain Albert Ball, Nottingham Castle Ground 1973”, "The Great Game" and “Annoeullin (The Present Day)”), with an engaging and evocative setting.

The composition by David Longdon, multi-instrumentalist and lead singer of the Bournemouth group, is very intricate and soon allows the various instruments to take the stage and tell us the story of the English aviator.

Greg Spawton (bass and baritone guitar) and Andy Poole (guitar, keyboards, and choirs), historical leaders and the only original members (note: Poole has recently left the lineup), are joined, besides the already mentioned Longdon (flute, piano, guitar, mandolin, banjo, lute, celesta, synthesizers, percussion), by the guitar of Dave Gregory, drummer Nick D’Virgilio (replacement for Collins in “Genesis”) and violinist, violist, and singer Rachel Hall.

Rikard Sjöblom (keyboards, guitars) and Richard Manners (keyboards and double bass) have been part of the band for less time (2012 Manners, 2014 Sjöblom), but thanks to their compositional vein they have enriched the sound of the group and, in the present album, they contributed with the composition and arrangement of three tracks, namely “On the Racing Lines” (addressed to racing driver John Cobb, who died in his boat at Loch Ness, giving credit to the legendary monster's story), entirely instrumental with the participation of Philip Trzebiatowski's cello, which reprises passages in the “Yes” and “Genesis” style, the singable “Meadowland”, dedicated to John Wetton, land where everyone can share thoughts and ideas freely, and the majestic composition of over 15’, “A Mead Hall in Winter”, which showcases a collection of ideas, melodies, and arrangements truly sumptuous, always moving, never trivial, yet perfectly cohesive.

The title track and the epilogue “As the Crow Flies” are enjoyable, with the double singing of Longdon-Hall.

The beautiful three-part “Experimental Gentlemen” (“Reflectors Of Light”, “Merchants Of Light”, and “The Wonder Of It All”) follows the BBT standard with really sophisticated musical transitions and thematic exchanges, far from ordinary, inserting prog ’70s moments (reverberations, guitars, celesta) into absolutely current sounds (synthesizers, pedals on baritone guitar). And D’Virgilio is having a blast!

My favorite track, although probably not the most thrilling for many, is the collaboration with the legendary Judy Dyble in “The Ivy Gate”, a track I would define as folk-prog, which I have no idea if it exists as a term, I have never documented myself, but it has literally captivated me. A sad ballad that speaks of the sense of family and the fear of losing trust, social standing, and life itself at a tender age. Dyble's vocal expressiveness is a perfect complement to Longdon's velvet voice. Masterpiece.

This work ranks in my top ten albums of the past calendar year, and I warmly recommend it to you, without letting yourself be scared by the overall length (1h7’), which, in my opinion, is not even excessive, probably a pleasant accompaniment for a pleasant traverse of the celestial vault.